Preparing the House for Baby: Dining Room


The last room that we changed up in preparation for our baby is the dining room.  I shared last week that we switched our living and dining rooms again.  It is a similar set up to what it was before we moved the living room upstairs, just minus a few pieces of furniture.


It is nice to have a little color back in this room now that we have an open mantel (that previously had our TV).  I finally got rid of the old vintage love seat we had in here for years.  It was coming apart so I sent it off to a friend who will give it some TLC and recover it for her own home.

Plus baby stuff can take up a lot of room!  I am not sure if our hand me down baby swing will get used here, but it's been nice to have a space for it these past few months.  I figure one baby thing per room has been pretty safe and has allowed me to not feel like it is taking over the entire house.


We kept our wing back chair in here - it's a great place to read and was a comfortable place for my pregnant body to sit when my nephews would play in here.


We no longer have the buffet in here as it got moved under the TV downstairs.  It now gives more open space around the dining table.  Though we won't be using it any time soon, we have the space to store our hand me down high chair.


A new gallery wall has been styled and hung.  Same art and photos just a new variation.


While we aren't using the dining table a ton these days, it is convenient to have a place to set things down when we come through the door.  I try to keep it clean but having a surface to put things down on versus on the floor comes in handy.


By the back door, I put out a little basket for my nephew's sandals that they wear when we go outside.  Also my fiddle leaf fig loves it's new spot.  It hasn't looked this healthy in years (which isn't saying much)!


I bought another fern for the summer that lasted just long enough for these photos.  It's had a good couple months but between my lack of watering and the summer heat, it's not looking so great.  I really do love it for the first couple of weeks but it doesn't seem to do that well for me.  I will have to consider a more forgiving plant next time.


We have also had this trunk I borrowed from my parents to hold all my nephew's toys in over the past few months.  Before I had a basket of toys in each room but in preparing for the baby and that my nephews would no longer be over as often, I wanted to corral them all in one place.  I have purged quite a few of their toys that I have decided I didn't want to keep for myself.  So everything now fits nicely into one trunk for when they do come over but will no longer be used on a weekly basis.


The house has been turned upside down quite a bit over the past few months.  But it has been all worth it to have a clutter free space for our baby's arrival.  We have room for baby things as well as space to spread out as we hunker down in the first few weeks of parenting.  We have room for guests and open cleared off spaces to keep me sane!