Montessori inspired baby room

Designing our Montessori -inspired- baby room was so much fun and exciting! I wanted to provide my little one with a space that would be baby-proof, functional, clutter-free, and peaceful.

The decoration of the room was pretty simple, as Montessori supports the theory, less is more. Everything was at my child's height so that he can feel that this room was made for him.

In a Montessori nursery, you need baby furniture that has a low height and is designed for little ones who will be crawling around for a few months before being able to pull up onto things.

The environment of a child should be clean, organized, and beautiful. Too many toys can be overwhelming to the child, and instead of choosing a toy to play with, he might walk away.

If we want our babies to learn to function independently, their space should be easily accessible by them.

So what did our Montessori baby room look like?

Before starting the baby room tour, I should mention that our baby's crib was in our bedroom. For the first months we were using his room as a playroom, including the following:

• Pull-up bar

The pull-up bar is safe for babies to practice pulling up. By the time they start doing that, their muscles have developed enough to support the specific action. Usually, this begins from 6 - 10 months old. By grabbing the rail they can also walk along the bar, and it is the perfect way to optimize their development.

Our pull-up bar was a DIY project, and we needed 3 things:

- wooden dowel or railing (110cm long, 5cm thick, to be installed 45cm to 50cm from the floor based on your baby's height)

- 2 handrail brackets

- a drill

We visited a hardware store to buy these items, and then we just had to drill the wall for the installation. It was super easy, cost-effective, and most important, our little one loved it!

Instead of having a mirror on the wall together with the pull-up bar, I bought some stickers instead based on the room's theme. Now at 18m, we are in the phase of teaching him colors and talking about the sea. Also, he likes to play with his shadow on the wall. It is so much fun for him, like cause and effect.

Now that he is not using the pull-up bar, we found a new purpose for it. I have hung small flower baskets on the bar, in which we store wooden fruits and vegetables for his role-play. We prepare our ''lunch'' or ''snacks'' in his kitchen, which is right next to the pull-up bar (see pic. below).

• Floor mirror

This mirror supports visual activity, movement, stimulation, cognitive development, and independence. You could use a mirror made of Plexiglas rather than glass for safety standards and make sure that the mirror is fixed securely to the wall. When babies move their bodies while looking at the mirror, they see identical moves, making it an experience of cause and effect. Furthermore, looking at the mirror encourages your baby to push up with their arms, lift their head, and make tummy time fun.

Our mirror was bought from IKEA and is mounted on the wall. My son was never left alone in front of the mirror without adult supervision.

I had placed a pillow between my son and the mirror so that he could not touch it. When he started crawling and was able to stand on his knees, I removed the floor mirror for safety reasons.

• Baby gym

Our baby gym is made of wood, it came without a mattress, and we bought one separately. It was a comfortable spot for my son where he was playing on his tummy and was rolling over too. Patterns, colors, shapes, etc are vital to a baby's cognitive development and I bought the mat and the baby gym according to that. It was a great thing to encourage activity for my baby because this is the equivalent of exercise for infants. Plus, we had fun interacting with him while he was exercising!

• Floor shelf

Except for a few toys (age-appropriate) displayed on this floor shelf, I had also placed a few books that we would read every day to him. At around 7 months and after he started crawling, the first thing to do in the morning was to go and pull out a book or two. It was so amazing to see that! He would choose the book, and I would read it to him. Having direct access to his rattle toys was like being independent to choose the toys he would like to play with, so I recommend this too.

• Artwork & family photos on the walls

My son has always been excited when observing the gallery wall in his room. I also added some family photos, and I have a big picture of him which we took the day he was 1 month old. He would laugh and cheer whenever he would see his picture. At around 16 months, he would recognize us in the photos, and he would get all excited and shout ''mama'' or ''papa'' by pointing at them.

• Carpet

While living in Tunisia, I bought a few handmade Berber carpets made by women who live in the mountains around Tunis. One of them was white and blue and luckily the perfect choice when I found out that we will be having a baby boy. It's made out of wool, it's super soft, thin, and without a plastic bottom like many other carpets on the market.

• Kids foam play mat tiles

Most of the floor in the baby room is covered with kids' foam play mat tiles non-toxic and easy to clean. He fell so many times while trying to stand on his feet so I cannot imagine a baby room without it.

• Small storage baskets for toys

I bought two storage baskets made of bamboo and have stored in there some of his first plush toys.

• Wall-mounted bookshelf

We installed two of those on the wall as my son loves books, and we needed more space for them. I didn't want to buy a big bookcase, as his room is not that big and thought that this is something for later, perhaps when he starts with a kinder garden.

This is what our Montessori -inspired- baby room looks like, and you can also read my post ''Baby room. The essential checklist''. Regardless of how you will prepare the ideal nursery for your baby, one thing is for sure it will be full of love!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and see you soon!

All the best,

Clio