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Stress-free Timeline to Designing Your Nursery

Preparing the nursery in your home is a really fun job and can even be one of the most enjoyable times of your pregnancy. There are so many fun things to pick up along the way to adorn your nursery, but you might also be surprised how long some items will take to arrive and be ready to get into the room.

To ensure you are able to take pleasure in the process and not be stressed at the end, follow the below nursery timeline to complete your design. Now if you are already well past some of these deadlines, we don’t want you to stress either!

This is the ideal timeline for making sure you have plenty of time without having to rush, but we know plenty of parents who like to wait until closer to baby’s arrival.

Choose a theme and your budget by 18-20 weeks. While this seems like an obvious first step you may not realize how early you need to do this. Are you going to find out the sex of your baby and will this affect your theme or will you keep it gender neutral? Will the design flow into the design of the rest of your home or stand out as a baby’s nursery?

No matter what theme you choose, make sure you choose it by the time you are 20 weeks. When creating your baby registry you will want to be able to make color and fabric choices that work well with your nursery theme and within your budget.

Southwestern-Inspired Girl's Nursery - Project Nursery

Feminine Southwestern-Inspired Nursery

Order your furniture by 21-23 weeks. Some of your furniture choices can take up to 12-14 weeks to arrive so you want to order it as soon as possible.

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    Consider how far along you are going to be and what help you will have with moving furniture when it is going to arrive to determine if you need to purchase white glove and assembly services when you purchase each of your furniture pieces.

    3-in-1 Scoot Convertible Crib - The Project Nursery Shop3-in-1 Scoot Convertible Crib

    Paint or wallpaper by 23-25 weeks. You need to decide on a paint color and get the room painted or wallpapered so it has plenty of time to air out before you, baby or baby’s things spend too much time in there.

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      This is even true if you are painting with a low or no VOC paint. If you have purchased your crib mattress by this time it is also good to to remove its packaging and air it out as well.

      Pink and Gray Nursery with Floral Jolie Wallpaper - Project Nursery

      Harper’s Watercolor Floral Nursery featuring Jolie Wallpaper

      Choose storage solutions and get those installed by 25-27 weeks. It is no secret babies tend to need a lot of items and a lot of little items. Once baby arrives you want to be able to easily find anything you need in the nursery.

      Take a good look at the in the room as well as the furniture you have ordered and determine what storage baskets, additional shelving or closet solutions you may need. A well organized nursery closet can be a life saver.

      Storage Solutions

        Add all the extras to make it beautiful by 27-30 weeks. While you are still comfortable maneuvering around, this is a good time to hang pictures, put up lighting and start to put away all the gifts from your baby shower.

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          By this time, your furniture should have arrived and you can be sure the layout works well or rearrange to make the most of the space. You will be spending a lot of time in the nursery so make sure you have also included a space for you in the design that includes a comfortable seat and something to set a drink on.

          Yellow and Gold Girl's Nursery - Project NurseryProject Nursery Co-Founder Melisa Fluhr’s Daughter’s Nursery

          By 36 weeks have it all complete. Just in case baby decides to arrive a little early and before you may be too uncomfortable, you want to try to have the nursery fully ready to go by the time you are 36 weeks pregnant.

          Make sure you wash all the clothes in the layette as well as the crib bedding, stock the changing table with supplies and get your monitor installed and working.

          Organized Baby Clothes - Project NurseryPink, Ivory and Grey Twin Girls Nursery

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