-"Baby Makes 3" is funded in part by... -Dear baby, if you can't tell by the bump, you'll be here soon.

To be honest, I'm freaking out a bit.

There's still so much to do -- a lot of organizing, name picking, decorating, and cleaning, all while lugging around 25 or so extra pounds.

I guess I'm feeling a little bit crazy, but I'm allowed to be, right?

I'm your mom, and I want everything to be perfect for you.

I'll see you soon.

Love, mom.

-And by... ♪ -When it comes to baby's health, clean water is at the top of the list.

Food News Media -- supporting clean water for America's restaurant industry and for baby for life.

-Today, we're in the home of Amber and Mat.

Our couple married in their 30s and put having a family aside for travel, school, and home-improvement projects for their two-bedroom bungalow.

The reality of life as just the two of them has been turned upside down, and today, we'll be making room for baby -- our bungalow baby -- on this episode of "Baby Makes 3."

That moment when you go from couple to family, everything changes.

When you bring the baby home, you want to create a warm, comfortable, and safe environment for them.

Step one -- the nursery.

-We are Amber and Mat, and we are expecting our first baby in October.

-It's a girl!

[ Chuckles ] We both lived in a small town in Virginia, and we met through mutual friends, so...

There's another story, where Mat was... -I was in a band.

-...in a band, and I was a groupie.

That's not true.

[ Laughs ] -It is.

It is.

-So... -But we met in Virginia, where Amber's from, and I was an exchange teacher.

-I invited him over for dinner, cooked him an Indian meal, and then the next was Japanese, and then... -And then I just never left.

-It was just -- Yeah.

[ Laughs ] Yeah.

Pretty much.

For fun, we love to travel.

We love to host people.

Cooking is -- We're both really big on cooking.

-Love for nature.

-Yeah.

Living in the woods, in the forest.

We love music.

He's a really great guitar player, so... -Thank you.

-He plays guitar and writes music.

And I love decorating.

So, now we're here, and we've been here for a long time, so we didn't have that opportunity to redo.

You know, I think when we were in Slovakia, we moved, you know, every eight months to a year.

-When you're moving so much as we have, the idea of where you're settling and what actually makes you settle is a really important one.

And I think now that we got pregnant, I think, "Yes.

This is home."

My father always told us, you know, "Build a house, plant a tree, and then have a son."

So, our version is a little different, because we bought the house and we're having a daughter.

-[ Laughs ] -But still, the tree comes from that idea.

-There's also a tradition in Slovakia that when a baby is born, you bury a bottle of slivovitz, which is the traditional plum brandy.

-That is a tradition.

Yes.

-And it's buried in the ground, and it stays there until the wedding day.

So we'll dig it up for Otilia on her wedding day.

We'll patiently wait for her to get married to dig it up.

-I was probably more kind of getting to terms with that we would not have a child or children.

-He always said he wanted a soccer team.

-So, for me, it would have been kind of, you know, a missing piece of puzzle.

-Now that I'm pregnant, I think, "What would I have missed?"

You know, what would we have missed in our lives?

When we get older, we wouldn't have had family.

It's definitely a really good thing.

You guys are gonna be buddies, because you're gonna be with her.

-I'm gonna be stay-at-home dad, which is... -Yeah.

-...I mean, it's terrifyingly fascinating.

-[ Laughs ] -I mean, I don't know how to put it.

I'm excited.

I'm nervous.

I'm worried.

But I think it's gonna be great.

-We have thought about the nursery.

-I have thought about it as a like, "Oh, my God."

[ Both laugh ] Yeah.

-We have a lot of work to do.

-[ Chuckling ] Yeah.

- I don't know that anyone would ever feel prepared to be a parent.

It'll be an adjustment, but I think we'll do great.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-It will be good.

-When life hands you babies... -[ Laughs ] -...make people.

-[ Laughing ] Yeah.

-Amber and Mat have always been open to the idea of having children.

And now, later in life, they're surprised when baby makes 3.

-Welcome.

Come on in.

-Thank you.

-You got the door?

-So, this is it -- our little house.

-Wow.

This is so cozy.

I love it.

-Thank you.

-It's amazing.

-Yeah.

We kind of collect something from everywhere we travel to.

-I love each little piece looks like it has a story.

-Definitely.

-Yes.

It does.

-Most definitely.

-Wow.

So, tell me a little bit about the house.

-We rented it for a year when we first moved here, and we hated it.

[ Chuckles ] It was just really bland and plain.

Finally talked the owner into selling it to us.

So, since then, we've ripped the flooring out.

We've knocked walls down.

We've, you know, done built-ins.

-You know, projects.

-Just kind of a project house.

-Yeah.

It's beautiful.

And you've really sort of tailored it to the things that you like and places that you've traveled.

And what do you like to do?

-I like to do tons of things.

-Yeah.

-Decorating the house, but I think the passion is cooking.

So, yeah.

You want to check out the kitchen?

-I would love to check out the kitchen.

-Yes.

Let's go.

-Storage is definitely a big issue for us.

We have so many projects still -- you know, trim work, countertops, new cabinets are going in.

What else?

-[ Chuckles ] Everything.

-Everything.

-Yeah.

Everything.

-And you do everything yourself?

-Yes.

-Yes.

We try to.

-So, now that baby's almost here, you're gonna have to make even more room.

-Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

We've got a lot of work to do.

-Up next, Lauren is dropping by to see the space for the nursery.

-I love meeting new couples and hearing what they want to do with their space.

First-time parents are usually excited about doing the nursery, but sometimes they have a hard time narrowing down or finding a direction for the space, and I love helping them with that.

Oh, wow.

What a great space.

-Yeah.

It's small.

-Thank you.

-We've already done a few things to it.

We had the walls painted, got new carpet put in -- something neutral... -Nice.

-...'cause we weren't really sure exactly what we were gonna do yet.

-And they're having a girl.

-Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-It's exciting.

-Oh, it's so exciting.

-Yeah.

So, have you thought a little bit about what you want for the space, what kind of feel you want it to have?

-Yeah.

We want it to be, like, enchanted garden -- something magical and mysterious, you know, something that she can grow into, too, that's not too baby-ish.

-Not really cluttered.

-Mm-hmm.

-I like things organized.

[ Laughter ] -Yeah.

Everything has its place.

-I guess that's wishful thinking, but... -And speaking of that, storage is a huge issue in here.

-Uh-huh.

-So, you know, we like to keep everything open.

You see, you know, you have the kitchen here and the living room, and everything's just wide open, so kind of has to flow with the rest of the house.

And storage is an issue here.

So, trying to maximize the closet space, see what we can do there, and this little nook under the stairs.

-Yeah.

It's right behind you there.

-You know, try to use that for storage -- something.

-Great.

-So, I saw a lot of pops of color that you've incorporated into the decor in your living room.

Is that the kind of feel that you would also like to incorporate in here?

-Yeah, so that it all flows together.

-Yeah.

Are you okay with pink?

-Yeah.

Maybe more of a brighter pink or a darker pink than baby pink.

-Subtle pink.

-I was thinking more like raspberry pink.

-Okay.

Okay.

-Something like that.

-I know you need to take a lot of measurements.

So we'll leave you to it.

-Okay, great.

Nice to meet you both.

-Nice to meet you, too, Lauren.

-Thank you.

-Before you begin designing a room, it's important to understand what the space can hold, so I always start by taking measurements of the room.

I would encourage you to take measurements of the perimeter, also noting locations of the doors and windows.

Then take a look at vertical measurements like the ceiling height.

With those measurements, you can develop a space plan that will help you to understand the scale of furniture that you need in the space.

-Over the past couple of days, Lauren has been working on a design for our couple, and the two of us are dropping by to show them our ideas.

-Hi, we are back.

-Come in, come in.

Lauren is done with the design.

Are you ready to see it?

-We are so ready to see it.

-Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

-Very excited.

Want to come over to the table?

-Yes.

-Okay.

Perfect.

-Super.

-Great.

-Well, first, I wanted to start with the floor plans.

Let me get those out.

So, this is where you kind of come in from your front door, and so I really see putting the crib on this wall.

The crib's always the focal point of the room.

I want to do a wallpaper accent wall there with her monogram initials above the crib to personalize it.

Beside that, you have your window wall, where we'll do blackout draperies.

-Perfect.

-And then hang some art around that.

To make the most of your space and storage, we're gonna recess and build in a dresser into your open closet.

-Nice.

-Great idea.

-We do need that storage, yeah.

Perfect.

Perfect.

-So that will really give you access to drawers beneath, and then we're gonna do the changing table on top of the dresser.

-Nice.

-I love the idea of hanging a mobile actually above a changing pad, because to me, that's where you really need to capture your child's attention.

-Keep them occupied while you're -- -Then this... -Oh, that's the -- yeah.

-...an unexpected kind of fantasy painting around the room of either birds or fairies that would kind of look like shadows of those things flying around your room.

-That's cool, huh?

-Fairies would be fun.

Fairies would be really fun.

-Yeah.

And then I wanted to utilize the hideaway area under your stairs better than it is currently.

I think by finishing off that space, you can use it either as storage or put some pillows in there, maybe a rug, just to soften it up so that your daughter would feel like it was a very inviting space to hang out in.

-Or us.

[ Laughter ] -I don't think we'll fit in there.

But okay.

[ Laughter ] -I really want to start with the color palette, just because I think that drives overall feel of the room.

So, when I was researching this design, I really started by looking for wallpaper, and I loved this floral paper that I found.

-I like the metallic, as well.

-Yeah.

It looks really nice in that room.

-And she can really grow into this pattern, I think.

-It's not too baby, yeah.

Love it.

-Yes.

Exactly.

-Ooh, nice.

So, what I loved about it is that it has some green, which is used throughout your home, so I think that will help tie it in to the other spaces.

So coming off of that, I think the wallpaper will be so impactful, and the room is small, so I would, you know, stick with the lighter wall color that you already have up, which is perfect.

-Mm-hmm.

-But I'd love to pull out some of these colors as accents, so I would do this on the closet.

And then this would be the floor with that.

And then to pull the pink out, I would do this on the blackout draperies.

-Nice.

-And then this is for the crib skirt.

-Wow.

-Perfect.

Beautiful.

-Then... -Whoa.

-[ Gasps ] You got to be kidding.

[ Laughter ] -To top off the space, I would love to do a starry ceiling.

-Ohh.

-Ohh!

[ Laughter ] We're gonna be laying on the carpet every night.

-We should just bring all the furniture in there... [ Laughter ] ...and just live there.

-This is really pretty.

-Yeah.

-Well, thank you.

-Thank you.

Awesome.

-I love your ideas.

-Well, we are excited to get started.

Right?

-Let's do it!

-Okay.

Great.

-Thank you, guys.

-We're about to start work on Amber and Mat's enchanted garden themed nursery.

I'm gonna go check in with Jonathan to see how it's progressing.

-Melissa, how are you?

-I'm doing well.

It looks like you have done some prep work to the nursery.

-We have done just a little.

We've got the plastic down on the carpet.

As it's new carpet, we want to make sure that we don't ruin that with all the work that's going on in here.

We've adjusted the ceiling fixture to allow for two light sources.

-Great.

-And it seems to be working and operational.

Ready to rock on to the next project.

-So, next we want to get started on the crawl space.

-Correct.

Crawl space we will be starting, we've got measurements to be taken, and we'll be starting on that probably in the next 30 minutes or so.

-Okay.

Well, I will check back up on you.

-Good deal.

Thanks, Melissa.

-Okay.

-I'm here with Steve, and Steve's gonna help us with renovation of the closet underneath the stairs.

So, Steve, what would be the first thing?

And then just walk us through the whole process of how we plan on making this into a more usable space.

-All right.

Well, Jonathan, the first thing we're going to do is remove our trim and existing door.

The first thing we want to do when we remove our trim is to take a Sheetrock knife and cut the caulk bead away from our trim so that when we pry that away from the wall, we don't tear the paper off of our Sheetrock in the process.

And I actually like to go around two times, because as you can see here, where I've already done this, that second cut, it really opens up, and you know you're free.

If you don't cut the caulk seam sufficiently, a little bit of prying, and you can tear a big sheet of paper off your Sheetrock, and... -Just a lot more work.

-Whole lot more work.

And here, since we have the luxury of we are demolishing all this space in here, I'm gonna start prying from the space we're demolishing so that I save that as much as we can.

I like an assortment of pry bars, because, really, depending on the nails that were used... ...and the material you're working with... ...it's nice to be prepared for whatever you find.

And now, like I said, here, if I'm prying against my Sheetrock, I like a shim behind it so that I'm not doing any unnecessary damage.

When installing trim, it's a common technique just to 45-cut your corners.

Whoever installed this actually took a coping saw and cut the profile onto it, which is the master carpenter way to do it.

Beautiful.

-Part of the design plan for this crawl space was to create more space and create a bigger opening so that you can get larger objects in and out, and also to provide a little flair, as it's a little girl's room.

-So, to do that, we're gonna cut down to the floor, remove all of that material, making our door taller and more accessible.

Then we're gonna come in and come up to our stairwell on the backside -- the framing for our stairwell -- and we're gonna cut an angle following the underside of the stairwell framing, giving this not only more of an open space at the top, but a decorative look, as well, with that angle.

And that is the rough opening for our door.

We'll start cutting.

-Cutting through Sheetrock with a saw blade creates quite a bit of dust, so safety first -- glasses and a mask.

-And since we have new existing carpet, I'm using this piece of scrap lumber at the bottom just as an extra buffer between me and the teeth on the saw blade and the carpet.

-And one thing you want to make sure of when we're doing cutting like this -- and we checked beforehand -- was that you want to make sure that none of your electrical wires are gonna be running along the 2x4s or the studs.

-Always, always look for your electrical, your plumbing before you do any demolition.

-Sure.

And now that we've got that out of place, I'm gonna come back and finish up by pulling our finish nails that were holding our trim in place.

Again, we're gonna use a shim so that we don't damage our Sheetrock as we pry.

And we're just gonna bite and twist and pull them out.

-Steve is taking measurements for the beadboard inside.

In many homes, settling and aging can mean walls are not square.

So Steve will measure points along each wall to allow for these changes.

-Hey, Jonathan.

-Mat, what's going on, man?

-How's it going?

What you up to?

-We're getting started on the star ceiling.

So I'm just finishing up putting the grid pattern down.

-Okay.

-And we have fiber optic cables that have 200 different light streams, so we're gonna need to drill holes into this board -- 200 of them.

So in order to speed that up, we've just doubled up the board.

-Okay.

Can I help?

-You definitely could help.

We're gonna need your help.

So, what we need to do here is we need to start drawing random holes -Okay, just dots, or do you want circles?

-Just dots, and that should do it.

And then what we'll do is once we get these randomly drawn through here, we'll grab a couple drills, and we'll get these drilled.

-So, random three in each.

-Three in each.

That should give us the 200.

I'm gonna leave this to you.

I'm gonna go back inside and work on the dresser.

Come back out and check on you later?

-Fantastic.

-Perfect.

-All righty.

See you later.

-Thanks.

-While Mat works on the starry night ceiling, Amber and I are going to create an adorable Slovakian maypole mobile.

-We're gonna have some fun.

We're going to make a maypole mobile for your baby.

because I know it's a Slovak tradition, maypoles.

-Mm-hmm.

Definitely.

-Great.

So, I've already pre-made the wreath.

What I did was I folded it together and wrapped it with wire, and then we put the floral tape over it.

We may have to cut some of the flowers away.

It depends on where we put the ribbons.

We've got all these really fun, colorful ribbons.

You're gonna take three ribbons, any one you want.

-Okay.

-Grab three of them.

-One, two, three.

-Perfect.

And make them about even.

And then you're gonna tie it right around the wreath.

-Okay.

-Yep.

Perfect.

Make it nice and snug.

We're just gonna let it hang down.

And then at the end, we can trim it and make it whatever length you like.

-Oh, great.

That's gonna be really cute.

-We're just gonna do that all the way around.

-Okay.

So, keep going?

-Yeah.

Keep going, and I'll hold it for you.

So, baby was a surprise, huh?

-Baby was a surprise, quite a surprise.

-Yeah.

-A pleasant one.

-Yes, pleasant one, but it's -- -After getting over the initial shock, it's -- Yeah.

It will take some adjusting, but we're ready.

We're totally ready.

I think it's one of those things that we'll kind of -- You know, we wouldn't have known about but we would have missed had we not had children.

But, yeah, it's really good.

It's gonna be nice to have -- have a baby around.

-Yeah!

-It's crazy.

-It's a whole new adventure.

-Totally.

-Right?

-Big time.

-Okay?

-I think it's looking good.

-It looks great.

Steve has the lumber cut for the under-stairs play space and is beginning the install.

[ Knocks on wall ] -Hey, Steve!

How's it going in there?

-Hi, Melissa.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-I am doing well.

I was gonna ask you the same thing.

What's going on?

-We're doing great, thank you.

Just finishing this per the design specs.

-So, I see that you're using beadboard instead of bead paneling.

-Yes, we are.

The design plans did call for the paneling, but due to our limited access and space constraints inside, we went with the beadboard, because those individual boards can be a tighter custom fit.

The beadboard is cost-comparable to the bead paneling in the overall scheme of things, and gives us a much more professional look in the end.

-Yeah.

Looks like you've got some work still to do.

-We do.

And I'll get back in the doghouse.

-All right.

Enjoy.

Steve is completing the space with the final planks and the vinyl flooring.

Amber and Mat are still deciding on the finish for the play space, which Mat would like to do later.

All right.

As you know, your nursery is not ready yet.

But I do have a surprise for you.

-Oh, goodness.

-Ooh.

-Follow me.

-Surprises.

[ Laughter ] -You ready?

-[ Gasps ] Wow.

[ Laughing ] Yes!

-Really, now I can lay back.

-It's here!

-Try it out!

Try it out!

-Try it out.

-Go ahead.

It swivels?

-It swivels.

-It swivels, it rocks Do I just -- -Put your feet up.

-[ Laughs ] -Do it.

Do it.

-How do I do it?

-Lean back -- -How do you operate this thing?

-Oh, there it is.

-Okay.

-Oh, my gosh!

My poor piggies.

[ Laughter ] -Wowsers.

-Some relief.

-Oh, this is beautiful.

-Can I try?

-Yeah.

Well, this is my chair.

-I know.

-But you can try.

Sure.

-Well, I'm gonna be probably here a lot.

-You are gonna be there a lot.

-So, how do you -- -And it looks great in this space.

-Yeah, it does look good in here.

-Hold on.

[ Chair clicks ] -[ Sighing ] Ahh.

-Oh, yes.

-I'll talk to you later, guys.

[ Both laugh ] -We're off to a great start with Amber and Mat's enchanted garden themed nursery.

But there's still plenty to do.

We'll convert our closet to a functional changing station with plenty more storage.

Our couple will be busy creating several projects for their baby.

And, finally, we'll bring in our safety expert to make sure that this bungalow for two is safe for baby and beyond.

All this next time on "Baby Makes 3."

-Closed captioning is brought to you by... Snuggle Me Organic -- organic cotton and wool loungers and bed sharing cushions for baby.

-"Baby Makes 3" is funded in part by... -Dear baby, if you can't tell by the bump, you'll be here soon.

To be honest, I'm freaking out a bit.

There's still so much to do -- a lot of organizing, name picking, decorating, and cleaning, all while lugging around 25 or so extra pounds.

I guess I'm feeling a little bit crazy, but I'm allowed to be, right?

I'm your mom, and I want everything to be perfect for you.

I'll see you soon.

Love, mom.

-And by... ♪ -When it comes to baby's health, clean water is at the top of the list.

Food News Media -- supporting clean water for America's restaurant industry and for baby for life.

-Safety first.

"Baby Makes 3" nurseries are created for newborns.

Some projects may not be suitable for older children.

When in doubt, seek the help of a licensed contractor.

For more information, visit us on the web at babymakes3.tv.

-The "Baby Makes 3" DVD set helps make those first parenting decisions the right decisions.

Discover more than 50 nursery projects, including a starlight ceiling and nursery accent wall.

Create a fun, adorable, and safe space for your baby.

Available for $19.95 including shipping and handling.

Order online at babymakes3.tv.