Designing A Home With Baby in Mind

Filed under: Bedroom, Your Home, Projects

Young House Love's Sherry and John Petersik decorated a home perfect for newlyweds. Then they had a baby, and they had to rethink their home's design -- and style. (Hint: Their dining room is now the nursery!)

Talk to Sherry Petersik, and she'll be the first to admit that she wasn't completely onboard when her husband, John, suggested starting a blog about decorating their home back in 2007. "We were putting in so much hard work and it was kind of getting us down," says Sherry. "John thought a blog would be a good way to feel fulfilled by all of the changes we were making."


He was right, and they went on to record all of their trials and tribulations fixing up their 54-year-old ranch house in Richmond, Virginia on their blog, Young House Love. The blog now has a loyal following, in part, because the couple is so relatable. "When we bought it, we had never even picked up a sledgehammer," says Sherry. But with a little bit of research and a whole lot of enthusiasm, the duo got to work. Four years and dozens of successful home projects later, it's fair to say that the couple's cozy abode is still a work-in-progress.

Their latest addition is a bit more permanent. In May, they had a baby girl named Clara (shown above). And with baby came a new list of home design challenges, namely where to fit all of that stuff?

Edit, Edit, Edit
Sherry says that after a baby shower full of gifts on top of necessities like a high chair, stroller, swing, etc, she quickly learned that editing was her best friend. She figured out what the baby would actually use once she was born -- and skipped the other "necessities." "If you bought everything that every kids' retailer told you you needed, you wouldn't have room for the baby," says Sherry. "We discovered early on that Clara loves to swing, so we chose a neutral-colored, small, travel swing that folds up. This way, the small footprint doesn't overwhelm our living spaces and can be stored away easily."


Quick and Easy Storage
She also relies on something she calls a "stash spot," an extension of the couple's pre-Clara motto: "If everything has a place, it's easier to clean up and maintain the house."

To keep the baby stuff in check, they devoted a small kitchen cabinet to bottles (and spoons, sippy cups and snack holders). They keep the Boppy seat and blankets on the floor in Clara's play space so they can easily be tossed into the closet on a moment's notice. The foam bath mat (a smart space-saving alternative to a larger bath tub or chair) gets wrung out and slipped into one of the baskets in the open linen closet, without taking up precious laundry folding space.

Rooms With a Purpose
Another new priority, says Sherry, is creating room that can pull double duty. Take their 10 by 10.5 foot home office (shown below), which also serves as a guest bedroom and (now) playroom. Because Sherry and John both work from home in their home office, they knew that they needed to create a work space that would also accommodate baby Clara's daily routine.


First, they decided to pump up the room's rug space to create a cozy floor space for Clara to lounge around on. Then they brought in one of their existing bookshelves and stocked it with a collection of her favorite toys and books stored in woven baskets (the bookshelf featured at the top of the post), which complements the existing style of their home.

Sherry says that their style has changed a bit since Clara was born. "We're much more attracted to pops of color and more playful décor," says Sherry. "When we first designed this house, we really wanted to show how mature we were, but now we're embracing a little whimsy. It feels like our home reflects our life at every stage."

A Baby Nursery Can Go Anywhere
Also, in a smaller house like the Petersiks' 1,350-square-foot charmer, it's a good idea to design a baby room that flows with the rest of the home's décor. As you can see, Clara's nursery is a bit more sophisticated than the average baby.

Since the house is short on space, they decided to turn an unused dining room into Clara's nursery. Here are pics of the dining room (below left) before it was renovated into Clara's nursery (below right).


When Sherry and John first bought the house, they knew they didn't need a formal dining room. "The dining room actually had a closet, so it seemed like it was destined to be a bedroom," says Sherry. To accomplish this task, the two simply closed off the wall between the dining room and the kitchen and - voila! They had a guest room.

When Sherry got pregnant, they realized that the guest room would make the perfect nursery. They didn't change anything structurally when they made the room into a nursery for Clara. Instead, they simply took the door off the closet and added a print curtain. "Her little clothes are so cute, so the closet actually makes for an adorable focal point in the room," says Sherry.

For more on kids rooms, check out:
- Kids' Room, Nothing Kid-Like About It
- That's Smart: Kid-Friendly Glass

And get more ideas for nursery products from AOL Shopping

 

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