I’ve always looked forward to designing my baby’s nursery. From picking out colors and furniture to organizing the drawers and closet with little onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. It all sounded so exciting and new! Little did I know that my situation would be very different. I was having not one baby, but three, and I had to design it all from the comfort of my hospital bed. Needless to say, it was not how I always pictured it, but boy was it fun! It took me a while to decide what colors and theme that I wanted but I finally decided on coral, lime green, and grey. I used some chevron, polka dots, and a floral print combining the colors to bring it all together. Since I was put on bed rest so early in my pregnancy, I was unfortunately unable to actually do any of the work, but what I had imagined in my mind and described to my husband, truly came to life. Brian, my Mom, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and friends all helped out to make my vision become a reality. I can’t thank them enough for all of their time and hard work. It was difficult, especially when the ‘nesting’ set in and I wanted to decorate and organize their room myself, but I trusted my friends and family to put it all together.
Before + Renovation
We used our guest room (since the room we planned on using for a baby didn’t have enough room for 3 cribs!! Haha). This is the before picture taken prior to pregnancy.
Remodeling of the room began in January 2013. We knew the carpet had to go so they just pulled it up and didn’t have to worry about covering the floors when they painted.
One thing I was certain of when starting this process was that I wanted a two-toned wall separated by a chair rail. We chose light gray as the wall color.
The next step was putting up the chair rail and crown molding. This was no easy task (as I heard from Brian) but we had lots people willing to help us out.
The closets got completely made over. Once I decided on what fabric we were using, we matched the coral color to paint the back wall of the closet. It looked so bright and I was weary, but the final product looks really nice. Brian took out the traditional clothes rack in the closet and we chose to put shelving on both sides to use it more like a walk in closet. The closet was made so narrow with a small door opening that it would be very difficult to reach either side with the traditional closet rack. Since the girls' clothes are small, we chose to do it this way, and I am so glad we did. Brian also took the closet door off so we would have more usable space in the room (since 3 cribs take up a lot of space).
This is my childhood dresser. It has been through many paint changes and I’ve used it my whole life. Brian added on rails to make it a changing table and painted the drawers to match the walls. I’m so happy to pass it down to my girls.
By the time the furniture started to go in the room, I was in the hospital on bed rest. At least before this, Brian pushed me in a wheelchair down to the room so I could see it. As the room progressed, Brian would bring me pictures to the hospital or take a video so I could see the progress. It was so hard to watch from the sidelines, but everyone was so helpful and let me give as much input as I wanted.
New carpet, yay!
After
And now what the room looks like today. Tears came to my eyes when I first saw it. Maybe because I was emotional being 3 days post-partum or what I had always imagined became a reality. I think it is so beautiful and it makes me so happy to watch my girls grow up this room. I’m so thankful for those that helped and especially to my husband for putting so much time and effort in to making this exactly what I wanted.
The Details
I made these baby blocks myself. (See how here).
I used an empty vase I had gotten for a birthday present to hold the babies’ head bands. It was the perfect size to put them around the vase and then fill the vase with all of the rest.
I also made these mobiles for each crib while I was in the hospital. (See how here).
My SIL, Stephanie made the girls’ this hairbow holder. (See how here)
My friend, Casey at Kidspired Creations painted us the cutest canvas. I gave her the quote and a fabric sample and she came up with this. I love that it has each of the girls initials in it and it matches the nursery so well. I love it and the quote just sums up how I feel about my baby girls. You can also like her on facebook here.
The rocking chair was one of the first gifts my Dad gave my Mom. My parents rocked my brother and I to sleep in the chair as babies and I was honored to have it passed down to me. Brian worked very hard before the babies were born to repair the broken legs, refinish it, and then paint it. I love the fact that I was rocked to sleep in it and now I get to rock my babies to sleep in it. It is my favorite item in the room and I will always treasure it.
The Closet
We replaced the closet door with a curtain to save space in the room. My mother-in-law is so awesome and sewed all of the bedding as well as the curtains.
When you walk in to the closet, to the left, I used green totes to store all of the girls clothes that they aren’t wearing. I used chalkboard paint on these decorative wood pieces and then tied them to each tote. I’m able to label them to know what is in each tote, and then I can erase and change the label as the girls grow up. I like the totes because it keeps the closet looking clean and the labels are great since I am able to update them.
I knew I didn’t have room to put shelves on the back wall since the closet is so narrow. I found these at Ikea and they work so well for storage and they are super cute. I added their names with some scrapbook letters so they are fun to look at when you go in to the closet.
In the closet, to the right, we have two bars for hanging clothes and we added some shallow tubs for more storage. There is enough room on the bottom for a laundry basket and enough room up top for storage of large items we don’t use very often.
So that is the triplets’ nursery. What I had pictured in my head and described to my ‘decorators’ while I was in the hospital became a reality. It brought tears to my eyes when I came home from the hospital the first night. It was so beautiful and better than I had ever imagined. I love going in that room every day and seeing my happy babies. And I think the triplets like it too :)
