Well-decorated baby rooms feel indisputably enchanting, even though the basic furnishings in each are much the same. Every baby's room needs a bed, changing table, storage piece and a rocker for mom. The magic comes from the fantasy you create--a charming theme or other baby decorating idea--and all the detailed touches that make that fantasy seem real.
Under the Sea
Turn your baby's room into an underwater adventure with paint and an ocean-inspired theme. Paint the walls and ceiling a soothing shade of ocean blue. Use iridescent paint for a sparkly school of fish. Add painted coral, seaweed and a mermaid or two--perhaps even a sunken ship spilling with treasure. Suspend fish or seahorses over the baby bed. Paint a friendly octopus where the ceiling medallion would normally go, and make it look like he's holding the light fixture aloft with his tentacles.
For the windows, make cornice boards or valances with the bottoms shaped like waves. Hang plain blinds or shutters underneath for privacy. Keep the room from getting too busy by using solid fabrics on your rocker and bed treatment, perhaps in colors that match your painted fish.
In the Garden
Bring outdoor charm to your baby's room by creating a lovely indoor garden. Paint the walls in a soft, solid color--pink, yellow, green, aqua or sky blue. Paint a leafy tree on one of the walls, and tuck a nest full of baby birds in the crook of a branch. Add a mother bird hovering in flight nearby. Attach white picket fencing or lattice to the lower third of the walls. Paint other nature-inspired touches in random places on the walls, like butterflies, bees and a friendly little squirrel.
Build a miniature arbor or gazebo, and place a white-painted baby bed underneath. Use a mix of soft solids and charming floral fabrics for the bed treatment. Lay a soft green shag rug on the floor to mimic grass. Use simple roller shades or blinds on the windows, and hang shutters on either side of the window frames--so you feel like you're looking in instead of out. Hang a pagoda-style, Chinese-eque chandelier made to look like branches or bamboo.
Under the Big Top
Bring the excitement of the big top to your baby's room with circus-inspired nursery decor. Paint one wall with a circus mural, perhaps a line of elephants walking trunk to tail. Paint the other walls with a solid color from the mural, but add a few surprises--like a mischievous monkey peeking out from a door frame or a cluster of balloons floating toward the ceiling.
Suspend a striped, tent-like canopy above your baby's bed. Round cribs look particularly adorable underneath. Make the canopy valance length, and scallop or fringe the bottom. Make window treatments, bumpers and a bed skirt from your canopy stripe, but use washable solids for the rest of the bedding. Add a bright, painted chest or changing table and lay a fun, bold rug on the floor.
References
- Stan Carpenter; Carpenter & Carpenter Designs; Memphis, Tennessee
- Wayne Shielly; Bartlett Home Furnishings; Memphis, Tennessee
- Ohdeedoh: Nursery Number Two
