Top 5 Nursery Furniture Essentials

You’re getting closer to your due date and you’re ready to start putting your baby’s nursery together. Creating a space dedicated to your baby is exciting and you may already have ideas of how you want it to look.

Whether you’re looking around an empty room wondering, “Where do I start?” or have had a Pinterest board ready for months, this guide will help you select the key nursery items that turn any spare room into your baby’s room.

These five essentials will set the foundation for a comfortable nursery while making practical use of your space.

Your baby’s crib is the focal point of the whole nursery. When you enter the room, the eye is naturally drawn to the crib. Choose a crib that anchors the overall look and feel of your baby’s room.

The Crib from Nurture& comes in white or natural and features a premium, modern aesthetic, designed to complement any nursery theme. Made with sustainably harvested wood and non-toxic premium materials, The Crib also converts into a toddler bed, making it both a practical and design-forward choice.

Unlike the standard bassinet, this baby crib has three adjustable heights so it’s really designed to grow with your little one for years to come.

Choosing the right dresser can be tricky. You want a piece that has:

Plenty of storage space but isn’t too bulky.

A neutral aesthetic that’s easy to match, but still has a sleek look to it.

More than one purpose in the nursery.

The Dresser from Nurture& features seven drawers to hold all of your baby’s clothes and accessories and most importantly, keep them organized.

Adding The Changing Topper will also convert The Dresser into a multifunctional changing table.

You’ll likely find that maintaining an organized approach really helps in those stressful parenting moments—particularly during those middle-of-the-night diaper changes.

The glider in your baby’s nursery needs to be comfortable because it’s where you’ll spend most of your time with your little one.

Gliders serve as nursing chairs for breastfeeding or feeding chairs for bottle feeding, cuddling cushions for naptime snuggles, and storytime seats for bedtime books.

The Glider Plus is all of that and more. Get cozy in any position using the power recline and lumbar support.

Enjoy being nap-trapped under your sleeping baby when you can charge your phone and swivel to reach things around you from the comfort of this chair.

The whole collection of seating that’s available through Nurture& is made of premium materials that meet or surpass the safety standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Their durable and stain-resistant fabric is exactly what every baby’s room needs for unexpected messes.

A glider is similar to a rocking chair in a lot of ways, but you can read more here about how they compare and how to choose which one is right for you.

You need a place to set your things down in your baby’s nursery. A nightstand is a perfect size to have as a table beside your glider.

Keep your phone, your water bottle, and a lamp with a dim bulb right next to you.

If you’re bottle feeding, this is a good spot to put the bottle down while you burp or move your baby to a different position.

Most nightstands come with drawers or space underneath for storage bins. Here you can keep books, extra pacifiers, or burp cloths handy.

Your baby’s nursery should be in a room that has a closet.

If the dresser in your baby’s room is full of socks, swaddles, and crib sheets you need a separate space for everything else.

Other clothes and baby items you don’t use on a daily basis can be put away in the closet.

Onesies and tops are easy to sort through when they’re on hangers.

If you’ve stocked up on diapers and wipes from your baby shower you can get the extra boxes out of the way by keeping them in the closet.

Putting things away keeps the room tidy and a comfortable space to be in.

Now that we’ve covered the nursery essentials, here are a few ways to make choosing each piece of furniture easy.

The last week before your due date is not the time you want to be moving heavy furniture. Get some ideas going early on in your pregnancy.

Make lists of what you need for your baby’s room and what kind of budget you have to spend. This will help you pick each piece based on what works for your family.

Start by purchasing neutral furniture that you can set up as soon as possible, while you still have plenty of energy.

You can leave the nursery decor for the end of your pregnancy or even after your baby is born. Decorating can be a gradual process and those decorative pieces can also make for great registry additions.

If the room you’re working with is on the smaller side, pay close attention to the size and dimensions of each piece of furniture.

Look for ways to have more than one item share the same space:

• A crib that’s tall enough to slide a garment bag underneath.

• A dresser that can hook a hamper or dirty clothes bag on the side.

• An ottoman that can also function as makeshift seating and storage.

If you have a large space to work with, you might consider a few extras to complete the space.
 

The PlayPad Circle is an item your little one will use from the early days of tummy time through their first tumbles. It’s made with premium, vegan wipeable leather, and features supportive cushioning, making it a comfy spot to hang when you’re sitting on the floor with your baby (an experience you’ll likely have more than you could possibly realize!).

A toy chest or bookshelf is also a great way to add to a nursery’s decor while keeping all of your little one’s future toys and books well organized.

Everything in your baby’s room should be safe for them during all stages of life.

While newborns may be relatively immobile, it won’t be long before your little one is putting everything in their mouth. All products from Nurture& are made with non-toxic materials so you can rest assured that your teething baby chewing on their crib rail won’t be ingesting any chemicals.

Baby furniture should be durable and sturdy for a growing, moving baby to grab onto and pull up on. Furniture that’s more likely to tip should be anchored to the wall to keep it from falling over on a baby that’s exploring.

There are plenty of things that are great to get as hand-me-downs. Furniture and other big items—like car seats and strollers—shouldn’t be among them.

When you use secondhand baby items, you can’t ever know exactly what they’ve been through. Parts come loose or hardware is stripped after normal wear and tear.

Purchasing second-hand also makes it difficult to know what materials the furniture is made of—an important aspect of building a gentle and safe environment for your little one.

Buy new, quality pieces to ensure your baby’s safety, and register with the company whenever you can so you’ll be informed of all product safety recalls.

Creating a room for your baby isn’t all about logistics. Take the time to find furniture you actually like and will look forward to using every day.

Choose a theme or the colors you love to accent your staple pieces. A tall bamboo floor lamp may fit your style more than a chrome table lamp.

Give your nursery a personal touch so your baby can grow up in a space that feels like home.

The furniture is the bones of your baby’s room, but here are some other essentials you’ll want to fill out the nursery with.

Every crib needs a mattress. Choose a mattress that is thin and firm. One that’s too soft could restrict your baby’s movement if they sink into it.

The Lullaby Crib Mattress is non-toxic and waterproof. It has a breathable cover that is also removable and washable.

The only baby bedding you need in the crib is a fitted sheet. These are made of 100% breathable cotton and come in a variety of colors and patterns. You will be doing a lot of laundry in those early days, so plan on purchasing at least two crib sheets upfront.

Some nursery bedding collections may also include bumpers, quilts, or other plush add-ons that can be saved for the toddler years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends leaving loose bedding out of the crib until your baby is at least one year old.

A changing pad is a thin cushion used on top of the area where you’ll be handling diaper changes.

The Naturepedic Changing Pad has a contoured design to help keep your baby in place while you’re cleaning them up. It’s made with a layer of 100% certified organic cotton that is completely waterproof to easily wipe away any mess.

You’ll spend a lot of time in the nursery, but you want to be able to see and hear what’s going on when you’re not in there.

A baby monitor with audio and visual options allows you to check on your little one without accidentally waking them up by walking into the room.

You may not keep a stroller in the nursery, but it’s an essential piece of gear for taking your baby on the go.

Many strollers are designed to attach a car seat for a seamless transfer from car to stroller without waking a sleeping baby.

We’re thinking of the long game here. When you already have a toddler bed in mind you’re ready to make that transition the first time your baby climbs out of the crib.

As we mentioned earlier, a convertible crib that can be turned into a toddler bed saves you the space of having to store a second bed.

When your baby is ready to take that step, you make a few simple adjustments to remove the crib rail and add a guard rail.

It’s worth the investment when you add the bonus of not having to buy a new mattress.

Making decorating decisions to pull a nursery together for your new baby can be exhausting.Use this guide to help keep this an exciting experience! Have fun with it and feel confident in your nursery ideas. You’re already making progress by researching the products in this article.

You can find more tips on nursery design here.

At Nurture& we pride ourselves on creating premium, modern, and non-toxic furniture and baby essentials. Click here to shop the collection now.