We’re in week 31 and I’m in full on nesting projects mode. Anything out of place is getting re-positioned ahead of baby girl’s arrival. Aside from the usual baby related projects I have a to-do list on our fridge with several home projects I’d like done before she’s born. Why, you ask? Simply because we don’t need to put them off until after she’s born. I’d rather spend that time with her!

Today, I’m sharing both our baby related to-do list and general home projects that need addressing before she arrives.

These to-do list items are all related to baby prep, and largely involve the nursery. As such, I plan to go into further detail on these in a dedicated post during her final nursery reveal next month. Stay tuned!

These are home projects that aren’t necessarily baby related but will make life easier postpartum. I’ll go into more detail on them in this post below.

  • Installing wood shelf in loft living space
  • Replace the toilet paper holder in powder room
  • Organizing the guest room closet
  • Pantry organization
  • Interviewing housekeepers

Installing a Wood Shelf in the Loft

When I have a problem, I find a solution, and I don’t care how conventional it may look on the outside as long as it serves its purpose. This wood shelf that now hangs right below our window ledge is the prime example of that.

Home Nesting Projects

The wood shelf I’m referring to isn’t used for decoration at all, it’s 100% for function. Though, it is appealing and matches the space so as to not be an eyesore, that’s still important to me. I’ve been living in this cozy corner spot lately and am sure I’ll be hanging out here with baby girl lots too, but it lacks a hard surface for placing drinks, etc.

Installing a Wood Shelf

I found this simple wood shelf on Amazon and Kevin installed it no problem for my drinks, future bottles, etc. It sits low enough that you don’t even really notice it until you’re right in that space, which is great. Plus, now Kevin gets the foot rest back because I don’t need it all the way in the corner for the tray anymore. Win-win!

Replacing our Powder Room Toilet Paper Holder

This has been on my mind for a while. When we first changed all our bathroom fixtures in 2019 I decided to cut some corners on this one, and now it’s the poster child for why you never do that. The last toilet paper holder in here was a no-name brand I found on Amazon that was about $15 cheaper than the black Moen toilet paper holder we have in the other bathrooms. And it showed.

Replacing Toilet Paper Holder

After just a few months, the arm that holds the roll became loose and would constantly just fall off the hook, allowing the whole roll to drop to the floor. We’d barely touch it and it would drop. So before we have a bunch of visitors over to see the new baby, I wanted this fixed. I ordered the identical Moen toilet paper holder from Amazon and Kevin switched it out one evening. This is a very quick project in the grand scheme of things and trust me, it makes me SO happy to see it replaced finally!

Oh, and I’ve since also patched, sanded and painted over the old holes. Also a very quick same-day project using this spackling, a putty knife and your room’s matching paint.

Organizing the Guest Room Closet

Since we’re losing the nursery closet as extra storage, anything in there had to find a new home. Thankfully, that wasn’t too much but it did cause some pile up in the guest room closet.

Guest Room Closet Nesting Project

Currently, I use that closet for some nicer clothing and jacket storage (jackets are sooo bulky), purse storage and shipping supply storage for my Mercari and Poshmark items.

Hanging Purse Organizer

It’s not the most unorganized space but wow, is it getting tight in there. A huge fix was getting these hanging purse holders from Amazon last year. Look how many bags they hold and how much space that frees up!

Pantry Organization

Our pantry is a long way from being magazine-ready, but a few simple baskets have made a huge difference so far.

Pantry Organization Nesting Project

The biggest area that needed help right now were all my low carb gestational diabetes specific snacks. I found a bunch of plain white bins at my local dollar store but found similar ones online here. Also found these snazzier pantry organizer baskets that I may want to consider when I eventually go full-on Home Edit in this space!

Teavana Tea Organization

The other pantry project, which is 0% started right now, is organizing all of my Teavana tea. I worked there for a few years in my early twenties and garnered quite the collection. Kevin knows as well as I do that I’m not drinking any of it at this point because it’s all about 10 years old (yikes), so I really need to dump and clean the canisters I want to keep. Not my proudest hoard, but it’s the reality!

Interviewing Housekeepers

While self explanatory, we’re very excited to start having someone come in once a month for help with the bigger things. Think: bathrooms, appliances, a deep vacuum (not that we don’t love our weekly Roomba runs, but sometimes a deeper clean is just necessary). We’ve always known once we’d have a little one running around we wanted to budget for this, so it’s been in our plans for a while.

I’m not the biggest fan of new recurring expenses with a baby coming, however, we also planned ahead to pay off some debt this year to balance it out. Never underestimate the power of planning your budget months or even years in advance!

What nesting projects resonate with you? Or maybe they’re simply home projects unrelated to nesting for you (as they truly are, in nature). Tell me about your favorites, and what YOU had to get done specifically ahead of baby’s arrival in the comments!

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Nesting Home Projects


This post contains referral/affiliate links. A small commission may be earned if products are purchased through my links. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.