ORC Fall 2020 | Twin Nursery Week 2

Hi there! My name is Michelle and while a healthcare consultant by day, I am a fearless DIY-er and real estate investor by…. night? Honestly, anytime I have some free time. Each spring and fall I like to participate in a little big challenge called the One Room Challenge (ORC). The ORC Fall 2020 round will be my fourth (and by far most interesting) round – we will be tackling the SAME room we did in the spring. The drama that surrounded that final reveal was documented over on my IG page, but the quick and dirty of it is this: I chose the wrong lumber for my murphy bed and it broke. Then I discovered I was expecting twins by way of an ER visit and triplet miscarriage. So, I hope you will join me for the next few weeks. This pregnant, exhausted mama needs all the encouragement she can get to pull off a TWIN NURSERY.

Week 1 | Week 2

Preparing for the Twin Nursery

The first step in this low-key transformation was to actually clear out the new disaster that was the broken down guest room setup. I had already moved my fancy waterfall desk out to the main living area so my husband could use it. So, that was out of the way. What remained was the mattress from the murphy bed and a bunch of stuff that had sort of started collecting in there since then.

So I slowly but surely got to work throughout the week, moving and picking things up a little bit each day. Before I knew it, I could actually walk in the room and was ready to get to work on assembling my daughter’s old crib!

Crib Assembly – Check!

Now, I want to share with you guys how a few years and a little confidence can make an INCREDIBLE difference. I assembled this very. same. crib. with my husband when I was expecting my daughter – before I was even 12 weeks pregnant.

It took us forever and it was so HARD! There were two of us working on this. The crib kept falling apart and on top of us. We were arguing. By the time we were done, we had broken a sweat because we were working so hard.

The moral of the story here is this.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Gather a little courage, read some power tool manuals and follow a few simple plans to get you started. You don’t have to take on a huge room renovation – something simple that helps build your confidence is perfect. If you keep building on those skills one small project at a time, you will find yourself in a moment like this. Looking back on a few years ago, amazed at how much you’ve learned!

I love helping people too – so if you want to get messy and go for your very first project, I would be happy to help you in any way I can! No question is too silly, I promise.

Until then, I figured I would share my own approach to a pretty rapid crib setup (granted not all cribs are probably going to be assembled the same way).

Step 1: Set the back against a wall.

Leaning it up against the wall, it is standing already and also supported by something behind it, which comes in handy for attaching the side rails.

Step 2: Attach the side rails

My setup had dowels that would help align the back with the two side rails. I inserted the dowels into each side rail and stuck them into the holes on the crib back.

From there, you want to secure the side rails to the back with the provided hardware. At this point, the crib is now leaning slightly forward, weight on the two side rails.

Step 3: Attach the front

Again, my setup had dowels available, so I inserted the dowels into the front portion and lined them up with the holes on the side rails once again.

Lean the crib back using the side rails while you line them up and approach it one at a time. Now, your crib should be standing on all four legs. Secure with the provided hardware.

Step 4: Installing the mattress support

This was probably the trickiest part. My crib has a mattress support that attaches to the legs using pre-drilled, threaded holes for the bolts to screw into (leg portion) and adjustable arms that align with the holes.

I gathered all of the bolts in my back pocket (washers as well, pre-assembled. Lifting a single corner and adjusting that swiveling arm, I was able to loosely screw in one of the bolts – I’m talking maybe 3-4 threads worth. That way, it was just secure enough to hold it up, but still had a little flex.

I carefully lifted up the opposing corner next, doing the same thing. The bolt was screwed in just 3-4 threads worth. Wrap up the other two corners and then tighten everything up. Pop the mattress in, and you’re done!

This Week’s Activities

This week’s leisurely twin nursery activities include:

• Look for and maybe even actually do the skim coating between the bookshelves.
• Measure and order the wallpaper. I am going to use this one – isn’t is gorgeous?

• Order supplies for the greenery mobiles (how precious are these!)

To Do List

• Destroy the broken murphy bed
• Clean and clear the room and closet out
• Install additional baseboards where the bed used to be
• Paint baseboards
• Touch up the built ins (from the crash and boom of the bed)
• Stencil the credenza to create a changing station
• Assemble one to two cribs
• Purchase a glider for the corner
• Skim coat the textured wall between the shelves
• Wallpaper between shelves with woodland themed paper
• Dupe the fern mobiles I found online
• Dig out my baby stuff from my attic and closets
• Add baskets to the shelving units for diapers, clothes, etc.
• Figure out some sort of decor for the rest of the room

I think I can still make the finish line while not killing myself with this twin nursery – so happy 21 weeks to all of us here in my body and I will talk to you all next week!