The Nook on POPSUGAR!

{POPSUGAR}

Living at our condo with Eloise as a baby seems like a hundred years ago but our creative solution to giving her her own space is still getting people's attention.

A month ago I was contacted by an editor at POPSUGAR who asked to feature our Closet-to-Nook conversion and it is so cool to see our little project this week on such a widely read website. The response to our Nook on POPSUGAR's Facebook page was quite fascinating. Some people loved loved the idea, some people hated it and one reader commented that we should be put in a closet for suggesting a baby sleep in there! Ha! The other thing I noticed was people's concern for safety, especially with infant dangers like SIDS. Like any other parent, I would never do anything to compromise my child's safety and the truth is, Eloise's Nook was more of a space solution for only a short period of time. Her crib wheeled out of the Nook for sleep - providing proper airflow - and tucked neatly away when not in use. We knew that we would not be living in our condo forever and I was confident that by the time Eloise was reaching and able to stand she would have a larger space; therefore things like pictures about the crib (which, for the record, were firmly affixed to the wall) and a drape would never pose danger or be a strangulation hazard.

Discussion aside, it is super cool to see that our project can open people's eyes to small space solutions with children. Even now, we manage quite nicely in under 1000 square feet as a family of four. Maximizing space is about being creative.

Eloise's Room

It's been a while since I mentioned the Nook or even thought about it, but my friend Jen came across an article on Babble about "Making it Work With No Nursery" and our little Nook was not only featured, it was the feature photo! I can't help but feel proud that the Nook is an inspiration to others faced with small spaces and a baby on the way. Our successful closet conversion just goes to show that a little hard work and some outside-the-box thinking can make any space usable.

The Nook on Babble.

I posted photos of Eloise's room a while back, but since then I have added much more pink so I thought it fitting to do an update. Her bedroom is certainly larger than the Nook (which was literally 10 square feet!), but at 9 x 11' it definitely isn't a big space.

Eloise's room has pale, robin's egg blue walls and lots of airy touches that make it feminine and pretty. This Spring I made the bunting to give the room more colour and dressed up the mosquito net above her crib with lace. The 'Eloise' tutu wreath was a pinterest project from her birthday party and the artwork around the room is all made by me; a silhouette of Eloise at one year, a shadow box of one of her preemie sleepers, a watercolour from my university days and a french alphabet print created by framing a piece of wrapping paper from The Cross.

The only piece of new furniture in Eloise's room is her Alma Mini crib by Bloom. Everything else has been reused, repurposed or purchased second hand, proving that a beautiful nursery on a budget is not only possible but very pretty.

Final Three!

There we are, lower left hand corner!

This morning I got an email from Ohdeedoh with the great news that Eloise's Nook has been selected as a top three finalist in the international division of their Smaller Cooler contest. This is so very exciting and I must say, I am feeling quite pleased with myself too!

If you have a moment, please, VOTE!

We're Famous!

Big news everyone: Eloise's lovely Nook is featured on Apartment Therapy's Ohdeedoh today!

I submitted the Nook to their Smaller Cooler contest last week and to my delight (and my surprise, too), our entry was chosen as lucky #13!

Mosey on over to Ohdeedoh to have a look and don't forget to vote for the Nook! (a poet and I didn't even know it...)

Nook Progress

A very poor photo of our beautiful wallpaper!

Yesterday we put up the wallpaper in the Baby's Nook and it looks SO great! With my Mom's precise eye and Chris' steady hands they did a perfect job of installing the wallpaper in no more than an hour and our little Nook is really starting to take shape. I did my part by making snacks.

The next step is to select a pendant lamp to provide diffused light in the space (perhaps a collection of round, rice paper lanterns in white?) and figure out how to add shelf dividers to our Ikea Lack bookshelf without having the thing fall apart on us. We've used two mini compression rods for hanging the baby's clothing and I found the coolest baskets a few weeks ago at Urban Barn that are made from recycled magazines for storing everything else.

A classic Ikea Lack will provide ample vertical storage.

How great are these baskets from Urban Barn?

I can't wait to show you the finished product!

The Coolest Crib

I came upon the Alma Crib by Bloom many months ago and have been smitten ever since. Not only is this crib totally adorable, it also happens to be the perfect size for our Nook at just 19.5" x 37.25".

Bloom's Alma Crib

The Alma folds up for easy transportation (sleepovers at Grandma's!) and is on casters so we can move it all around the apartment. But wait, there's more: Bloom also has a universal change table that fits on top of the Alma crib, eliminating our need for another piece of furniture. Truly the perfect fit for us!

Bloom's Universal Change Table