In anticipation of it becoming baby central, I’ve been working on the basement! It’s so dark and dreary, I wanted to bring in a bunch of bright colors and functional storage, seating and toys.
It used to look like this – an empty corner with a bookcase and a printer. The lamp went to the nursery, the books to our upstairs bookshelves and the printer to our hidden closet shelves.
Now with some updates, it looks like this! [The colors should give you an idea of how dark it is down there with just one window on the other side of the room!]
On the left side is TV central. I’m sure I’ll spend a good amount of time on this couch, but it’s also really hard to get into because it’s so big and sunken, so I think the chair is actually going to make a better nursing spot.
But the ottoman might become my downstairs changing table (I just need a pad to put on to protect it)
Improvements included:
Moving the arm chair to the corner. I never knew what to do with this corner and kept putting things in it that I didn’t like. I like the chair! It fills up the corner space well.
We could have bought a glider for this room, but I just didn’t want to spend the money since we have this great (comfortable + stylish) arm chair. Plus, I hear exercise balls are great for soothing babies – so our friends with a 2 month old tell us! We have one of those down here and ready to go.
Pretty comfy with a view of the TV
And tucked nearby – a foot stool to prop up feet and recline (also the huge couch if that turns out to be more comfortable). ALSO a rocking chair on the porch I can bring down if needed. OR I can lie sideways on the ottoman.
Next to the chair is mom’s station – a spot for water bottles, snacks, computers, phones, books, etc. The drawers are empty and ready to receive items!
Next to that is a toy basket – which currently houses our hand-me-down boppy pillow. Hopefully the downstairs nursing support. (I also have a My Breast Friend that might become the priority downstairs – don’t know yet)
Underfoot is a new rug I found at Pier 1 for $25 bucks! I wanted a play rug for the baby to lounge on and play with toys and things.
I researched all kinds of bigger rugs, round rugs, and expensive rugs and decided that until I need an expensive rug, this inexpensive fluffy guy will be fine – at least until he’s ready to need 10 feet of crawling space. I almost went with red, as white seemed impractical, but then I remembered spit up and breast-fed baby poop is white/beige and I actually think it will blend better in this than a darker color. If I have to toss it after 6 months I will – another reason to go cheap.
Perhaps my favorite change is the newly painted shelves!! We bought these at Pier 1 for our first apartment and black was cool then. But now they just seemed to make the space so dark. So I brightened them up! Details on the transformation coming next week : )
The baskets I found at World Market – for a great price! $6.99 for the silver ones and $3 for the small ones. The yellow box was another spray paint project. I planned to put it in our bedroom, but it just didn’t match well (it was TOO bright!) but I think it works well here : )
I love the bright colors, and they are ready to store diapers, wipes, toys, and more.
Look, one already has some toys from Baby Raffi!
There is also lots of floor space for the swing, bouncy seats, pack n plays and more. I think the majority of our baby stuff will end up down here – which means the upstairs will hopefully be a neat retreat.
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