Without pictures or a floorplan, it's nearly impossible for us to answer this in any constructive manner. If you are looking for some random design ideas for small apartments with kids, I'd say Google that (or search here on AT to see where folks put the crib in a closet and whatnot...)

can you post a pic please?

I have seen people turn walk-in closets into a tiny nursery... just make sure that it has good air flow. This idea is great for people with a one-bedroom because even though you are sharing a room, you still have separate spaces.

I lived in a one bedroom with my daughter til she was 4, and I just made sure the necessities remained in our room... My bed, her crib/bed, a little nightstand, and a night light. I love using lots of color, so I painted the walls nicely and used window treatments and artwork to make it special.

With both of my kids, I found that I never missed a changing table, and actually preferred to lay a little blanket on the bed or couch and change her. Also, I never once used my rocker in the middle of the night, so I moved it to the living room for daytime use. I know lots of parents swear by having a rocker in the nursery, but I found that that interferes with sleeping through the night. I simply feed my daughter in my bed and swiftly put her back in her bed. This works out great for me because I never feel that tired during the day.

I currently have a 4 month old, and she still sleeps in my room in a bassinet next to my bed... even though I have a nursery all set up for her. I think that she will probably sleep in my room until she is about 9 months old. By then she will be sleeping through the night and I won't have to worry about disrupting my sleep to run over to her room for feedings.

As your child gets older, you will definately want your room back, so maybe in the future you could split the bedroom into two rooms. Even if they are very tiny, I don't think it would matter as long as you can fit a bed in each room.

I'd say the biggest suggestion to prepare for an addition to your home is to purge now. Pretend like you're moving and do a thorough getting rid of stuff you don't need/want/or looked at in years. Then limit the amount of stuff you allow into your home. Look at http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/organizing/good-questions-what-do-we-really-need-046456 for suggestions of things you'll "need" and then only get what you'll need for baby the first few weeks/months. Once baby is mobile is when you can start to worry about cabinet locks and that aspect of child proofing. And you may find a lot of baby stuff you can do without. We're preparing for our second, and the only thing I'd like to get in addition to what we had for our first is a bouncer seat. Other than that, we did quite well without all the other doo-dads. Maybe consider a corner of the living room that can be dedicated to baby (where you can spread a play mat or blanket, eventually have pillows to prop baby up, and a few toys within reach for you to entertain baby.)

Life with a baby in a one bedroom is fine. Life with a child in a one bedroom, however, can be really crowded and unpleasant. I don't know if you own or rent, but if you own or want to own, go buy a bigger place now. Interest rates are rock bottom, prices are probably going to start increasing, and if you can do it, the tax credit is still good through the end of April (you have to move in by June sometime.) With a kid, you're going to want a bigger place eventually, and this is a great time to do it.

If you can't move, practical considerations are thus: try to keep large plastic baby items like baby tubs and big toys at a minimum. We never had a changing table, just one of the foam pads with a washable cover that we moved where we needed it. Try to keep on top of laundry, especially if you have your own machines. laundry adds up so quickly and takes up valuable space. If you can, put out of season clothes, holiday items, and sporting equipment into storage.

Good luck! And congratulations.

I would recommend creating a space that belongs to the baby and nobody else. Find a spot that has enough space for a crib and some storage, and dedicate that area to the baby. I personally don't think a changing table is really necessary - we haven't used ours that much.
We kept our son in our room for a while, but when he was about three months old, we moved his crib into another room. It's just nice to have your own space. If you can make the 'baby area' in a spot other than your bedroom, go for that.

Here's an idea I loved:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/inspiration/the-ikea-hacked-dining-room-nursery-095429

The baby doesn't need much space, the running toddler needs a lot more. Think ahead about where your child will be able to play safely and how you will be able to contain them once they're walking / running / climbing - trust me, they will not stay in the corner you designate just because you tell them to!

We lived in a 1Br (450 sqft) with our baby until he was 2 years old. It is totally feasible, you just have to be extremely organized. Because we were saving on rent, we were able to eat out a lot, travel, go to parks, museums, etc. In fact, we had to go out a lot or the whole family would have gone crazy, esp. in winter.

This is how we organized the space:
-Living room with a sitting area, dining table, open kitchen and office. All the furniture pieces were of small scale, built with light materials, foldable, on wheels... very easy to move around.

-The bedroom had our bed, a big closet, changing table and crib.

-The two rooms were separated by a double door. During the day, this big door stayed open giving us a nice flow. We closed the door when the baby needed to nap.

-At night, the baby would fall asleep in the bedroom with the lights off while in the living room we worked, watched tv, etc. When we parents were ready to sleep, we moved his crib out of the bedroom, giving privacy to baby and us.

-We maximized floor space by using our very high walls for storage, we also got rid of (temporarily) unnecessary stuff like plants, coffee table and floor lamps.

I know many of these things sound obvious but it took us a few months to get things and procedures in place :-)

This can be a great adventure, good luck!

While we didn't live in a one bedroom when our son (who is very energetic) was a baby, we did live in one (300 sq ft) from when he was 2 until he was 4 and it was fine, in fact I kind of miss it, although now I have two kids so enjoy the space. But I really loved teh time we spent there. A couple of general ideas for you

-if you don't have closet big enough for a crib (which is a fabulous idea! but we had no closets!) create a separate space in the bedroom with a half wall. The side that faces your bed can be painted a "grown up" color while the baby side can be more kidish

-dedicate a low shelf in the living room to their toys, and keep them in nice looking but sturdy bins.

- make a rule that any new toys that come into the house mean an old toy leaves, this helps cut down on the clutter.

-you dont need a lot of the junk that most people buy. Instead of a high chair, get a good booster that works for babies or one that clips on a table. Instead of a changing table, have a changing basket that can be stoed under the crib and that will hold all the things you need. Find a stroller that folds up very small (I still love my McClaren) and mount hooks on the back of a door for it to hand out of the way.

-start a no shoes in the house policy if you don't have one already. This helps SO MUCH in keeping the floor clean which is extra important when you have a baby or toddler in the house!

-Find lots of out of the house activities so that when you do feel a little stir crazy you know places to go to get a little space. (I knew where a mom's and toddler group met every day of the week, not that I always went to each, but then I knew where I could go if I needed to:))

Good luck, it's totally doable!

Oh, almost forgot, I loved the book "The City Parent's Handbook" for lots of tips and ideas for city living with kiddos!

we were in a similar situation last year when we were expecting and didn't want to move out of our brooklyn 1 br.. We created a room in part of the living room by having a contractor put in drywall and a semi-transparent partition (we were blocking a window) from nyslidingdoor.com. This has worked well for us. If you don't have that much room to work with you could also partition your bedroom by using a ceiling mounted curtain track and a curtain (the heavier the better to block light, noise etc.). I agree w/ the earlier post, purge, purge, purge and go easy on what baby stuff comes into the house, you really don't need that much at all (although there are so many cute well designed items out there it can be hard to resist).

There are some great suggestions already.

We share a one bedroom with our 3 and 1 year old. Our space is constantly evolving. This is how it's gone...
- we purged everything we thought we could
- our daughter slept in a co sleeper for 6 months. The only adjustment to the apartment was her fold up Peg Perego stroller and nursery dresser that had a drawer for diapers and a cabinet for books.
- we created a nook for her in the dining area with the dresser and a crib. Got one of those saucer toys and a small high chair that attaches to one of our dining chairs.
This left us relegated to the bedroom at night after she fell asleep. My husband and I actually liked being locked away together in the bedroom quietly reading and working.
- we purged again. We traded the saucer toy for a play kitchen.
- we got rid of the nursery dresser and replaced it with a bookshelf, dresser and desk with shelves for our then 2 year old to draw and play.
-our youngest stayed in a cosleeper in our room for 6 months.
-we recently gave our kids the bedroom and built a murphy bed in the living room. Our youngest is starting to walk and we are all sharing our small space happily.

For now, do as little as possible. You only need a place for the baby's clothes, a few toys and a place for them to sleep (unless they sleep with you). A lot of what you can do will depend on the conditions your baby needs to sleep well. As your baby becomes more mobile you can decide where to put them (closet, bedroom, build a partition etc). Good luck!
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Don't listen to the people who tell you you must move. Most of the world lives in spaces this small or smaller with more people.

You can absolutely stay in a one bedroom! Be selective about what you bring into your house - really, they don't need that much, especially at the beginning and be realistic about where you are going to put everything.

We live in a one bedroom with our 18-month-old daughter. Her "room" is a converted walk-in closet, about 9x5. Her crib and dresser and book shelf are in there and she has slept in there since she was two months old.

We spend the most time in our living room, a corner of which serves as her toy area and another corner or which is gated and serves as our home office.

If you don't plan to co-sleep, I would try and set up the baby's bed in an area of the house where everyone (parents and baby) can have some privacy at night.

For big toys (play gym, exersaucer) we only have one thing in our house at a time. We only keep out toys that we can stand to look at - lots of wooden puzzles and blocks, finger puppets and musical instruments, not so much plastic or things that make noise.

You may have already looked through last year's Smaller Cooler contest (so many great ideas!), but here is what we did:

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/smaller-cooler-2009/smaller-cooler-2009-jaxs-room-that-does-it-all-084196

I basically said it all in that article, but would add that it was very useful having an apartment washer that hooked up to our kitchen sink (thank goodness the kitchen had the perfect spot for it!) We were even able to launder cloth diapers at home...

We lived in a 1-bedroom in Brooklyn until our daughter was 18 months old. We divided up our living room into 2 spaces with a Norrebo shelving unit from Ikea:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/shelving-storage/great-simple-affordable-shelves-063570

We used one half of the room as our daughter's play area and designated the bottom 2 shelves of the Norrebo for her books and toys. We also had her changing table in her area of the living room. We decorated her play area with wall decals and a mobile to make it colorful.

We had her crib in our bedroom, which worked out just fine.

Thank you SO much to everyone who commented. I really appreciate all your thoughtful suggestions. It made me realize this is totally doable and I am ready to start!

Thanks again.

Best,

Sarah