How I organized my baby’s safari-themed nursery

I’ve organized a lot of nurseries, but this one is the most special - because it’s for my own baby!

I had SO much fun decorating and organizing this room.

My husband and I debated themes for months, but finally settled on a safari theme. Kinda basic, I know, but we wanted something colorful and fun, and safari fit the bill. It didn’t hurt that it’s so easy to find safari-theme decor!

We went with simple, neutral furniture that will still work with any theme or style as she gets older - I’m really big on future-proofing spaces.

Here is what we used to bring my vision to life!

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DRESSER/CHANGING TABLE

I always thought a dedicated changing table was necessary, but it turns out it’s not! I was amazed when I found out you can just put a changing pad on a hip-height dresser. What a space (and money) saver!

We went with this cushy but easy-to-clean changing pad. The dresser is from IKEA but it’s not available on the site anymore.

I was so happy to realize a whole pack of Costco baby wipes fits in this wipes dispenser. We don’t even take them out of the package - we just break the lid off and stick the whole thing in the dispenser.

This turntable holds diaper cream, lotion, and other little toiletries.

The hamper comes in more neutral colors too, but this burnt orange color was perfect for MK’s room! And this diaper pail is so good at keeping the smells in.

To keep the drawers tidy, I used these drawer organizers and drawer dividers.

In the top left drawer we have diapers, socks, sleep sacks, burp cloths, bibs, and hairbands.

We were fortunate to receive a lot of clothes, both sweet gifts and adorable hand-me-downs (plus we did some shopping ourselves…) in sizes all the way up to 3T. So we needed a good system for keeping everything organized and separate.

The top right drawer holds her current size. So it started out as newborn and 0-3 at the top, 3-6 in the middle left, 6-9 in the middle right, and then 9 months and up in the bottom left (since we didn’t have much in that size yet.) The bottom drawers hold sheets and blankets.

When MK grows out of a size we put those clothes away in a bin in her closet and move the next size to the top drawer. She’s 9 months old now and this system has worked really well so far!

CLOSET

Our house is over 100 years old, so the closets are pretty small. We make them work for us, though! We just have to be very selective about what we buy and keep.

These size dividers are adorable. The velvet hangers are the perfect size and keep her clothes from falling on the floor.

On the back of the door is this pocket organizer. It’s the perfect size to hold washcloths, hats, shoes, and other small things that you don’t want to lose.

BOOKSHELF

This is the KALLAX shelf from IKEA. We are big readers so of course she has a ton of books!

The storage bins with windows hold toys and loveys. I love that one side of the bin is transparent and the other is solid, so you can choose whether you want to display the contents or not. I figure the window will be useful once MK can look for toys by herself.

The safari animal bins were a cute nod to the theme. We use those to hold travel/stroller accessories, towels, and baby carriers/wraps. The best part is, the back side is plain so that you can still use them once your baby decides they’re too grown for an animal theme.

OTHER ITEMS/DECOR

The very first decorative thing we got was this safari animals rug. I LOVE that you can just peel it off the Velcro pad and toss it in the washer. We were thinking the accent color for the room would be green, but decided on burnt orange once I noticed the small orange details in the rug. I think the room feels so much warmer as a result.

I felt like the room needed a pop of green, so I was excited to find these faux monstera leaves at IKEA. Everyone asks us how we painted the sun above the bookshelf, and these giraffes, but they’re actually just decals! We got the sun here and the giraffe mom and baby here.

We saw this giant giraffe at FAO Schwarz in the JFK airport, but we couldn’t justify the price (or the shipping cost to get it home.) A few months later I was thrilled to find it for a great price on sale! Lots of sites sell it, so be sure to shop around if you have your eye on it too.

This floating corner shelf is perfect for holding the baby monitor and a few knickknacks.

I couldn’t believe how much stuff fit in this storage pouf! There is an old pillow in there, along with some old clothes of mine that weren’t in good enough condition to donate. At the very bottom is the donut pillow I used in the car postpartum. It would also be perfect for holding outgrown baby clothes, or maternity clothes.

The cute rattan basket is perfect for dolls and stuffed animals.

We are so grateful to our family and friends who gave us furniture, helped us paint and put things together, and made beautiful things for our sweet girl. The love in her room is palpable!

I know I didn’t list every single thing in the room, so if you’re curious where we found something, feel free to leave a comment!