Self Storage for Everyone

Congratulations to our Northampton Store Manager Tina for winning the SSA Store Manager of the year award, and to our Doncaster Store for 2nd place in the SSA UK Multi-Site Operator Store of the year award 🏆

Home improvement

Tips for designing your first nursery

As your belly grows and the due date looms, getting the nursery ready will probably be at the forefront of your mind. The last thing you want is to be unprepared when the baby arrives. But, if this is your first, you may be wondering where to start, so here are a few tips to help you out.

Have a clear out: Our spare rooms tend to be full of the items that we aren’t sure what else to do with so, before you pick up a paintbrush, you need to remove everything. This is where we come in – the sooner it is out, the sooner you can start decorating and our storage units enable you to remove a large amount in one go but still have access to it as and when you need it. You will also find it comes in handy for your children’s toy storage when their toy boxes become too full to close.

Research and plan: Start by taking inspiration from Pinterest, magazines, mummy blogs and so on. Once you have got an idea of what you like you can draw up a plan – which will include what you need and what goes where. Don’t settle for the first thing you find, otherwise although you will have a nursery set up for your baby, you could find that you really dislike it.

Keep it simple: In all the excitement, it can be easy to over-decorate and over-fill the room – your research and planning will help to avoid this. But, a good way to do this is by choosing a key focus for the room – this could be a piece of furniture or artwork. Once you have done this you can start to build around it – which will also help with your colour scheme.

Pick a neutral colour scheme: You may want to consider soft, tranquil colours that are calming and nurturing. You will find that the calming feel of the room is as good for you as it is for your little one following his or her arrival. Similarly, consider using decal stickers rather than wallpaper – these can easily (and cheaply) be updated as your child grows.

Keep safety in mind: Designing your nursery is fun but there are also important safety considerations to bear in mind. Are the sockets and wiring safe? Are the windows and door secure? How can I arrange the furniture safely? Where is the safest place for the cot to be?

Top Tip: If you are buying a cot it should conform to BS EN 716-2:2008 – a standard which ensures it is deep enough to be safe and that the bars are the correct distance apart. If you are getting your cot secondhand make sure that the bars are no more than 6.5cm apart.

You will also want to create a safe zone around the cot by positioning it away from windows, heaters, lamps, cords etc. Remember to also keep furniture away from the cot that your baby could clamber on to.

As your baby grows and you find that you no longer need items such as the cot, you could always move them into your storage in preparation for the arrival of baby number two!

Self Storage for Everyone