Decorating a Nursery that Grows with Your Child
When your family begins to grow and you have a new baby on the way, one of the most exciting parts of the process is decorating a nursery as you wait for the baby to arrive. It’s so tempting to create a space that focuses on the newborn, baby and toddler years with soft pastel colours, whimsical wall murals or even a delightful childlike theme that’s present throughout the entire room, from the curtains to the wall art, to the rug. However if you plan on the nursery being your child’s room right through to their teenage years, you might like to reconsider how you decorate it before the baby arrives to ensure you have a space that grows gently with your child.
Wall Colour
There’s nothing sweeter than pastel pink or baby blue walls to build your room around, but in recent years trends have moved towards using neutral paint colours in nurseries. Cool grey with white trim, warm white and ivory, and muted beige tones will provide you with an understated palette you can build on with coordinating furniture to create a chic space. You can add removable wall decals for a splash of gentle colour and hang framed prints to emphasise the newborn and baby atmosphere, but keeping the base colour palette simple and neutral means the space won’t need to be repainted once your child begins to express their own colour preferences, saving you money and time in the long run.
Flooring
As with the walls, the floor of your nursery should be a neutral colour. Thinking about the baby and toddler years, carpet is the perfect choice to create a warm, soft place for your baby to lie, roll, sit up, and play safely and comfortably on, and has the added benefit of keeping the room warm during the colder months. You can still lay a rug over the top with a bit of colour to energise the space, and which is easy to replace over the years as your child grows. Hardwood and vinyl laminate flooring is still a great choice, as it’s long wearing and will hold up to the everyday traffic and wear and tear that comes with family life, particularly when the kids are little. Adding a larger floor rug on top will help protect it during those rough and tumble younger years, and give kids a soft place to play.
Furniture
Newborns obviously require specific furniture in the early years up until they reach toddler status, and you’ll easily find bassinettes, cots, and change tables in white, blonde or darker wood tones to coordinate with your wall and floor colours. As your child grows and you need to think about purchases like beds, desks and different storage solutions, it’s wise to continue to stick to an understated colour palette. As tempting as it is to by that race car or princess bed for your little one, those furniture items have a limited shelf life as you child grows, both in size and appeal. There are plenty of beds that appeal to both kids and tweens and can last for years while still suiting their emerging tastes. A little boho style with a cane headboard or ethereal accessories on a four poster bed will give your child’s room that unique touch, and with wrought iron beds now available in a range of colours you’re sure to find something that suits your little one’s tastes. Investing in a king single or a double bed once you have a toddler means you won’t be replacing furniture once they start growing as they approach their teenage years.
Accessories
The easiest and most affordable parts of the room to change are the accessories. Bed linen has come a long way over the last decade and there are a range of colours and styles that your child will love. Adding in a few cute cushions that can be passed down to younger siblings or donated once your child wants to change up the style is simple and affordable. Little touches around the room like floating shelving that holds cute knick knacks, colourful bag hooks and novelty lights are all easy ways to add character to your baby’s room that can be kept for years or replaced as they get older. You can then change these details every so often as they grow, giving the room individuality and show off their adorable personalities.
Nurseries are designed to be calm, welcoming places for parents to spend time in with their new additions in those early years, but taking the time to think ahead past the baby stage means you’ll be able to create a space that has a colour palette that will allow you to let the room change as your child grows with minimal time and expense. Once your child begins to express their taste a room that has an on-trend, neutral base can be easily reworked to suit whatever stage of life your child is in. For more kids’ room décor inspiration, visit the Hotondo Homes website today.
