Now that the big bathroom makeover is finished, it’s nursery time. We love our third bedroom, so turning it into a nursery feels a little bittersweet—but we’re thrilled to welcome our little girl in May and excited to create a cozy space for her at Casa Petersik.
We tend to reuse what we already have, so suddenly facing a daybed, a table, chairs, a rug and an ottoman with nowhere to put them had us brainstorming. We’d already moved the little wrapping-paper and letter-writing table (and a spare chair) to the basement during the bathroom project, which solved part of the puzzle. But the daybed posed a bigger challenge: the nursery is the smallest bedroom and a crib is non-negotiable.
The solution was the sunroom. We already have a comfy daybed there for lounging in warm months, so why not add the second one? After a bit of shifting and heavy lifting (John handled the muscle work while I supervised), the second daybed found a new home in the sunroom.
It actually looks pretty good. We’re eager for warmer weather so we can settle in with books and make full use of both daybeds. One pleasant surprise: the darker wood tone of the relocated daybed sits well next to the existing white one. The oil-rubbed bronze sliding door sashes in the room help tie the tones together. Someday we may paint the darker bed white to visually unify the pieces, but we like the idea of matching color without making every detail identical—different styles with complementary bedding feels more interesting.
We reused many of the pillows from the third bedroom and added an oatmeal-colored blanket to help the new bed blend with the existing setup. The layered, serene look works for now; we’ll likely add some bright, punchy pillows in spring to liven the space.
Placing the daybed against the wall where a small teak chair and side table once sat gives the best view of our private backyard—the other daybed faces the house—so it’s a much better spot for relaxing and entertaining. Swapping a single teak chair for a full daybed also increases seating capacity in the sunroom, which is great for hosting game nights or casual gatherings.
For now the daybed is an interim solution; it might return to the nursery as a “big-girl” bed in a few years, or it might remain in the sunroom if we find it useful for sleepovers or extra seating. Time will tell.
Next we tackled the rug. The nursery needed something softer underfoot than our jute rug, so that jute needed a new home. It turns out we have an identical jute rug in the kitchen, so we rolled the spare up and tucked it behind the blinds above the laundry nook. That keeps a backup on hand for spills in the kitchen without cluttering the main living spaces.
We also decided the ottoman would be useful to keep in the nursery for toy storage and for putting up my feet while nursing, so it stayed put for now. The asymmetrical photo collage on the wall will probably remain, though we may swap in some baby-focused art with brighter colors to complement the nursery’s color scheme once it’s finalized. Of course, we’ll make sure any frames are securely fastened or moved out of reach as our daughter grows and becomes more mobile.
That’s how we cleared the nursery without creating a “graveyard” of displaced furniture. A mostly empty room is full of potential, and it came in handy while we repainted the walls and ceiling over the weekend. We’ll share those updates soon.
What about you? New parents: where did you move old furniture to make room for baby—Craigslist, storage, other rooms? And non-parents: have you converted a bedroom to a home office, library, or something else? We’d love to hear how you repurpose furniture and reimagine rooms to fit new needs.