Don’t you love it when you run into a friend you haven’t seen in a while? It’s so fun to chat and catch up on each others’ lives. This happened to me the other day – I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in several months. Of course, I asked what’s new and she said, “I’m pregnant….with twins!” I laughed and said my congratulations, and then we chatted nursery design because well, that’s what I do.
This is her first pregnancy, so she was nervous as it was, and the twins part just added a cherry on top of the freak-out cake. She started telling me about her concerns about space in her house, handling them both in the middle of the night, and how they have to figure out how to put together two cribs. I told her that there’s a little section on twins in the nursery eBook we just released, and sent it to her to read. Here are some tips from the book, and a few new ones too.
1. Furniture for Twins
You might initially think that you will need two of everything, but really, you only need two cribs. One changing table should be fine for both since you likely won’t be changing both babies at the same time. Baby clothes are small and don’t take up much space, and since twins can share clothes, you can also get away with one dresser (just be prepared to do twice as much laundry).
2. Finding the Space
Yup, I just said TWO cribs. How on earth can you fit two cribs? Well, if you’re lucky, your room will be big enough. If it’s not, there are still options. There are some great “mini” cribs on the market like the Alma Mini Crib by Bloom above, as well as bassinets. Babies can stay in a bassinet for several months, which will buy you time to figure out how to move things around in your house. After all, they will eventually need two beds!
3. Get Comfortable
Especially in the first few months, you’re going to be doing a lot of feeding. It will take some time to figure out how it’s most comfortable for you, but you may end up with one baby in each arm, or one in your arms with one next to you, etc. The point is, you will need a comfortable place to feed with space to spread out. If you have the space, there are some double-width nursery gliders available, but if not, consider making yourself an area on the sofa or elsewhere that’s comfortable, and that has a table nearby to place bottles and such.
Above is a nursery for twins I worked on forever ago (OK, like 8 years), but it was in a room that was 10’x10′ – that’s tiny! It was tight, but it worked, and we were able to fit a double-width glider. You can’t see it, but we also took the doors off the closet since they wouldn’t open with the placement of the furniture. We replaced the doors with some beautiful custom made curtains so our client could easily grab what she needed without having to maneuver around.
4. It Doesn’t Have to be Identical
Identical twins or not, you don’t have to make everything in the nursery identical, like the exact same art over each crib. These babies are going to have a lifetime of being the same (or at least being perceived as the same), and they will probably get sick of it pretty quick. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the initial nursery fairly simple, and then changing it up a bit once they each start to show their individual personalities.
Last but not least, don’t fret! Having twins sounds scary, and probably will be, but they are the hardest in the beginning. And think of all the money you’ll save since they get to (have to) share everything!
For more tips on a nursery for twins, and everything else nursery, check out our new How to Design a Nursery eBook.
