Nursery Organization Tips & Tricks
When it comes to family life, if the thought of organization and kiddos might seem like an impossible combination, then you've come to the right place. I thrive on organization so when Baby arrived, I had to find some ways to cut down on the clutter, minimize the mess, and maximize space.
Enjoy a few of my favorite tips and tricks for organizing a nursery that even Marie Kondo would approve of.
DRESSER
This cream Victorian dresser doubles as a diaper changing station. I usually keep the Ubbi Diaper Pail hidden behind the clothing hamper, but for picture purposes, wanted to show it and its proximity. Keeping it close by the diaper changing area while still “normally” out of view works well for us. I also have kept the Wipe Warmer in the drawer (by drilling a hole in the back of the drawer for the cord) to minimize clutter as well.
In this little tin basket, I keep her diaper creams, ointments, lotions and essential oils which keeps them within arm's reach of the changing station.
These Foldable Cloth Divider Storage Boxes (on Amazon) are the perfect way to organize your drawers and have a system in place to keep them organized. Babies have all sorts of little items, and these box organizers are perfect to minimize the clutter and have a place for everything! They come in a set of 6 and I have 2 sets that I am using already in various drawers.
In this dresser, I keep one top drawer full of diapers (one storage box of daytime diapers and the other full of nighttime diapers). My favorite diapers are Pampers (on Amazon) and Mama Bear (on Amazon) for their quality, price, and wetness indicator and Honest (on Amazon) for being hypoallergenic, eco-friendly, and adorned in cute patterns. I also use the storage boxes to hold zip-up onesies organized by size, folded in a way where I can always see what's available.
The other drawers contain the following:
swimsuits
shorts
socks, slippers, hose
extra diapers & wipe refills
BOWS
Little girls can never have too many bows. Luckily for my daughter, she already had a running start thanks to my huge collection from my newborn photo studio. I keep most of her bows on this rustic birch tree.
This is the perfect way to display bows as you can quickly find one to match an outfit. It works great for bow clips as well as headbands. I found this originally at Gordmans.
Since we have the drawer space, I actually keep most of her stretchy nylon headbands in a drawer dedicated to just headbands so they are easy and quick to find.
Another way to organize bows is to clip them onto a long ribbon like I've down on the left side of the shoe rack.
If you're more of a minimalist or just need something small, find a cute organizer like this or make your own by attaching chicken wire to a photo frame and painting it to match your nursery.
BOOKS
Books can take up a lot of room. I made these adorable shelves to display some of our favorite books in the reading nook of her nursery. The shelves were originally galvanized metal, but I painted them cream and then added lace to create a vintage feel that coordinated with our nursery.
For one of my baby showers, my friends and family gave my daughter a book with a special message written inside so many of these books are displayed on the shelf or in our go-to reading bins.
When you run out of room on the bookshelves, fill a cute tote or crate with books. We have one tote with books for bedtime and another cute crate of books for daytime. We use these Adhesive Clear Corner Protectors on furniture edges and this wooden crate while E is in the crawling and standing up phase. A word of caution, it does lose it's stickiness if constantly pulled at, so replace as needed and make sure baby doesn't try to chew on them as they would be considered a choking hazard.
We also use these Cube Organizer Shelves with patterned Fabric Cube Storage Bins in various rooms to contain the books and toys as well which keeps clutter at bay.
CLOSET
There are so many ways to make use of good space in a closet, but one of my favorites are these Adjustable Door Shelves. I have them on almost every closet door in the house as I have found what an amazing find they are when space is limited. Because of these shelves, my dresser drawers stay organized, and I even have some empty drawers for space for things down the road.
SAFETY SAM TIP: Keep in mind anything on the bottom rows or within baby’s reach are all free game to baby the second the door is open or take your eye off the prize. So plan accordingly when organizing and keep any small choking hazards or cleaning supplies/medicine, etc. far from baby’s reach.
At first glance the shelves may look chaotic, but I prefer to go with organized chaos! Upon closer inspection, you'll notice I like to keep each shelf organized by category, and as grandma always says, "Everything should have a place, and in its place it shall be found."
On the top self, I hang her sunglasses as well as store her hats and mittens for colder weather.
I keep all of baby's medical needs on one shelf (Tylenol, nail clippers, thermometer, Nose Frieda, first aid kit, etc.).
On another shelf, I keep her extra pacifiers as we had to keep a running collection for a few months as they always seemed to disappear at the most inopportune times. Using a cute clear glass jar is a fun way to contain pacifiers. Everley has loved this muted toned Penguin Wubbanub so much that we keep a spare in her nursery in the event she loses it.
I keep all of baby's medical needs on one shelf (Baby Tylenol, nail clippers, Thermometer, NoseFrida, Baby Healthcare & Grooming Kit, etc.).
I keep all of my Diaper Pail Bags, disposable bags, and travel wipes together on a separate shelf.
All of my extra baby liquids and gels (Babyganics Toy & Highchair Cleaner, Babyganics Stain and Odor Remover, Aveeno Baby Shampoo and Lotions, Aquafor (I use this preventatively on most diaper changes and have avoided diaper rash almost entirely), MotherLove Diaper Balm, MotherLove Nipple Cream, Good Night Synergy Blend Essential Oil by Edens Garden, Baby DDrops (Vitamin D), Bag Balm, Hand Sanitizer, etc.) are grouped on another shelf and far from baby’s reach.
I use one shelf for all of her teethers and rattles as they are easy to grab, and I like keeping them together. Another tip for teethers: I also keep a clear food storage container in the fridge for the teethers that are fridge-friendly so that they don’t take over the fridge or get contaminated with fridge food particles. So far Sophie the Giraffe, SweeTooth Ice Cream, and Piglet teether, and pink bunny rattle gifted to us are still the fan favorites here.
Nursing supplies (like the Bamboobies Washable Nursing Pads and Hot/Cold Therapy Thermopads which were a Godsend during the early nursing days) are kept on a separate shelf.
I also love matching decorative bins. I found these 5 square decorative totes at HomeGoods, and they fit perfectly on the top shelf in her closet. This is another way to keep clutter to a minimum and things that aren't used as often out of view but still accessible.
SHOES
I keep the left side of the closet door for mainly shoes. Yes, she probably has more shoes than her mom… Thanks to her grandma and parents for finding great deals, and after all baby shoes are just so stinking cute. I have found this has been the best way to not only organize shoes but quickly find a pair of shoes for an outfit. Stacking them one shoe behind the other also saves space.
CLOTHES:
When it comes to clothes, this girl is set. We actually bought many of her plain onesies and leggings at consignment shops for $.50 to $.80 each. She was a big spitter upper for about 6 months due to GERD so I found myself changing her onesie 4-5x a day which meant we needed backups for the backups. Babies also outgrow clothes so quickly it just doesn't make sense to spend fortunes on a wardrobe they may or may never wear. Not to say we never splurge on some outfits (and family and friends also like to spoil baby girl), but we also utilize a favorite consignment shop for the everyday basics. I’m a sucker for ROY-G-BIV order in closets, so naturally her closet follows suit.
In my experience, I have found that just because a tag says 3-6 months, doesn’t necessarily mean it fits your baby at 3-6 months. Because of that, I wanted to come up with a system of labeling the clothes so that I knew which clothes she could currently fit into. I found these basic baby closet dividers HERE on Amazon to section the clothing by size. I love color coding things, so found a variety of beads that fit just barely over the hanger and then secured them with a rubber gasket grommet. This keeps the bead in place while keeping it from falling off the hanger, which would obviously be a choking hazard. I still keep caution in mind and obviously never let my daughter play with the hangers, but have found these grommets to be secure since it takes effort to actually force them onto the hangers.
Having all the same hangers makes a closet look so much more streamlined, crisp, and organized. These White Space Saving Hangers are my absolute favorite as they are perfect baby and kid size. I also used these Pant Hanger Clips and attached them to the hangers for her pants and leggings.
After she no longer fits into a certain size, I let others borrow clothes or pack them in clear labeled totes so I can quickly identify the clothes and size, which then go to storage since we may have more kiddos in the future.
BANDANA DROOLING BIBS
To organize these adorable Baby Bandana Drooling & Teething Bibs, I used an adult hanger to hang and display them. These bibs make adorable outfits as well as I typically just find one bib that coordinates with her leggings and onesie for the day.
SWADDLE BLANKETS
Roll swaddle blankets and receiving blankets and store them in a cute basket.
NAP & NIGHTTIME ROUTINE
I added a small side table near her crib (but far enough out of her reach) for a few items we use during naps or nighttime such as this SpaRoom PureMist Essential Oil Diffuser (that has a cool LED light display, which we leave off during nap time of course) with essential oils and sound machine. By far, my two favorite sound machines are the Dohm and the LectroFan, These were both recommended by many moms before me, and I was thrilled to learn their secrets! The Dohm is my favorite sound and I love it so much I bought two more – one of the guest bedroom and one for me in our master bedroom.
The LectroFan is the loudest sound machine I’ve ever heard and has been a Godsend for our situation. We have a very vocal pup that loves to bark at passerby’s, especially during nap times, so these sounds machines have saved the day. We keep the Dohm one near her crib and the LectroFan near the door to help block out the noise and keep her sleep sweet and sound.
I have always had trouble sleeping but these two essential oils Good Night Synergy Blend by Edens Garden and Doterra's Serenity (along with the Dohm sound machine) help to quiet my busy mind, so if baby is having a sleep regression, I also treat her to some essential oil goodness.
BABY MONITOR
We keep two baby monitors in her room with one being hung high enough where we can pan around the room and see not only her crib but her entire nursery. We are fans of this Project Nursery Baby Monitor. We also have a monitor that we use just for the crib and for travel that is portable and easy to setup.
TRUNK
This little gem was an old steamer trunk that had been in the family for over 100 years and was on its last leg. After convincing my husband it had “potential”, he let me pack it in the POD to make its way from Nebraska. Painting it light grey with charcoal and satin nickel accents transformed this trunk into the beauty it is today.
We keep this trunk in the downstairs playroom, which will serve as my daughter’s imagination chest. Inside it is filled with dress-up clothes, tutus, dance costumes, princess outfits, doctor costumes, cheer uniforms, cowboy garb, and just about anything else she decides to be for the day. It’s the perfect catchall for costumes and dress up playwear.
My husband also installed 2 Slow Close Hinges (similar to this) which save fingers and hands from despair. These old trunks are very heavy so finding a safety solution was huge in transforming it into a child's play chest.
TRAVEL NECESSITIES
When it comes to traveling, my FAVORITE trick is to use clear plastic packing cubes like this SET which comes with 6 bags in 3 different sizes. I LOVE being able to see everything in the clear bags. They are also helpful to organize drawers and closets too!
I've found the small bags are perfect for socks, baby bows, baby toiletries, baby meds, etc. The medium size bags are perfect to roll up onesies or leggings. The large bag is perfect for baby shoes! I have 4 sets (two sets for baby, one for me, and one for my husband), and we use them on every trip to stay organized.
Check out these colored packing cubes too, which come in 16 colors. Assign a different color for each kid and to keep your suitcase super tidy and organized!
FILING
I also keep this glittery girly expandable pocket file organizer (from HomeGoods) in her closet for quick access. Inside I keep receipts organized by store, baby manuals, guides, and just about anything else I need organized.
I keep all of her important hospital papers, birth documents, baby/pregnancy notes, etc. in a hidden locked filing cabinet but love having a file organizer for the non-important papers.
Thanks for reading! Take a full tour of the Baby Girl Nursery complete with decorating ideas and inspiration!
I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave your own organizational hacks and tips and tricks in the "Comments" section below!
