When you are living in a city of more for less, as in more $$ for less sq. footage, you have to make every inch count.  inspired by the tiny house shows on HGTV, I thought to myself “If people can make 250 sq. ft. work for day in day out living, I could make an 8×7 ft. den into a functioning nursery”.  So, with that in mind, I set off to make our tiny space into something special for our new tiny human.

With a space so small, or ‘condo-sized’ as I like to call it, I set my focus on keeping the nursery light + bright and ensured that each piece placed in it warranted the real-estate.   As my budget was limited, I worked to use as many existing furnishings as I could and walked the line balancing the high with the low ticketed items.  Since I had several people asking to see how the space turned out, I decided to share the final outcome.  Enjoy!

After clearing out what use to be an office/guest room/closet, selling off the furniture that once sat inside/outside of it, and painting the walls a fresh coat of white the room already began to look larger.  Though aesthetically the tiny started to feel not-so-tiny, physically several facts remained:

[1] There was no way a rocking chair would fit in the room – I searched high and low and found the perfect chair that could simultaneously sit right outside the nursery doors and comfortably fit in with our living room furniture.  To top it all off, it was a great price!  It’s nothing fancy, but this Structube rocker did the trick.

[2] This den has no windows – To bring extra natural light into the room I placed the crib across the double doors and atop it I hung a large round mirror that directly reflects the window in the living room.  Finding a lightweight mirror was not easy, luckily I came across this one from Ikea.

[3] An average ‘small’ sized area rug’s dimensions are larger than the room -Every rug I liked was either too large or more money than I wanted to spend.  So, I literally took matters into my own hands and hand-crotchetted a little area rug.  I plan to continue the search for the perfect floor covering but, until then this DIY-ed piece adds the texture I was looking for and it only cost me [about] 2hrs of my time and the price of yarn!

[4] Normal cribs are huge! – After some convincing and a ton of questioning from Mike, I finally agreed to entertain the idea of a mini crib.  It all turned out for the best as without it, Atlas’ nursery would have ended up ALL crib.

Note: Mini crib sheets weren’t the easiest to find [well ones that I wanted] and are only now slowly starting to pop up as options in nursery bedding.  I stumbled upon ours on an American made-to-order crib bedding website, Carousel Designs, that offers a ton of colour and pattern options for all crib sizes.  I was so excited to find sheets that weren’t solids or in patterns that I didn’t want.  The only downside was the cost of shipping but well worth it to get exactly what I wanted.

And now for the extras….

I stuck with white for both the large furniture pieces [crib + matching dresser] and added pops of colour through decor.

One of my favourite details were the dresser knobs from CB2.  I actually purchased the set before I even had the dresser.  The little balls of amber were too cute to pass up and, they were on sale!

With no natural light in the room, introducing a plant to the space left me with limited options.  I had an existing snake plant that I was planning on using but then came across this whimsical fellow at a plant shop during my planter search.  This strafish plant is a member of the snake family and characteristic to this family are its capabilities to survive in low light and its natural ability to purify the air; a winning combo for our nursery!  To add to the whimsy, the starfish was potted in a simple yet fun planter by NYC design duo Chen and Kai.

Aside from the crib, the 2nd main furniture piece in the room is the crib’s matching dresser/change table.  With 4 weeks in the NICU we became accustom to a highly functioning change station.  So in this instance, though I focused on function I couldn’t help but add some fun and fashion.  The highly functional pieces were our wipeable change pad, quick access diaper utility cart, and easy dump hamper.  However, note the fashion with the soap pump bottles turned sani/lotion bottles, croc textured vase, and scroll legged hamper stand.

Still aboard the function train, above the change table, I used art ledges to showcase colour and display art, books, flowers, and objects of interest [including the adorable little octopus from Atlas’ NICU stay].  The main piece of art on display is a photo by Jeff Mindell of donkeys in Santorini.  I thought it fitting as both Atlas and Theodore are Greek names and I loved that the Mati [evil eye] talisman adorning the donkey is watching over the nursery.

To add a final touch of personalization, I hung Atlas’ initials in neon light-up letter blocks beside his closet and found some fun over-the-door hooks to hang and display his very first chef coat.

Dare I say it, this small space was just as challenging to furnish as a large room.  I really had to pick, chose, and edit edit edit.  However, I am thrilled with how it all turned out and I hope that Atlas loves and appreciates all the details that went into it.

S O U R C E  G U I D E

Furniture + Large Decor: crib + dresser –Babyletto | side table -older piece from Ikea | owl stools – older piece from Urban Barn | rocker – Structube | Mongolian foot stool – West Elm | floor lamp -Urban Barn | mirror + utility cart + art shelves -Ikea | blanket ladder + over the door hooks -Umbra

Bedding: crib sheet –Carousel Designs | braided bumper – Juju and Jake | wink pillow – Indigo

Small Decor:  woven baskets + pump bottles + hamper platform + gold balloon dog -Home Sense | plant + planter –Dynasty | globe + stuffed tiger and ring master -Anthropologie | cylinder vase + dresser knobs -CB2 | framed photo print –Society 6 | neon letters – Indigo

DIY: area rug | basket pom poms