We're both suburban mothers with smaller homes who are always looking for space-saving solutions. Both of my children's rooms had the louvered door style closets (not a fan). I got rid of the doors and used the top of chests of drawers for my changing tables (I also have those furniture lifts/ bed riser things to make it tall enough). With my son, doing this the second time around, I've hit on a couple of ideas that I think are extra winning.
I received about a million of those little, thin receiving/swaddling blankets. Neither of my children have wanted to be swaddled for very long, so that leaves me with unused blankets that I don't feel quite right just getting rid of. I use them as burp cloths (my son is quite the happy spitter) and I layer many of them on top of each other, tucking them in nicely, on the changing pad. That way, when there's a leak, or stain or whatever, I can just strip off the top layer and have a fresh, clean surface.
I also have never figured out how people use all the little clip on-dangly baby toys that are supposed to go on car seats and strollers. For the most part, my kids can't reach them or don't even notice them. I do, however, like to make the most of the time a baby spends on the changing table and lit on the concept of hooking them onto a hanger, because there's a closet rod right there! The little loop/velcro jobbies are great for a plastic hanger that has extra hooks for straps. You can put the toys at many different levels so that you find one that suits your baby's reach/interest level. On the hooks, they won't slide around, but on the hanger, they can both slide down really low for when they are first starting to reach for toys.
Hope some of these ideas might be useful to someone else out there!
