Nine hundred seven. The number of square feet of living space in our house. My husband and I called it cozy before we had our first baby in August 2012. It has quickly become something more akin to snug. Or well, tiny. Although not this tiny.

When we found out we would get to welcome a second baby into our snug little home, we decided to put that baby in our closet. But only at night.

Our bedroom’s closet was large in comparison to the overall smallness of our house, so we went for it and converted our closet to Baby 2’s nursery. Big Sister had a good thing going with her crib in her own little room. I was hesitant to upset any future good sleep by both stripping her of her very familiar crib and making her sleep in the same room with a screaming baby sister.

We also hadn’t stored our clothes in our closet for more than a year. You see, laundry is not my favorite household task and it proved to be too difficult for me to take the clean clothes from the basement to the second floor after folding them somewhere in between. So I bought some portable wardrobes and we started storing our clothes in the basement a few feet from the washer and dryer. Can I get a hallelujah?!

The nursery turned out cozy and cute. The room is about five feet by seven feet. We took down a large shelf and hanging rod on one side of the closet, added some paint, a crib and changing table, and voila! Baby bedroom. (Disclaimer: photography is not one of my talents.)

The crib is a mini crib but will comfortably fit an older baby or toddler, as demonstrated by Big Sister below.

We couldn’t leave Big Sister out. Her bedroom is on the first floor and ours is on the second, and my mama heart was worried she’d feel jealous that her new baby sister got to sleep upstairs with us. A little part of Baby Sister’s room is also Big Sister’s fort where she can draw with chalk and play while I change diapers and rock the little one in the glider that sits beside our bed.

Source: Pillow, curtains, floor cushion, chalkboard squares

Source: Heart print (left), Heart art (right) — homemade with fabric scraps, blanket, sheet (courtesy of my awesome mom), crib

Source: Isn’t She Lovely print, Boppy cover, changing table (Craigslist steal, sorry!)

Source: chalkboard bins (similar)

Decorating is still a work in progress, but functionally, the room is serving its quaint purpose. We’re learning to embrace our small-space living. As we’re fresh out of closets, should there be a Baby 3, I have only two words: bunk beds.

What space-maximizing projects have you done for a growing family?

Meet Guest Blogger Jennifer Lewis

Jenny is wife to a cookie-baking entrepreneur, Dereck (www.thelmastreats.com), the not-so-new mom to Marlo (August 2012) and Gwen (May 2015), daughter, sister, friend and full-time attorney at a local insurance company. In her free time, Jenny enjoys spending time with her family, reading, writing, waterskiing, and learning how to maximize life’s little moments.