Preparing the house for a baby: Home improvements

With the turn of the new year the focus on our 3rd baby has ramped up.

I will admit, this pregnancy I have barely had the chance to REALLY think about it all yet, I still don't think it has sunk in that we will have a newborn in the house in May!

Before Christmas we were just so busy! Apart from scans and midwife appointments, not much thought went into what we need and names etc as I just haven't had the headspace.

But now the kids are back at school, after a week and a half we have settled more into the routine again (it has been a HUGE struggle getting back into it after Christmas) I feel I have the energy and time to start making plans.

We sat down one night and listed all the things we would like to get done in each room in the house, realistically not all the things will be done before the baby comes, but if we get most of them done it will be a bonus! DIY is always hard with children, but babies wait for no one when they need something do they :)

We actually made a start on the DIY list last week by painting our kitchen and downstairs loo white. It desperately needed a freshen up, and we can accessorise and add artwork etc as and when we have the time and money (we will probably have to paint again before that time comes haha)! We bought Leyland Trade in Vinyl Matt, mainly because it is wipeable which the paint that was in here before wasn't. James really liked painting with this paint, saying it went on really well, considering he's used a lot of brands being in the trade this is a positive!

If I do actually find the energy and inspiration I might actually see if I can make some artwork and accessories for these rooms. I have a 3 photo frame I want to get some beach photos in (that I've had 2 years and has sat empty!!!) I might also make some felt fish, or beach huts for a bit of colour, we need to get our mirror back up too! The kitchen I'm not sure what I want to do along the back wall but something fresh and colourful, just need to find something that fits our budget or something I can make quickly and cheaply.

If we paint the joint playroom/office then the whole of downstairs will have been decorated in the 2 years we have lived here, the hallway we did last Easter so that leaves upstairs, which is all still magnolia. We may paint this white or the grey that is in the hallway to save spending more money on more paint, might be a little boring but I plan on picking out some bright colours for some prints or something on the walls. This will be a pain to paint though, as although it's just a rectangle room, it has so much furniture in it, a huge desk, 2 large (and heavy) Ikea Galant storage units, an Ikea billy bookcase, and a large Ikea Kallax toy shelving unit along another wall, so we will have to rope someone in to help with this room to help move everything!

We think that we will move Sam into the smallest room, I know middle child syndrome or what (feeling a little guilty about this)! But there is a logical reason for this. Our house is L shaped and the smallest room is next to Alex's room, which both boys play in regularly, and also contains the large Lego collection! I am thinking once baby is crawling we can put a stair gate in that part of the hallway, as the boys always have Lego all over the floor so would mean I wouldn't have that worry.

This photo is Alex's room, I've changed it slightly since this was taken, but as you can the Ikea Tofast unit houses all the Lego bits, the collection grew since this was taken though as this was before their birthday's and Christmas. His room is the least likely to be decorated as the other bedrooms will have to take priority the next couple of months. We'd like to lighten it up by painting the walls, getting rid of the built in wardrobe which stops a lot of light and buy a new wardrobe system, possibly white wash my old bed too (it's done a good few years that bed)!!

At first Sam was not keen on the idea of moving room, but actually has now come around to it, he never plays in his room at the moment so that is not an issue-the issue will be trying to configure the position of his cabin bed and wardrobe. It really is a small room and the only way I think we can make it work is to have the bed across the window-which won't look brilliant! The room at the moment has become a junk room since moving the office downstairs with the playroom in October, it's currently got bits for the loft, charity shop, dump and the boy's old bunk bed to sell in it! Sam wants green in his room, we might try and persuade him to have lots of green accessories and bedding instead of the dark green he would choose for the walls! I might attempt some ninja turtle canvas paintings for him too!

The baby would then have Sam's current room, which is opposite to ours, so will be more practical in the future when it will (hopefully) sleep there well!! We have some friends who are selling a cot and few other bits so will just need a lick of paint, new curtains and setting up, to be honest this could be done after baby is born, as we are planning on it sleeping in our room a fair while like the boys did.

Sam's current room

Cabin bed we bought and painted from my mum's neighbour

That leaves our room, it needs some TLC, it's walls have been knocked about a little, the curtain pole is hanging on by a thread and our en suite needs a replacement extractor fan and the ceiling re plastered! We'd love to have some more wardrobes along the wall to get rid of the almost broken chest of drawers. We currently have some Ikea Pax wardrobes in Oak and would be able to fit at least a double one in along the same wall as the others. To lighten it all up we would probably buy the mirror doors, hopefully creating a more spacious feeling in doing so too. realistically I don't see us being able to afford that any time soon though, which is a little frustrating as it's really not working how it is at the moment!

I know it might seem like it but this is in no way a collaborative post with Ikea! We just like and can afford their furniture!