"Heirloom quality" for a nursery? With space that tight, I think you'd be better served with temporary solutions that can be revised as your child grows. Like a small dresser now to double as a changing table, and then swap that out with a larger armoire later to corral clothes and toys. And the chair will get nixed when done bottle feeding or nursing in favor of floor space to play or baskets of toys or play kitchen or whatever. If ever there was a need for "transitional" furniture, it's a small nursery.

@HOLIDAY05, yup looking for heirloom quality, even in a small nursery. I'd love pieces that are transitional and quality, pieces -- especially a dresser -- that can grow with our child as he grows. Just as you suggested a dresser that can double as a changing table, etc. About the chair, it would be great to purchase something we can one day use elsewhere in our home, even if on our three season porch or in our living room. And not to mention, we'd love to have more than one child if we're so lucky, so pieces that can withstand additional babies.

We used a mid-century rocking chair in our 104 ft nursery and then moved it into the living room after midnight feedings were over. It was not quite as comfortable as a glider, but with some pillows it was ok. We still use it to rock our daughter (even though she's 4.5!) I'd highly recommend looking at cribs that can transition with your child (Stokke, Bloom, etc) from infant into toddlerhood. Especially if you're going to have more than one. They are extremely solid and will go the distance and many are also quite small if footprint. Although tempting due to the small space, the mini cribs (from my experience with friends) are hard once the baby is rolling over, etc. When your baby is small, you may not need all the storage that you have planned above. The dresser and the closet will probably suffice - we kept diapers/wipes/cremes/etc in the top drawer with our changing pad on top. This could give you a bit more room for the chair. Just a few thoughts...

I agree that heirloom quality can be transitional and grow with a child. As long as you choose heirloom items that are multipurpose or you could use in other areas of your home, then I don't see a problem with choosing high quality furnishings. A nice dresser in the right height for a changing table, a chair that can transition to another room... Although, I would like to think the chair will be used for years as a place to read bedtime stories. I think heirloom quality is a better choice than items that are "temporary" -- too often in our culture we think temporary options are easier and better... I feel in the long run they end up costing us more money because they are replaced several times. (Also, I'm a bit disappointed in our "throwaway culture" sometimes.)

We have a small room for our nursery, so one thing I would recommend considering is taking the closet door off the hinges and replacing with a curtain. I know there is a radiator right there, so it might not be possible, but it definitely us by leaving more room open for playing. Also, if your closet is big enough (the closet in our nursery is the largest in the house, even though it is the smallest room... ha!), I recommend considering shelving instead of just a hang bar so you have additional storage. We pushed an unused double-wide bookcase inside ours, as it fit right under the existing shelf (removed the existing hang bar and installed one on one side of the bookcase and removed a shelf).

Your layout looks very similar in size and shape to our nursery! We had a small rocker from my grandmother that takes up far less room than most chairs, ditched the changing table in favor of a changing pad stored under the crib, and went with a small nightstand next to the chair (which holds blankets, a selection of books, and a short-term supply of diapers). And don't forget your vertical space in such a small room! Wall shelves and hooks work well for lamps, clocks, and other essentials that little hands shouldn't reach anyway. And if you really need it, you can always open up your closet and/or build-in shelves to function as a dresser.

When we lived in an apartment, we bought a cheap crib and dresser from Ikea that fit the place perfectly. When we moved and our kids grew, THEN we bought the heirloom (twin) room and board furniture to last us them to adulthood and beyond.

If you know you are going to live in the space for a long time, by all means by an excellent quality. It will be worth it!

But a fancy, heirloom quality crib is merely a luxury. And one you might enjoy.

www.homestyler.com is also a great, free resource for room planning. You can take realistic "snapshots" of the room as you go. I didn't use it for a nursery, but for a small 1-room cabin.

A thought about your layout: can't you accommodate a changing station in the bathroom ? Your room is very crowded, and it would be a good idea to try and relocate something. If the bathroom is not too far away from the room, it won't be difficult. Plus, you have access to water. Then, maybe you could move the storage cabinet to where the changing table was, and have some bookshelves instead. That was just a thought.

Looking forward to seeing the choices you make !

Make sure to add the diaper pail to the floor plan, they can take some space.