Creating a Simple and Minimalist Nursery in Our Mid-Century Fixer-Uppe

First, we took up the carpet in this room, as well as all over the house. While I didn’t get a picture of the rooms before we began the process, it was a threadbare, light blue carpet that was original to the house and had not been changed in more than 50 years. We were delighted that underfoot were beautiful, glossy real hardwoods. After this photo was taken, we eventually added a pretty pink area rug right in front of the crib to make the nursery feel warmer.

Then, we added our crib and dresser. We did not find out the gender of our baby beforehand, so we had to keep all of the furniture and accessories in this room as neutral as possible. That’s why we chose to go with a white, gray, green and white color scheme. When we found these solid white pieces of furniture for a steal online, we knew they would fit perfectly in our nursery. In the corner, between the dresser and crib, is a handmade swan baby rocker created by a craftsman in our community.

Above the crib we hung a handmade mobile created with paper star cutouts and a simple rod and ribbon hanging mechanism, made for us by my best friend when we found out we were expecting. It is delicate and light enough to hang safely from the ceiling above the crib and high enough to be out of reach of tiny baby hands!

This corner of the nursery is so special to me! Our little cottage actually belonged to my grandparents for more than five decades before we moved in. Though we used to live elsewhere, we came back to our hometown to put down roots and this was the first place we thought of when looking to live near family. In our quest to learn more about safe neighborhoods and family-friendly locations near our small town, we kept coming back to this same little corner of the world, less than two miles from both of our parents. With two children now, we are grateful we chose to live where we go!

This deep green rocker was one of my grandfather’s favorite pieces of furniture. It sat in his office for my entire life and was one of the only things I wanted when we inherited the house. Though it isn’t the most comfortable chair in the world thanks to its tweed fabric, it is cushioned and soft enough to hold us through last nights and early mornings and I will forever cherish it. The lamp behind the chair has a built-in table around the middle, which is perfect for holding bottles, phones and other accessories during nighttime changes.

The simple bench below the mirror was another hand-me-down from my grandfather. It used to sit in front of his closet, where he’d perch to put on his shoes every morning. Now that my baby is learning to crawl, it’s the perfect height for her to hold onto as she navigates her way around her nursery!

Living in a small space that also happens to be more than half a century old means dealing with tiny closets the size of a shoebox. When we moved in here from our larger tract home further in town, I was amazed at the lack of storage space, though I am thankful the builders chose to give that square footage to the rooms themselves, as the bedrooms in our cottage are actually quite sprawling. Still, we had to get creative with our baby nursery closet! We installed a new shelf above the clothes rod to hold storage baskets and accessories and put most of the clothes in the dresser, only using this space for special dresses.

In all, this is a special little room that was designed with our newest little bundle in mind. We can’t wait to see how she grows into the space and makes it her own in years to come!