After dealing with the nursery windows and walls, it’s finally time to dive into the (most) fun part: furniture and decor!

I was in an enviable situation in that I got almost all my furniture items as hand-me-downs, or repurposed furniture from other rooms, and ended up buying only a few small items. Because it was such a small space (7’10” by 12’2″, to be exact), and because of the THREE walls of windows, I was pretty limited in my furniture configuration. There was only one window-less wall to place the crib against, so that anchored the room, and my other big pieces — the glider and changing table — took up the other corners of the room.

This is the office before:

And AFTER:

Room details

• Crib: hand-me-down, similar to this one
• Glider: hand-me-down Pottery Barn Comfort Glider in washed grainsack, flax
  • This glider is 6+ years old and still in great shape after heavy use (3 kids have been nursed and rocked on it!)
• Changing table: hand-me-down, unknown brand
  • Highly recommend the Keekaroo Peanut Changer (this is an affiliate link) for those late night blowouts
• Side tables: CB2 acrylic cart
• Wall shelf/dollhouse: IKEA Flisat
• Rugs:
  • Rugs USA Moroccan Trellis
  • Room and Board Sheepskin rug in steel gray (I recently saw an excellent version of this rug at Costco for $99!)
• Poof: Land of Nod
• Wood letters: Pottery Barn Kids
• Rabbit door hook: Anthropologie
• White curtains: JCPenney ($20/ea on clearance!), with blackout liner hot-glued and safety-pinned inside

General Advice

If you’re furnishing a nursery for the first time, I would invest most in the item where you expect to spend most of your time (especially if you plan to nurse): the glider. I was super lucky to get a great hand-me-down, and know that you can find really good quality gliders used on Craigslist and on local mommy boards. Test them out and find one that works for you. If you plan to buy one new, keep in mind that there can be an 8-10 week lead time if you want a combination that is not in stock, so plan ahead! I ended up spending 6-8 hours per day with my butt in that glider for months, so it’s definitely worth optimizing for your comfort.

Items like the crib and changing table I feel like are less important to invest in since there are so many good affordable options out there (we have an $80 IKEA crib for grandma’s house and it’s totally fine), and you can find great deals on Craigslist.