One of my favorite parts of planning for a new baby is designing the nursery. Both my babies nurseries are Disney-inspired (shocker, I know…) and I love them. Elijah’s is changing a little as he gets older and opinionated, but we haven’t done any major changes to the space. Today, my good friend Jennifer Eicher wrote a guest post about designing a nursery that can grow with your little one. Jennifer is an interior designer who currently resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband, James, and their 6 month old, Michael Winston. She is enjoying being able to stay home with him. Every day is a new adventure.
Little ones are a great blessing who bring us much joy! The problem is they won’t stop growing. Of course we can’t wait for them to reach those developmental milestones, but they progress swiftly leaving us wishing the time would stand still—at least for a little while.
Since your little monkey will continue to grow, you may want to design your nursery keeping this in mind. I recommend picking a color scheme that you will be able to add to or take away from in the future. Here are a couple of tips on how to get started:
Start with the backdrop. This will be most of the area in your space. This will include, but is not limited to the walls, ceiling, floor, and window treatments. For this area, I recommend picking one to three neutral colors. In terms of fashion, think of it as the main part of your outfit- the clothing. The furniture you choose should mostly lend itself to the backdrop. You may have one or two pieces that contribute to your pop of color in the space.
The backdrop is quite neutral. The walls are mainly cream tone on tone horizontal stripes. The dark espresso wall offers a great contrast to the white horizontal stripes and helps to carry your eye backwards giving the illusion of a bigger space. The window treatments blend into the walls creating a soft frame for the window. The furniture is mainly white, which helps to make the space appear larger.
Next pick a few colors that will set the tone for the feel of the space. Since the backdrop is neutral, you have free reign as to what colors you choose here. Two to three pops of color would work great. Now you can start accessorizing. Building off of the color pallet you’ve just made, you can add accessories like artwork, lighting, toys, and books. Keep in mind that less is more and be careful about adding too much to the space.
There are hints of bright colors throughout, but the main pops of color are blue and orange. These colors are found in the area rug, side table, and ottoman.
When picking a theme, consider some of your own interests. You won’t know their precious personality until they are born, so think about what you like: bikes, cars, princesses, shapes, animals, flowers, rodeo, farm, skiing, the options are endless. Whatever theme you choose; simplify it. Don’t go buy a box kit and do it all cookie cutter. If you decide to do cars you can cut out silhouettes of cars, matte, and frame them. Or frame a photograph of a classic car. The skiing theme could be brought to life by finding colorful pictures of mountain landscapes or vintage skiing posters. Just keep it simple. You don’t need something on every wall or every inch of every surface covered in the space. And remember the theme doesn’t just have to be presented in artwork, it could be brought to life in a light fixture, a throw pillow, or a sculpture.
The design in this nursery hints at a bike theme. This can be found in the artwork placed throughout the space as well as the little radio flyer on the floor. To complete the look there is artwork placed over the changing table and wooden blocks, a clock, and picture frames adorn the shelf above the crib. The collage over the changing table is mainly composed of white frames, which are contrasted by the iron bike and letter.
This nursery can easily be tweaked as the baby grows. The pops of color can be changed to accommodate the child as he grows or even changed to become a space for a new baby who may come along down the road.
Remember to keep it simple, and just have fun with it.
(all photos in post courtesy of Jennifer Eicher.)
