Browse any book on nursery decorating and you'll see that the walls are rarely left bare. Decorating nursery walls personalizes the space, especially since you don't have a lot of choice on the type of furniture going in the room. Many baby wall decorating ideas involve elaborate murals, but murals don't suit all homes or tastes. There are plenty of ways to add charm and whimsy to your baby's walls.
Wall Panels With a Message
If you're a book lover, let your nursery reflect that passion. Select a few poignant passages from children's literature--perhaps from "The Velveteen Rabbit," "Peter Pan" or other classics--and paint them on the walls. Your baby won't be able to read them yet, but you will.
Before you add the writing to the walls, install specialty moldings to create raised wall panels. Paint the insides of the panels with a paler shade of your wall color. Consider sponging it for a parchment effect. Finally, paint your chosen passages inside the wall panels. Use black, dark brown or a bright color for a bold, casual look. Make them sweet and somewhat formal with metallic bronze or gilt lettering. Paint the molding to match either the lettering or the other trim in the room.
Stretched Fabric Panels
When you decorate a baby's room, you may feel tempted by the vast selections of adorable fabrics--until you remember that babies tend to leak. Stick with washable cottons for anything baby touches, and save the pricey, delicate offerings for the walls.
Stretch your favorite fabrics over big wooden frames--the kind used for artists' canvases--and hang them on the walls. For thin silks and linens, cover the frame with a layer of quilt batting first. You can cover every panel in the same fabric or vary them from frame to frame. For example, in a baby girl's nursery, you could hang a collection of sweet floral fabrics, each different, but with the same color scheme. For even more charm, use vintage fabric.
Stretched fabric panels work especially well when you rent and can't paint the walls. You can add color and pattern to your baby's walls without running afoul of the landlord.
Story Wall
Children's books tend to have delightful illustrations, especially the classics. Frame the pages and turn one wall of your baby's room into a story wall. You'll need two copies of the book, so you can frame both the front and back of each page. Surround each page with an oversized white mat, and then add frames that complement the room--perhaps silver leaf for a baby girl or red lacquer for a baby boy.
Hang the pages in numerical order, in a row or grid, so the story unfolds on the wall. Hang them at your eye level for now, and lower then when your baby gets older and starts learning to read.
References
- "Children's Spaces: From Zero to Ten"; Judith Wilson; 2008
- "Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play"; Susanna Salk; 2010
