As you anticipate the arrival of your little one, preparing your baby nursery is one thing that requires thought and consideration. You’ll be spending a lot of your time in your baby room, in those early weeks and months, so we’ve prepared a little guide of baby nursery or baby room ideas to consider as you begin to prepare your baby nursery;
When should I begin preparing for my nursery?
You can begin to prepare your baby nursery or baby room as soon as you’d like to, there is no right or wrong on when is best to plan and prepare your baby nursery, however, there are some considerations.
Most families say they aim for the second trimester, to have everything ‘mostly’ complete and ready to go. Around the second trimester, while your baby is growing, you might already have some baby nursery ideas up your sleeve, of how you might want to prepare your baby’s room space. Maybe you have a colour palette in mind, you’ll know which room will become your baby nursery and will therefore have an idea of how much space you have to play with to start planning how the baby nursery will function in your home.
Of course, it’s important that you have everything and anything you need (your daily baby essentials) within easy reach of your changing station. Here, we’re talking about nappies/diapers, wipes, laundry baskets, a dummr or pacifier, muslin wraps, blankets, towels, baby powders, creams, the list goes on! You’ll want all of these essentials close by and easily accessible in your nursery.
What do I really need for my baby nursery?
Now, you might be wondering what are the absolute essentials you need to set up your baby nursery? We’ve prepared a quick list of those absolute, major essentials;
You might quickly realise that you don’t need all of the above for your nursery, however, it is good to first consider your space and then consider how you can then build your nursery from here, as you begin to think about how you are going to use the space you have.
Something to consider is what you will actually need and use in the first 3-6 months versus what you will need after the first 3-6 months. For example, in the first 6 months, a cot is not required, however a bassinet is. Here, if you’re limited on space or simply don’t want to have too many big pieces of furniture in the nursery, Tasman Eco has a collection of cots that convert from a bassinet, to a cot and then to a toddler bed, with their adjustable base heights and our conversion technology.
Also, you might decide you don’t need both a chest and changetable, as a way to save space and avoid wasted space. Most Tasman Eco chests come with a change top, another way to easily save space in your nursery. All of these decisions are good to be made earlier on, when planning your nursery.
How much does it cost to set up a baby nursery?
As with most things, there are a range of budgets that you can assign to your nursery, but it is important to know there are options and ways that you can set up your nursery to suit your budget, without problem.
Before we get into costs, it’s a good idea to consider the items that you could possibly buy for your nursery, keep reading;
- Bassinet; a bassinet is not a must, but something to consider. As you’ll notice while reading, most nursery furniture these days does it all, and it’s all about keeping it functional and simple. Most Tasman Eco cots can be both, a bassinet and a cot, a place where they’ll sleep for their first early years.
Prices between $169.99 – $269.99
- Cot; ideally a cot with different base heights, meaning that you will not need a bassinet.
There is such a big range of cots to choose from, available to families, in size and cost. Tasman Eco has a collection of regular cots, bigger cots and compact cots. If you’re looking to save space in the nursery, compact cots are a great option, set on wheels, Tasman Eco compact cots are able to fit through a standard sized door, if needing to move your little one with you throughout the house.
Cots that can be converted from a bassinet height, to cot height and then to a toddler bed are great. Most Tasman Eco cots have the ability to be converted to last, most will be with you until your baby is 3 years old.
Prices between $199.99 – $899.99
- Chest of Drawers; as we’ve said, storage is key in the nursery, it’s important that you find ways to maximise your storage space in every way possible, and a good chest of drawers, with a change top is a great place to start.
Prices between $399.99 – $899.99
- Changing Station; a changing station is absolutely necessary in the nursery. If your chest of drawers doesn’t have a change top, a changing table can help to make sure you’re stocked and ready to change your baby for regular changes. While a change table isn’t necessary in the space, a changing station is and as we’ve said there a few ways to make sure you can build and have a functional changing station in your baby nursery.
- Mattress; owning a good mattress for your little one is a ‘must’ in your baby nursery and so important to ensure a good night’s sleep. Tasman Eco have a range of mattress types to choose from to match your chosen cot exactly.
Prices between $69.99 – $289.99
- Mattress Protector and Sheets/Manchester;
Prices from $21.99
- Bedside Table; while nursing your baby, you’ll want to make sure you’re able to keep things close by to you. A bedside table or side table is a great way to keep things close and at easy access during those late nights or early mornings.
- Nursing Chair; you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a comfortable place to feed and keep your baby close and having a nursing chair in your nursery is a great way to keep you both comfortable and cozy.
With the above items, the necessary items for your baby nursery, you could be looking to spend anywhere between $1,000 – $4,000 in your nursery. It is important to know that you have the choice to spend what you please when building your nursery, however, you’ll want to make sure that any item that you purchase is approved and in line with Australia Standards, it is also recommended that you avoid buying second hand, purely for safety purposes.
How should I design my nursery?
The way you design and plan your nursery is completely your choice and should be thought about in a way that is best for you. Depending on what colours, prints, furniture and look/feel you choose, your nursery will be your space, a sanctuary that you will create for you and your family in those early weeks, months and eventually years.
Creating a space that feels warm, cozy and comforting is important, and also, ensuring that your space is functional and makes sense, you’ll want to make sure that essentials are easily accessible for you, especially during those late nights and early mornings.
Where do I begin when starting to plan for the nursery?
It’s a good idea to first decide where your nursery will be in the house, from here you start to visualise the space, plan, take measurements and think about how things may start to look and function in your baby nursery.
Once you’ve got the room selected and have measured up the space, it’s then best to start to pick out your bigger furniture pieces, as they’ll be occupying most of the space. By month six or so, you should have a good idea on what pieces you’re after and have them ordered, simply because these pieces can take several weeks to arrive. Something else to consider is building these pieces, you won’t want to be building heavy pieces of furniture while you’re almost at your due date, so best to have these pieces done earlier on.
If you’re planning on painting the space or using wallpaper, this is something that we would recommend by 23-25 weeks. By this point, you should’ve decided on a colour and have it painted and ready before your little one arrives. It’s important that the space has plenty of time to air out before you all start spending a lot of time inside your nursery. At this time, if you’ve already purchased your baby’s mattress, this is a good time to remove the packaging and have it aired out too.
As you start preparing for the arrival of your little one, you’ll realise storage is an important piece of the baby nursery puzzle, and when they’re here with you, you’ll want to make sure you know where everything is and easily accessible for you. Make sure you’ve got a good amount of closet space, as well as any other storage options you think you might need to keep all of your daily essentials, like nappies, creams and plenty more. It’s good to know if the bigger items of furniture you’ve ordered come with additional storage space, every little bit of space counts in your baby nursery!
Once you’ve reached the 30 week mark, you’ve probably got most of the main bits in order, the room is painted and the furniture is likely to be set-up and ready. There might be a few bits and pieces that’ll need to be finished, maybe you’ll want to hang some photos, correct any lighting or start packing away basics and some small final changes to make sure your nursery is your haven, a beautiful space where you’ll be able to spend a lot of your time, once your special little friend has arrived.
By the 36th week of your pregnancy, your nursery should be complete, by this point, you could have your little one with you in the coming days or weeks, and you don’t want to be too uncomfortable, too far along building furniture or other major nursery bits. It’s important, at this point, that all of those little clothes, socks, Manchester and bedding are all washed and put away. It’s also a good idea to make sure your changing station is stocked and ready, as well as your monitor, it’ll all start to get very real, very soon.
By Carla Cenatiempo
June 7, 2021
June 7, 2021
Carla is the Marketing Lead at Tasman Eco, she's been with the business for almost 3 years now and loves being able to work with Australian families every day. It’s really important for her to share both quality and valuable content on nursery furnitures, with families to ensure they have peace of mind when growing their family amongst all of the noise in the space. Highlighting the importance of selecting the right baby cot and bassinet as part of the nursery setup, she focuses on providing information that helps families make informed decisions for their comfort and safety.
