Making space for baby

knottie801100738c0a2014

My husband and I live in a fairly small 2-bedroom apartment, we chose it keeping in mind that we would start a family one day. Well, that day is fast approaching, but my husband and I keep clashing about clearing out the second bedroom to turn it into a nursery for our baby. My husband has a lot of "collectibles", mostly toys like action figures of various genres that have occupied the entire room since we moved in. He keeps pushing back when I suggest that he move them out of the room or put them in boxes in the closet, he insists that he has to have them displayed either in the baby's room or in our living room (I don't want to have to look at most of them all of the time, plus most of them are choking hazards if they are within reach of a little one). We have compromised on some space in our living room, but he feels he doesn't have enough space to display all of his toys. Meanwhile, I have almost nothing of mine displayed anywhere in the apartment. I feel like I really need help trying to convince my husband that the space isn't his to monopolize and it's not all about him anymore. Suggestions? I don't want my husband to feel neglected or replaced and I don't want to keep feeling like a nag or the bad guy for continuing to ask him to make space and tone it down. Please help.

turtletaylor0522

My husband also has some “collectibles.” They’re so dumb. And he knows I feel that way! He doesn’t have enough to fill a room but I had a rule that they were only allowed displayed in his office. Once we settled in he wanted his guitars hung on the wall he had previously planned for the toys, so we moved a few onto the dresser and his nightstand. I don’t get it at all and I hate that they get all dusty so quickly, especially the few he has that are out of the box. Like. Why am I wiping down the crevices of some dude in a robe when I could be doing literally anything else?!?

I don’t have any advice for people going though this, other than saying you probably have hobbies that your partner doesn’t understand, too. For example, I have two aquariums. A big one in the living room and a betta tank in the nursery. I had to really advocate for the nursery tank. My husband doesn’t understand why I’d choose to spend time every week doing tank maintenance even though I truly enjoy the presence of my fish.