9 Great Nursery Decorating Ideas
You have heard the heartbeat. You have done the gender reveal. This baby is coming, and coming sooner than you might be ready for him or her.
One of the most fun and often most stressful, part of preparing for your baby is getting the nursery ready. What furniture do you need? What kind of rocking chair? What colors should I pick?
While we can’t get the nursery ready for you, we can help when it comes to picking out a color scheme. There are so many color combinations, and ideas out there your head might be spinning. Don’t worry; we have nine color schemes that will make any nursery the perfect place to welcome home a new baby.
For the Girls
If you are expecting a sweet little girl, you can choose from a variety of options. From soft and girly to vintage to fairy tale, the opportunities are endless.
All Girl: Pink and White
If you like all things girly, pink and white is the perfect color scheme. Your nursery does not have to look like Pepto Bismol was sprayed all over the room, though. There are beautiful and soft ways to use pink.
First off, there are so many shades of pink it is hard to know where to start. If you want to use pink as an accent, go for a brighter pink. If you choose more muted colors for the walls and some of the decorations, a more vivid pink will bring a fun look to the room.
If you go this route, look for a soft color for the walls, like ivory or a light gray. Both of these colors compliment pink well. You could even go for two-tone walls and use a chair rail to divide a small section of pink at the bottom and the more neutral color on top.
If you love pink and want to see more of it in the room, painting the walls pink is the way to go. Before you paint, though, you will want to do some test patches in the room. Check out the test paint throughout the day in various lights as the look will change.
If you opt for pink walls, steer clear of bright colors. Soft pinks will be your friend if you paint all of the walls.
Floral
A floral theme is a perfect route to go if you are looking to incorporate more colors but still want to keep the room girly. There are many ways to go about utilizing a floral theme.
The first option would be to choose a solid color, or colors, for the walls and supplement with large floral prints or decoration on the wall. Look for large paintings, vinyl cutouts that will cover a substantial section of the wall, canvas or material prints, or oversized flowers with which to decorate the walls.
Another option would be to find a stencil or wallpaper with flowers that you love. Choose one wall, preferably the focal point or the wall that is most prominent in the room, and stencil or wallpaper that wall. Paint the remaining walls with a coordinating color.
Choosing an accent wall for stencil, or wallpaper with a floral design, and painting the other walls, will allow you to be more bold with a single wall of bright prints or colors, and more subtle colors for the rest of the room. This accent wall will keep the room from being overwhelming for baby, or for anyone who visits.
The final option would be to choose one or two soft colors that are usually found in a bouquet, like pinks, greens, or purples, and paint the walls a combination of these colors. Choose either an accent wall with the other three walls a different, more neutral color, or two-tone walls with a chair rail, or finish all the walls in the same color.
To bring in the floral aspect, choose bedding and upholstery that is floral and bring in wall art that fits the themes, as well. This way, you get the beautiful colors in the paint without potentially being overwhelmed with flowers to make the nursery attractive.
Fairy Tale
A fun nursery theme would be a play on fairy tales. This theme can go a variety of ways from princess to storybook. If you like princesses, you can choose a modern princess feel playing off of a more recent Disney character or go a more vintage route.
Spend some time looking through Etsy shops, and you will find a plethora of princess-themed decoration, art, and bedding. Choosing a muted color for your walls will complement the decoration and theme. A soft green, yellow, or blue would go well in this theme.
For the Boys
If a little boy is on the way, you don’t need to paint the room blue and leave it alone. You can do so much with colors and themes to create an appealing nursery you will enjoy spending time in as well as the baby.
All Boy: Blue and White
If you are having a boy and do not want to tie yourself down into a single theme, you can go with a color. It is impossible to go wrong with blue.
Within the blue theme, you can go the pastel route and choose a light, soft blue or go the bold way and choose navy as the base. Use white, ivory, and gray, all complementary shades of blue, so the entire room is not a solid color.
Navy blue is an excellent statement color on which to base the room. Imagine walking into the nursery and immediately focusing on an accent wall that is a vibrant, navy blue or stenciled with chevron lines of blue and ivory.
You could also paint the walls a neutral color like white or ivory and use decoration as the blue accents, whether that is navy or a lighter color. Look for colorful bedding, a blue rocking chair, deep, blue-hued prints for the wall, or throw pillows to bring the blue tones into the room.
Nature
A fantastic way to bring in color is by choosing a nature theme. Painting the walls a soft blue, green, or yellow and decorating with natural elements, like plants, trees, or animals, will create a unique theme for your nursery.
A creative way to implement the nature theme is to paint the walls a blue or a very light brown and use paint or vinyl to create an image of trees. Whether you choose lush trees with leaves or barren outlines of branches, the forest will come to life in your child’s room.
You could also go with a gray, white, black, and blue palette and create a mountain scene on the wall. Create silhouettes of mountains or gray, snow-peaks on one wall, or throughout the room.
Primary Colors
The primary colors are fantastic and incredibly versatile. These bold, bright colors lend themselves to a variety of themes.
What little boy would not like a superhero theme? You can play off of comic books with accent words like “Pow” or “Bang” in comic book font around the room. Another superhero route would be to choose a well-known figure or group of heroes and base the colors on their particular characters.
You could also use primary colors in a more generic way, such as with letters or a bold pattern. Babies do not see very well, and bright, bold designs will catch their eyes and hold their attention better than subtle or soft details. Geometric patterns or large letters around the room will create a nursery perfect for any child.
Gender Neutral
Maybe you do not know the gender of your baby, or you do not want to pigeon-hole the child before they have their own interests. If you want a unique and attractive nursery that does not scream, “Girl!” or “Boy!”, you have options.
Earthy Neutrals
Earth tones are not only peaceful and cozy, but they are also actually easier on the eyes than most other colors. Choosing earthy colors will create a relaxing nursery for you and your baby.
As a bonus, a nursery painted in earth tones is incredibly easy to build on as baby grows and develops their own identities. It is simple to add some color, decoration, or unique pieces as your baby gets older that helps them express their personality.
Neutral colors are also easy to use with an animal theme. Bring in playful and gentle bedding and decorations with animals on them to coordinate with the earthy tones on the wall.
Greens
Greens are incredibly soothing and peaceful. Plus, there are so many shades you can do so much within the green spectrum. Whether you choose a mint palette with ivory or gray, or a bolder green, like hunter, green is a fantastic base with which to start.
Greens are nurturing, picture Mother Nature. Greens represent growth and security, as well. Green can reduce anxiety, which can help babies sleep and feel better when they are in their room.
Softer greens, like mint, sage, or moss, are more relaxing. But bolder greens, or combining green with another color like yellow or blue, can also be attractive. All of these colors, green, blue, and yellow, are calming and work well together.
Accent Wall
Finally, an accent wall is a great way to bring color into a room without overdoing it. Accent walls can be almost any color and allow for easy transitions to a more themed room down the road.
Choosing a simple color, like green, gray, yellow, or brown, creates an attractive focal point but doesn’t tie you into a theme. Just painting one wall allows you to bring in a few elements to make the nursery feel welcoming without going overboard on the decoration.
Sometimes it is overwhelming thinking about what theme you want to see in your nursery after the baby comes home. You will spend a significant amount of time there in the early months between the nighttime feedings and the many diaper changes throughout the day.
If you choose to paint an accent wall and select a more general color, you leave your options open going forward.
Accent walls can also be a bolder color, as well. Choose a deep blue or a vibrant red for an attention-grabbing focal point in the nursery.
Whatever theme you decide, painting your nursery brings you one step closer to being ready for your baby. Paint is a fantastic way to prepare a room that does not break the budget but does make a significant impact.
So, grab your supplies and the color you have come to (after much deliberation…) and get to painting!