We have a nursery update: two new pieces of furniture we bought, assembled, and are now planning to customize. After an earlier planning post, we imagined jumping straight into building two custom built-ins to flank the crib. But we realized we needed to decide what style the built-ins should take first (base cabinets with doors and a bookcase top? lower cabinets with drawers? dressers topped with shelves and molding? or tall armoire-like units?).
New Purchases and Initial Layout
After lots of browsing for inspiration and comparing measurements and product choices across many cabinetry and furniture options, we settled on a long-term solution: strong, sturdy wood drawers at the base with a bookcase-style top built up to the ceiling and framed with molding. We picked up two of the best-fitting dressers we could find and assembled them, so the nursery currently looks like this:
Eventually, we expect the finished built-ins to resemble the rendered concept—just less Photoshop-y and more practical.
A Personal Moment: Second-Time Dad Reflections
Before diving into the DIY details, I want to share some personal thoughts I had while assembling the dressers. I’m a tough critic of my own parenting: I always want to be more patient, have more adventures, and give Clara more undivided attention. Facing the arrival of a second child brought up worries about how I’ll divide my attention between two kids when I sometimes feel I’m already falling short with one.
Life felt simpler when we were expecting Clara. Back then, one of us was able to leave a demanding job and focus more fully on family and projects. This time around, the new baby will arrive amid a much busier season—finishing a showhouse, book deadlines, and other projects—so I worry that he’ll meet a more distracted version of us. Sometimes I even feel like apologizing in advance that his welcome into our family will differ from Clara’s experience.
But assembling the dressers helped quiet that fear. When Clara walked in as I opened the first box and asked to help, it reminded me that this baby’s experience will be different in many positive ways. He’ll grow up participating in everyday household projects—assembling furniture, tinkering around the house—and he’ll have a devoted big sister to play with, look after him, and love him. That’s something uniquely his and a beautiful part of this season of family life.
Clara helped more than I expected. She picked pieces out of the bags, counted parts, and even took over putting dowels into the right holes. Those hands-on moments are the memories that matter—not a perfect schedule or an idealized version of the past. While I haven’t eliminated all my parenting insecurities, I’ve stopped comparing the two experiences and allow them to be different without guilt.
Why These Dressers?
Most built-ins we saw used base cabinets from big box stores or popular modular systems like bookcases. Those options can feel too kitchen-y, too shallow, or made from particleboard. We wanted deeper, more durable drawers that function like dressers: deep, easy-to-access storage that will last beyond the nursery years. The dressers we chose are 21″ deep and solid wood, offering substantial build quality and nice details like a pronounced wood grain on the top and drawer fronts—features that inspired us to plan a stained top with painted bodies.
They’re pricier than some options, but we prefer investing in something sturdy that we won’t be replacing in a few years. The width felt right for the wall, with enough space between the units to later accommodate a twin bed lengthwise or a full/queen widthwise as the room changes over time.
Next Steps: Building and Finishing
There’s still a lot to do: building the bookcase tops, caulking, priming, painting, staining the tops, and installing crown molding to tie the room together. We plan to paint the bodies and stain the dresser tops so the materials for the tops will visually match the base units. For now the drawers have temporary string handles while we wait to finish paint and hardware installation.
If you don’t hear about this project for a little while, that means we’re elbow-deep in dust, paint, and molding. I’m hoping the next update will be a completed, “yay, they’re done!” post. In the meantime, my little building assistant has proven pretty handy with dowels and Allen wrenches, and her enthusiasm makes the work feel that much more rewarding.
She really does have a good handle on dowels and Allen wrenches, and we’re looking forward to finishing the built-ins that will help the nursery grow with our family.