Bumplog: getting organised part II
I‘ve had a couple of posts here recently about . I’m a very organised person anyway, just a teensy bit neurotic about it if truth be told, and I hate to be caught with my pants down (so to speak). More importantly, I remember from last time how uncomfortable even simple tasks like shopping can be in the last couple of months before baby’s due so I’m trying to get the big purchases done and dusted nice and early this time around.
Luckily we already have a changing table that we’re moving into the nursery from Curly Girl’s room and a lovely Mamas and Papas cot that we’ve bought second hand from a friend. But there are a few other things we needed so last week we schlepped off to IKEA and John Lewis (my two fav shops for all things home) and came home with these:
1. Blackout blind and curtains
Although Peanut is going to be in our room for the first few months I want to get the principle of sleeping in the dark started early on as I left it a bit late with Curly Girl. Black out blinds and curtains make all the difference, especially in the summer as the sun comes up at the front of our home and streams into both Curly Girl’s window and the nursery-to-be. I decided against traditional baby curtains with tractors or dinosaurs and instead went with this simple spots and stripes combination so that I can add the other touches to the room in temporary wall-sticker form. This will make it easier (and cheaper!) to change later on. Thankfully good ‘ol John Lewis had everything we needed including curtain poles and rings and as always the staff were SUPER helpful and patient with us, especially as Curly Girl spent the time happily removing everything from the shelves and putting it back in a completely different place *gulp*.
2. Bookcase
Peanut’s nursery-to-be is quite a small box room so space is at a premium. We have one of these narrow Billy bookcases in Curly Girl’s room and it’s been invaluable for storing her books, keepsakes and other odds and ends in combination with these Kusiner storage boxes that fit perfectly on the shelves.
3. Changing mat
We used one of these Gullinge changing mats when Curly Girl was a baby and it’s great value at only £4.50. It has blow-up sides which act as padding and stop baby from rolling about too much and it’s totally wipe clean – SO important. I kept Curly Girl’s one so now we have one for upstairs and one for downstairs.
4. Storage
There’s no getting away from it, babies have lots of stuff. I love Ikea’s storage solutions because they marry form and function with great value. We’ll use the Fangst hanging storage for all Peanut’s soft toys, the Kusiner mesh basket for his laundry, put the Pysslingar boxes in his drawers to separate baby grows, socks and other clothes, sit the Kusiner storage baskets on the changing table to hold nappies and creams and use the APA storage box as a toy/blanket chest (I love that it’s white so I can decorate it with stickers to match the room).
5. Towel
Another item that we had for Curly Girl which has washed and worn brilliantly in the last 2 years and another case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Great value again at £7.
Thanks to a special offer on Huggies baby wipes at Sainsburys this week I’m fully stocked up on those, my new changing bag is already in use (yep we went with the and I absolutely LOVE it *squeeeal*) and last week our new Apple baby sling from Sa-Be Babywear arrived (much cheaper than it’s alternatives at only £24.95) so all we really have left to get are Peanut’s first sets of clothes, baby gros and nappies (I think). I’m going to hold off on these until we have a better idea of how big he might be (and when he might be making an appearance!).
Am I nesting already? Perhaps. Nothing’s been put together or set up in the nursery yet, that can wait a little while (and frankly we need to clear the junk room study out first) but it’s all sitting there waiting for us to be ready and that is tantamount to preggy peace of mind.
What did you do to prepare for your new arrival? Were you all ready in advance or did you wait a while? What were your must have items?
Back to School – get organised, get discounts, get dressed, get walking!
I’m deep, soft and warm – how about you?
