Before & After: How I Turned a Tiny 5’x5’ Corner into a Nursery

Havenly is an affordable home design service that, through quizzes that help you home in on your personal taste and style, match you with a professional interior designer to help you achieve exactly what you want for your space while sticking to a budget. For the purposes of this piece, I chatted with Kelsey Fischer, Lead Designer at Havenly, to get her small space advice.

I welcomed my first child pre-pandemic and in an apartment setup where he was able to have his very own room. It was cozy, it was functional. But most importantly, it felt like a formalized space for baby. (The nesting instinct is oh so very real in those final pregnancy months.) After being paired with a designer at Havenly, I communicated exactly that: Within the constraints of our new apartment, I wanted to have a clearly defined area for baby, even if it had to fit within a bedroom that served a dual purpose (i.e. we’d be sleeping there, too).

The next steps: I took all the measurements of the space (even the ceiling height) and passed it along to my designer. She had a sense of my taste and general aesthetic thanks to the quizzes, but beyond that we chatted back and forth about that nook in particular, which worked as a spot for our Peloton, but had become a receptacle for so much. It was the perfect size for a bassinet, but could we still make it feel nursery-esque? With intentional choices—and actual 3D design plans generated by Havenly—yes. Here’s everything I learned.

Paint color matters—but actually, so does the overall palette when it comes to making a smaller space feel large. In the case of the 5’x5’ corner of my bedroom, I wanted to find a way to differentiate the area so it felt partitioned off for baby, but still make choices that helped this nook feel bigger than it is. Cue Kelsey’s advice: “This is where textiles and textures come in,” she explains. “Just because you’re keeping the colors light and airy doesn’t mean it has to be boring. You can still have a very minimal palette, but interesting layers—a textured pillow, linen bedding—help everything feel bright and tactile.” In my case, this advice led to the addition of a chunky rug, but also wallpaper that provided a playful detail while sticking with a lighter tone. Basically, before you write off neutral hues as too simple, remember: It’s the texture that elevates the overall look, especially in a tinier space.

When you’re working within a smaller space, you need to find a way to integrate the necessities while keeping it all visually pleasing. A changing table that doubles as a dresser; a bed with storage beneath it; a well-edited book shelf that’s also in reach—these are all choices that prioritize function while allowing you to still maintain a certain aesthetic. In a small space, this applies to the little things, too. For example, cord management. “In a nursery, everyone has a lamp, everyone has a baby monitor, but you want to intentionally set out to reduce visual clutter, even cords.” This might mean buying an extra surge protector so that you’re not stringing a long cord to a faraway plug (that’s what I had to do!) or investing in a cord hider (such as this set from Amazon, $17). Kelsey adds, the more low-line visual clutter you can remove, the better. “Try to approach a small space with the mindset: Everything has a place,” she says.

In my case, the goal was to pivot my bedroom to a nursery—but something I noticed immediately with Havenly was that the overall aim wasn’t to make each area feel totally separate, then smash them together. Rather, cohesion matters…a lot. “You want your small space to integrate with the overall aesthetic. In other words, coordinate the neutrals,” she explains. From there, you can focus on the details (a cute art print, a vibrant lamp) to make each area have its own unique vibe.

Further proof that the effort to be thoughtful about the intention for my tiny nook-turned-nursery came when my baby was big enough to graduate to a crib—and, ultimately, a shared room with his older brother. The core elements of my nursery (all neutral) such as the wallpaper, the chunky rug, the curtain could stay in place while I traded the bassinet for a glider, making the space an easy (and still baby-friendly) reading nook that feels cozy and bright. I love that my small space still feels stand-alone within our bigger bedroom, but also something we’ll be able to repurpose over and over again through the years. (I currently don’t have plans to bring back the Peloton, but anything’s possible—and I love that.)