Hey Lovelies
I hope your well and welcome back to my blog. This week I am telling you all about our nursery and what we brought, re using, not planning to re use and why!
I have been blogging now since last august and for those that follow me, you will know from both my pregnancy journeys that we like the gender surprise so we have now done two nurseries up neutral and both are equally just as beautiful!
We did not want to re use use our first borns room as a nursery as to be honest this is now actually a little boys room! But originally we went for soft lemons and whites - I loved it as it was very peaceful which was the exact type of baby Harry was, very relaxed and chilled. Once Harry had arrived and I knew he was a boy, I started to add in Navy's and it worked really well. On my Instagram page you will see a photo of Harry's room and how its been easily converted into a ''Little Boy's'' room with out much fuss or cost!
So once decided we wasn't going to move Harry, we decided to start from scratch one the spare room and decided to go for Whites and Grey's! I wanted something different from yellow, and although I was left with cream to choose from, when we first bought our house my whole house was painted in cream and I literally never want to see cream EVER AGAIN! I will note the shade/brand of paints for the nursery and if there is anything I have missed then please just message me on email or over on Instagram - @thehappybalancemum
FURNITURE
Harry's 3 piece furniture set was from Mothercare and the cot purchased was a cot bed so we was able to take the sides off when he was ready so great value for money. The drawers came as a changing unit and once over the stage of changing bums we were able to take the sides off to create the look of just a normal chest of drawers. So as I was already pregnant at the time of moving him into a big boy bed, we decided actually to NOT take the sides off the cot and just buy him a new bed as I didn't want 2 cots, if that makes sense? So the cot moved into the spare room, and Harry's new toddler bed arrived :-) That then left us just the need for a new set of drawers and wardrobe for the nursery which both we decided to get from the Ikea kids/baby collection.. I am so pleased with them and they were half the price.
I didn't buy a nursing chair for Harry, I was tempted but so many people told me that I wouldn't use it as much as I thought and to put that money to something else, they do look adorable and amazing in nurseries but I took their advice and didn't bother so after I breast fed Harry for 7/8 months all over the house I of course wasn't going to then purchase one for the second nursery, I just didn't personally feel the need!
This gift above was from my lovely friend Zoe - It is full of baby grows, blankets, vests all wrapped up in roses. Its just to stunning to unravel at the moment but when I do I will give you all a sneak preview.
CURTAINS AND COT LINEN
Curtains I searched high and low, I really struggled to find something that was fairly neutral and good in price and I ended up getting ours from Dunelm with discount off after Christmas, a saving of £15.00 and I think we ended up paying £44.99. They are the sweet dreams collection black out pencil pleat and I just adore them!!! I went for extra length as I wanted to ensure I get full coverage of the window just as I done with Harry's and he's always loved his sleep and gave me no problems so I am hoping for the same for the second baby! Lol!
Cot Linen I got ''The my first bed in bag'' linen set from mother care which is white and grey with sheep all over it, it came in a pack with a sheet, light weight cover, a fleece blanket and a coverlet. I have put the link here for you to go and view;
https://www.mothercare.com/bedding/my-first-bed-in-bag/243624.html?cgid=nursery_beddings#prefn1=collection&prefv1=My+First&start=1
I got the bumper bar protectors to stop baby banging their head or legs getting stuck from Dunelm and they were to match the curtains in the Sweet Dreams Collection.
ACCESSORIES
I am an absolute sucker for accessories in bedrooms and lets be honest with baby nurseries you can really get carried away!
I featured in a past blog 2x bunnies we bought from the London Olympia Baby Show, which were grey and had a shabby wooden finish to them, they were the first 2 items we bought accessory wise for the nursery so we kept to the theme and they fitted in just great!
We have the gorgeous the Elephant fluffy soft rug from ''My 1st Years'' which is just adorable! I can't wait to get some snaps of the baby cosying up on it. Link below;
Door stopper - The Range
White hanging feathers - Country Interiors
White love hearts (scan photos) - The Range
PAINT
Dulux - Matt Polished Pebble
Husband done the dada rail and painted white and gloss over.
https://www.my1styears.com/personalised-elephant-playmat-white.html
All of my boxes that contain socks, hats, booties, wipes, bubble bath, nappies etc are from a selection of home stores such as B and M, the range and HomeSense. I started getting these from last summer and have collected them to put out once nursery was finished. You can never have to many of these storage boxes/basket for things list above or some big ones for toys!
THINGS WE WONT BE USING A SECOND TIME
1) We will be using my angel care SOUND monitor, it was a god send and I highly recommend but we won't be using the heart rate monitor that fits in to the cot. We turned it off after 3 weeks of Harry being in his cot (he moved into his cot at 12 weeks old as he out grew his Moses basket so quickly) I won't lie initially I was anxious the thought of him being in this massive cot but after 2/3 nights I was fine and the best decision we made! We was so lucky to not have any transition issues. The heart rate monitor kept going off randomly and it was SO loud it was just a nightmare so we just didn't stick it out and feel the need for it.
2) Big baby bath - We purchased one of those baby bath's that go OVER the big bath but it was so heavy and large for storage it was a night mare, and I did wonder if I didn't have a natural birth and had a C section there was no way on earth I would of been able to lift that. So instead, the lovely team at angel care sent me the soft support baby bath support that the baby can comfortably lie back in and relax in the bath. I am very much looking forward to using this, as Harry and baby can bath together. Its such a great size and easy to put away!
3) Steam Steriliser - I breast fed for 7 months so didn't need to sterilise much other than the odd bottle until I had weaned Harry off the breast completely, my steriliser is 2 years old so not old at all, but it needs descaling and it would leak occasionally which drove me round the bend. This time I aim to use the cold water sterilising method using Milton fluid or tablets and also the unit that you fill up with 5 litres of water. You can purchase the unit for £10.99 and all items stay sterile for 24 hours, you can put everything and anything in there from bottles, to expressing equipment, dummies, toys, tethers.
4) Cot canopy and cot bumper - I spent a fortune on the most gorgeous white canopy for Harry's cot that just looked soooo beautiful but the reality of it was actually just about the ''look'' and I was worried sick once he was in there he would pull it down and suffocate himself! Like wise with the bumpers, so off they came and off to the charity shop they went. As I said above I have decided to cover the bars with the velcro strips bumper bar strips as his legs used to occasionally get stuck in the bars, these should hopefully avoid that and they are no way as heavy as a cot bumper so much safer.
4) Our expensive fancy highchair - DONT go and purchase a fancy high chair like we did. They get covered and ruined in foods they go mouldy and end up leaving your chair looking other than nothing but rank! See below what high chair we have decided to use this this time round! :-)
THINGS WE ARE RE USING
1) Moses basket - Harry always loved his Moses basket and although he wasn't in it long, it gave me breathing space day time and night time, as we he would often sleep for ages in there! I propped it up and would make it nice and cosy and snug and he was always fairly quite content in there, if he did have any tears or not want to be put down my biggest tip is to have a muslin cloth with some of your breast milk on there and leave that nearby their face so they think your close.
2) Clothes - Yes... Even though we don't know what we are having, we have tons of whites as I love the newborns in whites for the first few weeks, I think they look so angelic and lush. If baby comes out a boy hubs can get back up in the loft and I will wash each cello bag as baby grows as I have so much BLUE or if a girl, I will look forward to buying PINK Girly items! :-)
Some of Harry's neutral blankets, and his baby soft play toys!
3) Silver Cross infant car seat, good hoover out and wipe down.
4) Changing Mat but won't be re using a changing unit. I am going to include Harry in changing bum time so he feels a super happy big brother passing me the wipes and nappies. He also learnt to roll over fairly early and I was paranoid he would roll off onto the floor so I always ended up changing him on the floor!!!
PURCHASED NEW
1) NEW Chair Purchase - Is a 123 dream sheep sound and vibrating chair for the baby to sit in during the day time, I did have a chair with Harry but when he wasn't in his Moses basket he was in his chair so it is well and truly worn and used. So we decided to purchase baby their own nice new one :-)
2) IKEA High chair - You cannot beat the IKEA antilop high chair! Its plain white plastic, you can wipe it down so it looks clean and tidy! It comes with a tray so you have the option to take it out, its the best saving you will ever have!!!! Link below;
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/chairs-stools-benches/high-chairs/antilop-highchair-with-tray-white-silver-colour-spr-29067293/
3) Outfits - So as much I will re use some of Harry's items, of course I couldn't resist buying some new stuff too, I recently had my baby shower and was completely spoilt rotten with lots of lovely mummy gifts as well as new baby items. So far I have purchased from John Lewis clearance range, Magnetic Mouse Baby Grows they are amazing for speed, the magnetic poppers!!!! Go and check their Instagram page/website they have the cutest designs, & of course Next (I am a huge next fan)
4) Cot Mobile - This is from the ''Guess how much I love you'' range and I used to love putting Harry in his room when he was a new born familiarising himself with it listening to the lovely music, it was very relaxing and peaceful for him, so I definitely plan to do the same second time round.
Hope you've enjoyed the read
Lots of Love x
My first born baby... I love you xxxxxxx
