Apartment nursery hacks

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The three apartment-nursery constraints

Everything else flows from these.

One. Most leases prohibit painting, or require you to repaint white on move-out. Solution: peel-and-stick wallpaper on one wall, removable wall decals, or no wall treatment at all.

Two. Anchoring furniture into studs leaves holes that cost $50 to $100 to patch. Solution: use the lightest furniture you can find that's still solidly built, and anchor only what absolutely needs anchoring (dressers over 30 inches tall do).

Three. Apartment doors, elevators, and hallways are narrow. Solution: buy furniture that disassembles. A crib that comes apart fits in an elevator. One that doesn't will live in your hallway forever.

Renter-friendly wall treatments

Bare apartment walls read sad. You don't need to repaint to fix this. Five options that work:

Peel-and-stick wallpaper on one wall. Brands sell removable wallpaper specifically marketed for renters. Costs $40 to $150 per wall. Take it down before moving, no residue. Best on one accent wall behind the crib.

Removable wall decals. Cheaper than wallpaper, smaller commitment. Good for adding a single shape (an arch, a moon, a name) without a paint project.

Large pieces of art on Command strips. Heavy-duty Command picture-hanging strips hold up to 16 pounds. One large piece of art on Command strips reads better than four small frames anyway.

Fabric panel hung from a tension rod. Mount a tension rod near the ceiling, hang a textile down. Reads bohemian and softens an empty wall.

Peel-and-stick faux brick or wood panels. If your apartment has an aggressively beige aesthetic, a single accent wall in faux paneling changes the whole room.

Furniture that moves easily

You will move at some point. Pick furniture with that in mind.

Cribs that disassemble fully. Most major brands do, but check the spec sheet before buying. A crib that disassembles into 8 flat pieces fits in any apartment. One that comes assembled fully or partially is a logistical disaster.

A small dresser, not a wide one. 30 to 36 inches wide fits through standard apartment doorways. Wider dressers often don't.

Open shelves you can rebuild. A bookshelf or cube shelf that bolts together is moving-friendly. Built-in or particleboard furniture rarely survives a move.

A washable rug. 5x7 or 6x9. Bigger rugs are harder to move and harder to store. A washable rug also handles spit-up better.

A glider that fits through a doorway. Some pricier gliders come apart for shipping; check before buying.

The under-30-pound anchor list

You still need to anchor the dresser. There's no renter-friendly version of "skip the furniture strap." Tip-overs kill kids; this isn't optional.

What you can do: use a furniture strap that anchors with two screws into a stud. The two screw holes are small, fillable with toothpaste-grade spackle in 10 minutes on move-out, and almost always invisible. Landlords accept this.

What you should not do: skip the anchor because you're worried about wall damage. Two small holes are nothing compared to the alternative.

Vertical storage wins in apartments

You almost certainly don't have a walk-in closet, a basement, or a garage. Build storage up.

• Floor-to-ceiling shelves above the dresser. A cheap pine shelving unit from IKEA holds baskets, books, and overflow clothes.
• Over-the-door shoe organizer (in the closet). Each pocket holds a tube of cream, a bottle of saline, a tiny outfit, a sock. Skip the actual nursery organizer baskets; this works better.
• Under-bed bins. If the crib has clearance, slide low rolling bins underneath for size-up clothes and seasonal items.
• Tension rods in the closet for shelf dividers. Separates clothes by size in a 24-inch closet.

Sound, light, and the apartment neighbor issue

Apartment nurseries face two unique issues. Other apartments make noise, and your baby will make noise too.

Sound machine, always running. White noise covers neighbor noise. Make it part of the sleep environment so baby gets used to it.

Blackout curtains on tension rods. No screws, takes down in two minutes. Floor-to-ceiling blackout panels also dampen sound from the street.

A door draft stopper or weather strip. Cuts hallway noise from neighbors. Cheap, removable, surprisingly effective.

Carpet padding under the rug (if you're on hardwood). Both quiets the room and reduces sound bleed to downstairs neighbors. Goodwill on both fronts.

The 60-minute move-out plan

This is the apartment-renter dream scenario: take the nursery down without losing any of the deposit.

1. Peel the wallpaper off (or take down decals).
2. Remove Command strips from walls. Use a hairdryer on warm to soften the adhesive if they resist.
3. Patch the two screw holes from the dresser anchor with spackle. Sand smooth.
4. Touch up with a white paint pen (or matching paint from landlord).
5. Disassemble the crib and dresser.

That's the full set. With practice, an apartment nursery takes 90 minutes to tear down.

The styling moves that work in any apartment

• One oversized piece of art on Command strips.
• Picture ledge above the dresser (Command strips, no studs).
• A real plant (pothos or olive tree) in a basket.
• Linen curtains on a tension rod, hung floor to ceiling.
• One layered rug.

None of these require landlord approval. All of them make an apartment nursery look intentional.