Box room nurseries

[Thefaceofboe]

Does anyone have their nursery in a box room/very small bedroom. Really stuck for ideas and don’t know how I’m gonna fit anything in.
Would love to see some pictures for inspiration

Do you have an awkward space you could build in a cupboard?
We have a chimney making one of our walls difficult to use in our room which will be nursery. I've asked DP to put in a fitted cups bed to make the most of the space and not take up any extra room as the door and front will be level with chimney and the depth of the chimney is fab for shelves and a small hanging space

10000% do not need a changing table. Big clunky things that are useless when the baby can roll over.

Both my babies went in the box room. Had cot bed, changing stand and chair in it. At that age we spent no time in their rooms, all toys were downstairs. When dc2 came along dc1 went in 2nd largest room age 2. We moved though a year later and both had a good sized room each.

@CaffeineInfusion Changed door to open outwards rather than in the room.

Jesus, why after all these years did I not think of that, thanks for the tip.

Goodness, given all the things babies need I cant imagine using the box room as the nursery. Could you and your husband move out into another room and switch for a while so the baby has the space you will need for its own sensory needs and you will have space for feeding, changing and playing?

We didn’t use a wardrobe until DD was about 1 and moved into a different bedroom.

We had a shoe holder on the back of her door and I folded the little outfits/baby grows into it. Actually worked really well and am now doing the same for newborn DS.

I have a set of IKEA drawer in the nursery with bigger clothes sizes/pram suits in. Then a changing table which I keep everything else in.

I’ve put a picture on, the next to me was only there as this was taken before DS was born, and in that space we can fit a cot but DD is still using that at the moment in her new room!!

Small box room nursery. I got all nursery furniture from IKEA from three different IKEA brands. All white so you can’t tell they different brands. I bought new animal shaped handles for the wardrobe and draws so all matched.

I measured everything out and stuck tape on the floor so I knew I could fit everything in (and helped me imagine it).

Have a cot (turns into cot bed) with three draws under it, changing table with 4 - 2 competent storage boxes under it and a small wardrobe with three large draws and one shelf. I personally loved the changing table and it is amazing storage. But it was the only extra storage I could get to fit. I couldn’t get a chest of draws in the changing table space.

DS doesn’t play in his room though at all. Either plays downstairs or in our room (it’s large and has a small toy box in ours) if I’m busy upstairs.

Tiny box room here. Moved the radiator from under the window, cotbed with basket underneath to store bedding, chest of drawers with a changer top. All changing stuff fitted in top drawer, nothing out on display to look untidy. Drawers now live in the wardrobe (it's a built in cupboard) and are still in use. DS is 8.

Yes. We have a cot rather than a cot bed, then a chest of drawers and 2 shelves. That's it. I dont find much need for anything else. I change her on a mat on the floor. We do have a single bed that is made to fit over the bit from the staircase that is built into the room (if that makes any sense). However the plan is she joins her sister when she is around 3 in the second double room we have. I found lots of ideas on pinterest but I just fit the basics in and left it at that. It also forces me to keep her clothes to the minimum and keep clearing old clothes out regularly as there is no storage space bar a box or two under the cot.

We have box room. The Mia cot from mamas and papas and matching drawers, and Dover wardrobe (from same place) all fit in lovely. Nothing else needed.

Could you and your husband move out into another room and switch for a while so the baby has the space you will need for its own sensory needs

Can’t tell if this is a joke or not

Thanks for all your ideas! Love the idea of floating shelves and a cot changing top, I’d never if thought of them.

Another option rather than a cot top changer is that you can get adapters to malm (ikea) chests of drawers that turn them into changing tables, then they just come off when you don't need it any more.

That's what we have in our room.

We had crip and then cotbed in our box room together with a chest of drawers where DH build a changing top with raised sides for. We had 2 shelves above it as well. That was it, no need for anything else as the room is just for sleeping and cleaning baby.

Unusually for lots of people I never ever changed DD on the floor unless we were at a friend's house/PIL and there was no changing table. In my opinion changing on the floor is a nightmare, I never used wipes so would have a bowl of water on the floor, would have to drag all the stuff around and who wants to change a very smelly nappy on the living room floor?

Same reason for never changing DD on the bed either.

It is perfectly possible to change a rolling baby or 18 month old on a drawer unit.

Our plan is to have a cot bed (they do lots that are shorter than the normal range) on one wall, with a single tall kallax squeezed in next to it. I'll make sure the cot has a drawer for storage, then on opposite wall a large chest of drawers with a shelf above. The shelf will have a hanging rail in case anything needs to be hung. Then a small nursing chair next to the chest of drawers.

When they get older we will remove the nursing chair and add a row of Kallax for toys, plus a wall bookshelf.

Our box room is 2.4x1.9m. We have the sundvik cot and change table from IKEA, with a storage box under the cot for spare bedding and blankets. We have an armchair and footstool too, plus the nappy bin and a laundry basket. There’s not much room to move, but the room is just for sleeping and dressing/changing. He’ll move into a bigger room in the loft conversion once he’s older but while he still wakes in the night it’s easier to have him next to my room.

I need to measure the room today. Luckily the room has no awkward ceilings or anything, just awkward placement of the radiator which we may need to move. We do have a slightly bigger bedroom which would be ideal but it’s also got the boiler in which is putting me off.

So much gorgeous furniture which makes it so much harder

Ha. Don't get hung up on gorgeous furniture - by the time the baby can crawl s/he will be ramming toys into it!

I agree with pp that the vision sold by shops of a nursery with beautiful soft furnishings and a feeding chair is not really necessary, but also will only be needed for such a short amount of time, don't fret if you don't get something picture perfect.

We had a bigger room for dd when she was a baby and still never bothered with a changing table or wardrobes etc, she had a cot and a set of drawers - that was her only furniture. I didn’t change her or spend time with her much in her room, she was in with us for the first 6 months so barely went in her own room to begin with and after that she went in there only to sleep.
We just used a changing mat on the floor or our bed to change her!
Just remember that babies really do ‘need’ very little, new parents are a marketers dream to try and sell a ‘lifestyle’ to.

I had a box room nursery, and it really was a box room. 6' x 5' and a good foot of the floor was taken up by the bulk head from the stairs.

I had a built in cupboard above with bulk head which was an incredibly useful space and fitted in clothes, nappies and general baby supplies. I had a cot bed, with storage boxes underneath and a small set of drawers with a nightlight on top. I had a cot top changer which we used until DC were big enough to pull themselves up in the cot, I then moved to changing them on the floor.

Don’t be tempered by beautiful decorated nursery magazine photos, there is no point in them.

We got DD a proper wardrobe when we moved her into a larger room when she was 18 months, at that point I also stored bedding, towels, blankets etc with her.

She is now 13 and we just re-did her room for the 3rd time, she still got IKEA furniture.

I agree with PPs. They barely spend any time in their room. My DD is 3 months and hasnt even been physically in the room yet. Eventually she will just nap and sleep there during the night. My first DD never played there. At 2, she still doesnt play upstairs. The stylish nursery is a bit of a con to be honest. All they need is a cot and some clothes storage. That's it. I used to change my first baby her on her changing mat in the cot! I just slid it under the cot when it wasnt being used. All other times u changed her on the floor. I could get up and put the nappy in the bin and leave her there knowing she was safe compared to a changing table.

Nothing to add but I can just imagine the high earners of mumsnet shuddering at the thought of a “box room”

We had a tinnnnny box room when DC1 was born- luckily there was a built in chest of drawers which was perfect to use as a changing table, I just put a thick changing mat from Ikea on top of it. It had six drawers which was 1000 times handier than a wardrobe.

Wardrobes are handy for storing stuff that you’ve stashed for later age groups so you can see what you have, and for hiding shit that you can’t be bothered organising yet, but I wouldn’t say they’re essential.

We had the Mokee cot as well, which was v handy. I loved that you can get it in lots of colours (we have the mint) and the mattress was really good value. It’s now on its second tenant and is about to be changed into the toddler bed for 2 year old dc2, so we’ve had our moneys worth!

If you end up going with the ikea furniture, do as a PP suggests and change the handles- it’s a really quick and cheap way to make it look a bit more high end.

DD2 didn’t have a room at all until about 14 months- cot in corner of our room and clothes on top 2 drawers of our chest of drawers and changing mat on top. Other stuff rammed under our bed.