Ladybug & Tank's mom's Profile

Is that a highchair or a barber's chair or...? Neat!

-Boppy: I breastfed for both, each for 1 year, and found it cumbersome. My arms alone work great! They didn't like being propped up in it either, and only use it now as they would any other pillow.
-Baby tub: used the sink, then the tub with a hand towel underneath for gripping those slippery bums.
-Monitor: hardly used in 1700 & 1800 sq ft houses but useful for yard work. It gave me freedom to be outside in the sun working during naptime
-Umbrella stroller: our kids are 18 mos apart so I always have a diaper bag and carrying one baby, pushing one, carrying diaper bag precludes my hands for being free for anything else. They like to push it around with dolls or each other!
-Changing table: I used a spare bed/top of dresser/top of small bookshelf.
-12 bottles: I rarely pumped early on and after they sprouted teeth and I pumped and used the bottles, 4 was enough! (bottle warmer/washer useless for us, as fridge is near stove for warming and dishwasher works great)
-pacifiers: our kids hated them!
-skipped the wipe warmer and never missed it (a neonatal nurse friend said they're bacteria farms, which we decided full-term babies Gould avoid too)
-crib bumper
-skipped baby food maker (used my kitchen appliances!)
-We'll see if this all holds for our young man on the way!

We received a swing from Babies R Us in a neutral cream color organic material, metal frame and it worked great for a few minutes here and there. It takes up space but I was able to sweep the floor with both hands, and our two liked the (very few) sounds it plays, and enjoyed the solace from toys (it had a stationary mobile with bears but I removed it as it hit their heads) and loved the gentle breeze from the swinging motion. It's identifiably a baby item, but everyone coming to our house expected an explosion of kid stuff so keeping tidy proved effective and went a long way toward preventing these temporary furniture pieces from distracting the general aesthetic. Ours collapsed (a bit) and fit in the coat closet when needed. Good luck!

You said you're up for a building project: have you considered making a deck? You could use the scrap to frame out a "wall" at one end for hanging chalk boards, flower boxes, tools, dress-up clothes, toys and have all of the fun without the fuss of dealing with those weeds recurring or worrying over seasonal change, and if you later want a water pool/sandbox/picnic table/artist easel/reading nook/other there will be a perfect platform for it.