When we found out we were having twins, the first thing Dan said was "wow." The second thing he said, after a long pause, was "where are they going to sleep?"
Fair question. We rent a two-bedroom duplex in East Oakland. Our room is small. The second bedroom is smaller: about 10 by 11 feet, with one window, one closet with sliding doors, and a radiator that makes a noise like a ghost clearing its throat. That is the whole nursery. Here is how we made it work for two babies, and now two eighteen-month-olds.
The rules we were working with
We rent, so no painting, no drilling big holes, and nothing that would lose us our deposit. Our landlord is nice, but I did not want to test that. We also did not have a big budget, since everything else about twins was already expensive.
The layout
We tried three layouts before landing on the one we have now. The winner: one crib along each side wall, both heads toward the window wall but not under the window itself. The dresser sits on the wall opposite the window, and there is a clear path down the middle so I can reach either crib in the dark without stubbing a toe.
We tried putting the cribs in an L in one corner early on. It freed up floor space, but once they could stand, they started reaching through the slats to steal each other's pacifiers. Now there is about four feet between the cribs, which is enough to stop the stealing and still let them see each other. They like to "talk" in the morning before they call for us, and I love hearing it on the monitor.
Safety stuff we did not skip
- Both cribs are away from the window, the blind cords, and the radiator.
- The dresser is anchored to the wall with a furniture anchor kit. This was the one hole we put in the wall, and I would put it in again every time. It is small and easy to patch when we move out.
- Nothing hangs over either crib. No shelves, no frames, no mobiles anymore.
- Outlet covers everywhere, and the monitor cord runs along the baseboard and up behind the dresser, out of reach.
The closet does a lot of work
The sliding-door closet was the secret weapon. We took out the single clothes rod and put in a cheap freestanding shelving unit on one side. The other side still has a lower rod for hanging clothes. Diapers, wipes, spare sheets, and the next size of clothes all live on the shelves in labeled bins. I mean labeled: "June 18-24m," "Theo 2T," "Crib sheets," "Diaper backup." Past-me was very tired and very organized.
The dresser has six drawers. Top two are June, middle two are Theo, bottom two are shared stuff like sleep sacks and burp cloths we are too sentimental to throw away yet. I put a changing pad on top of the dresser when they were babies. We still use it, although changing an eighteen-month-old on top of a dresser is now more like wrestling than parenting.
Making it feel like theirs without paint
I really wanted a sweet nursery, but I also did not want to repaint when we move out. What worked for us:
- Removable wall decals of leaves and little birds over each crib, in a soft green and a warm orange. They peel off clean. I tested one in the hallway first.
- A big washable rug in the middle, which also muffles footsteps at night.
- Blackout curtains on a tension rod inside the window frame, over the landlord's blinds. This made the biggest difference for naps.
- A name letter above each crib, stuck on with removable strips.
What it cost
Roughly, not counting the cribs themselves: dresser from a resale app, $85. Shelving unit for the closet, $45. Rug, $70. Blackout curtains and tension rod, $38. Decals and letters, $32. Bins, $28. Anchor kit, $12. About $310 total. I know that is not nothing, but it was spread over a few months.
What I would change
I wish we had thought about toys sooner. The nursery was designed for sleeping babies, and now it is a bedroom for two toddlers who want everything. I wrote before about keeping toys out of the living room, and some of that is creeping into this room, which is not ideal for bedtime. For now, the rule is books only in the nursery, and everything else lives in the living room bins.
It is not a magazine room. It is small, the radiator is still haunted, and there is usually a sock on the floor. But when I walk in at night and see two little humps under two little blankets, it feels like exactly enough.
