As mentioned in my previous post where I shared our renovation journey, I’m currently working on a series of blogposts to share more about the different spaces in our home and the first space to be featured is Laurent’s room 🙂

About 1 year ago, I blogged about setting up the baby corner just 1 month away from my EDD. At that time, we didn’t have an extra room to use as a baby room, so we set up the baby corner in the study room. But honestly, for the first few months, we simply wheeled the cot into our room because it made breastfeeding and soothing Laurent a lot more convenient.

It was only after we shifted to our current place that we were able to dedicate a room as Laurent’s baby room.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

 It works better for us to have a room for Laurent because back when we didn’t have a dedicated baby room, the baby stuff were spewed all over the house.

We’ve learnt that the easiest way to keep our home organised is to have a place for everything, so that we won’t end up leaving random things all around the house because they have no where to “return to”.

Hence, at our current place, we try to maximise the storage spaces we have to keep his things organised.

For his clothes, we were inspired by our Muji-loving neighbours to get these stackable drawers from Muji to maximise the space in the wardrobe. Kids’ clothes are small and most of them do not require hanging, so shallow drawers are the best bet for maximising storage.

The wardrobe (provided by the developer) happened to come with a compartmentalised drawer which worked perfectly for separating all the little items like bibs, wash cloths, socks, etc.

And a deeper drawer for the bigger items like towels, bedsheets, pillow cases, etc.

All the other miscellaneous things like stocked up toiletries, diaper samples, baby wipes and the likes are kept out of view in storage boxes bought from Qoo10 (we really love these storage boxes so you will be seeing them all over our house in almost every post!).

For his toys and books, they are able to fit nicely into Ikea’s Kallax shelf which we believe will be a storage solution that will “grow” with Laurent since it is extremely versatile.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

We also have a DIY Kolor Storage Bag to throw some of his soft toys in and only recently did I decide to customise it by handwriting some words on the bag with my new brush pens because the hubs was complaining that it looked like those durian sack when it’s plain -_- (ok fine, it does).

His diaper trolley is another of my favourite Ikea storage solution (of course Ikea doesn’t call it the diaper trolley). Everything I need for his bath and diaper change fits perfectly into the trolley (with some space to spare). We could wheel the trolley into any rooms we need and when he outgrows the need for the things in the trolley, we can change it to store other things like art and craft material.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Here’s a closer look at his cot because I’ve received a number of queries on where some of the items are bought.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

The SUPER thick bumper (which I didn’t realise is almost impossible to find in Sg until a number of mummies asked me about it), customised pillow case and chevron cot sheet are bought on Pottery Barn Kids. I first found this website when I was trying to find a suitable diaper bag and subsequently fell in love with their baby beddings, especially the organic cot sheets which comes in a wide array of designs.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Before I end off, here are some tips which I’ve picked up on planning for a baby room:

1) Less Built-in – Kids grow up and move through the various stages of their development really fast. A room which has less built-in furniture allows us to make changes to the room quickly and easily to best suit their changing needs.

2) Storage is important – I used to think, babies are so tiny, how much space would we really need to keep their stuff? Well, I’ve got my answer. ALOT. Because their things are either big in quantity (diapers, cloths, wash cloths) or big in size (walkers, gliders, bouncers). remember to cater for some buffer in storage so that you can keep the things which they have outgrown.

3) Use versatile storage solutions – Same point as Tip #1, kids grow really fast, versatile storage solutions can ‘grow’ with the kids and would not be deemed obsolete when they enter their next developmental phase.

4) It’s ok to buy silly things – It’s a kid’s room! You can never have too many silly, useless and fun stuff in there 🙂

5) Design it with YOU in mind – Make it a place that is comfortable for you to spend time with your kid, doing things that you love most, crafting, reading, or just lying next to each other.

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Photo Taken with M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens c/o Olympus Imaging Singapore

Because these everyday memories will make up the picture of what his childhood was like.

Featured Items:

Muji RPP Closet Drawers; DIY Word Banner; Triangle Wall Decal; DIY Storage Bag; KALLAX Shelving Unit; RÅSKOG Trolley; Parklon Space Folder Mat; Cotton On Mini Bright Light Box; Jarrons & Co. Happy Sleep Baby Cot; Pottery Barn Kids Harper Crib Bumper and Customised Pillow; Pottery Barn Kids Organic Crib Sheet.

A big thank you to Olympus Imaging Singapore for giving me a chance to try out their new M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens before its official launch! I’ve been thinking of getting a wide angle lens for shooting interior and events so this couldn’t have come at a better timing 😀

If you’re keen to find out more about the lens, you can head over to their website for more info and follow them on Facebook to get first dibs on its official launch date!

This post is part of the Small Spaces blog train hosted by Mum in the Making. Click on the button below for more Small Spaces inspiration from fellow mummy bloggers!

Next up on the blog train is mama Cherie 😀

Cherie blogs at Cherieladie. She’s married to a ladies shoe designer who is pretty obsessed with everything being in place at home. They have 2 active toddler boys who are constantly turning their lives upside down, creating chaos in every order daddy tries to instil in the household. Read about how they make small spaces for their kids, amidst managing daddy’s expectation that the house remains as much “showroom quality” as possible.