A Nursery For Two: How to Decorate a Nursery for a Foster Baby

From the very first moment my best friend told me she was pregnant I have been so into designing and decorating nurseries. I have helped lots of friends get their nurseries ready for their sweet babes, but when it came to decorating a nursery for a foster baby I had no idea where to start.

Our guest room had been where I had spent almost a year on and off bedrest due to an accident. To me it was a sad room with hard memories so, I was determined to make it a bright and happy place for any little we got to share our lives with.

At first, it was very simple. We painted the walls a light grey color and decorated with greys, black, white, and yellows. We had NO idea then that in 6 months we’d be moving another crib into this small 8×8 space.

 

It’s a first world problem but honestly, I struggle sometimes with major house envy. I don’t have wood floors, any sort of backsplash anything anywhere, and we don’t have tons of great lighting. We live in a small house that used to be JJ’s bachelor pad with his buddies. The carpet still has old pizza stains thanks parties from the past that I have desperately tried to cover with cute rugs or furniture. I love the nurseries that have themes or the ones with the awesome wallpaper and gorgeous matching furniture.

When you are preparing a room for a little one from ages 0-3yrs, as a brand new parent, it’s hard to know what you need or where things should go. Our nursery has totally evolved from what it was. Here is the down-low on our nursery if you’re interested 😉

I really wanted the nursery to be bright and happy. Initially, we went with a travel theme. There were a lot of maps and pictures of Arizona on the walls. I figured since these sweet littles would be traveling so much in their small lives that it would be a cute theme. We still have a few maps up in the room, but now it has much more of a random theme.

As I said before, our nursery has evolved from just a few simple things to now a full functioning baby’s room.

The scratch and dent section of IKEA is your friend! We bought the kiddo’s dresser from there. Sure, one of the drawers isn’t the same wood color (I plan to paint it one of these days), but it works and we got it for a steal. Our first crib was a gift from JJ’s parents and the other crib was a Christmas gift from my parents. They are both from Babyletto and they are amazing cribs.

We also have Amazon Prime and an Amazon credit card. We saved up all of our points every month when we were going through foster classes and used those points to purchase many of the random things that you need when you have a baby like; a diaper pail (honestly, I wish we had like 3), a thermometer, a nose plunger, diaper cream, books…you get the idea.

I am always look through the clearance racks at Target and that is where we got a lot of the littles blankets, clothes, and toys. This Skip Hop noise machine and night light was one of the best purchases we made for the nursery. Our SoundSpa broke after about 6 months of use and so far this little owl has been great! Table is for Target (it was a dented and pink. I painted it white and turned it so you can’t see the dent).

The little shelves in their room are spice racks from IKEA. We flipped one over to put shoes on and use as a clothing rack for a few of A’s dresses.

Can you tell I have a slight Solly Wrap obsession from this photo? Honestly, if you are thinking of buying a Solly or any kind of baby wrap really, I would recommend buying 2. A is still very small and I baby wear both her and Sunshine almost daily. It does help with attachment, crying, security, and allowing you to get things done around the house. We always have one in the car just incase! All four of our sweet foster babies have benefited from baby wearing. Buy two because your sweet baby will pee through yours, or spit-up on it, or you will spill Mexican food on it as you try to eat over your baby’s head 😉

This is JJ’s little corner. Yes, our nursery is a bit on the “girly” side. Currently, Sunshine sleeps in a bassinet in our room until he is able to sleep through the night. If it was up to JJ this whole nursery would be Superhero themed. He loves the message of bravery, hope and adoption from many Superhero stories. Both Batman and Superman have stories like this so they “watch over” the littles from their place on the shelf, or so JJ says 😉

I grew up reading and watching a lot of Winnie the Pooh. My sister LOVED Pooh and the stories bring back a lot of childhood memories for me. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I was able to see the wonderful love that emanates from the pages of A. A. Milne’s stories. This quote is by Christopher Robin, encouraging Pooh to always remember who is he. I won’t lie, I have been struck by the message of that quote many different times. Sometimes it makes me smile and other times it leaves me in a puddle on the floor. Being a parent, in any sense of the word, is so beautiful and so hard. Message board is from LetterFolk.

A has a small obsession with her “babies”. They follow her all around the house, in the car, and sometimes all through Target. Her Max Kitty, in the middle, is from CuddleandKind and is the doll that started it all. She can’t sleep without him. It is so fun for us to start seeing her imagination as she plays with her babies. The doll on the left is from 3and3heirloom dolls and the one on the right is from Target.

This globe is from the amazing Savannah Ashley. It says, “bind my wandering heart to thee..” it was inspired by the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. Not only does A love to spin this globe but it is simply another little reminder for us as we all are on this journey through foster care, childhood and parenthood.

I may never have an amazingly themed nursery that matches and has hardwood floors, but in the end what matters most are the little lives that call this space their room. What matters most is that they feel welcomed, safe, and loved.

If you’re a foster parent, or future foster parent, decorating a nursery for different ages, genders, and personalities can be a challenge. We have found that decorating simply with a few staples makes it easy to adapt to any sweet child that you may have come through your home. Stick with a simple color scheme and don’t feel like you have to have a fully decorated nursery out the gate.