Today on the blog, learn from our Design Director Stephanie how to create a nursery that is timeless, yet breaks the traditional concepts of a nursery.

TIP 1: Know the Timeline

When designing a space for teens and preteens, it is important to create a room that can grow with their ever-changing likes and dislikes. However, when designing a nursery, remember that this space is not meant to last forever. Typically, a nursery serves as an abode during a five-year span of time. With that being said, don’t try to make this a forever space!

TIP 2: Don’t Forget About You

It is nevertheless important to invest in a nursery both you and your child can enjoy throughout their first few years. Whether you’re reading a book, rocking them to sleep, or receiving the (seemingly unending) wakeup calls, you will be spending a considerable amount of time in this space, so make it special! Later in life, your child will have endless opinions about what type of room they want, but in the first few years, they probably won’t know what they want or like yet. Make your nursery a space that you will love as much, if not more than your child will.

TIP 3: Join the Social Media Soiree

Some parents have no problem deciding on a style or theme for their nursery, but others find it difficult to even begin considering this or committing to an idea. As with any other design, take advantage of the resources available to you. Amongst the greatest of these is social media. Instagram and Pinterest are lifesavers! They are practically bursting at the seams with inspirational styles, themes and ideas.

While using these tools, remember you aren’t trying to find the perfect style or theme- only you can create that. Rather, look for elements that pique your interest. Maybe it’s a light fixture, or a paint color; whatever it is, “pin” or “like” it. As you accumulate these images, your overall design style will become clearer.

Sidenote: Sometimes it’s easier to progress your vision by saving photos of what you don’t like on social media.

TIP 4: A Call for the Statement Wall

In interior design, it is crucial to make a statement that draws attention and defines the space. Ofttimes in kid’s rooms, the designers at Crimson like to create a statement wall. This can be done with a paint color, wallpaper, extended headboard or anything that stands out. However, this can be difficult when you wait to find out the sex of your baby. While designing a gender-neutral statementwall can be difficult, it is not impossible. It can actually foster more creativity that falls outside of nursery norms!

In one of Stephanie’s nursery designs, she was confronted with this challenge. She didn’t want to respond to this unique opportunity with a boring design, so she began to look for inspiration on social media. One day, she stumbled upon this wallpaper.

Stephanie took it to the client and together they collaborated to design a statement wall of the Russian alphabet, the client’s native language. Because there was no wallpaper of this, Stephanie had it hand-painted, resulting-in a one of a kind statement wall!

TIP 5: Avoid Overdoing It

Sometimes it’s easy to become excited about a theme and go overboard. In the context of creating a pink nursery, decide what elements you want to be pink. Do you want a pink statement wall? Maybe a pink crib? Or maybe pink bedding? Making all of these pink can result in an overwhelming and gaudy space.

Also, determine what shade of pink to use. Avoid using a bright pink on all the walls. If you would like to use a bright pink, put it on one of the walls and make the other walls neutral. Or, paint all of the walls a pale pink and add bright pops of pink in the accents like bedding, art, and pillows. Ultimately, make sure the pink is dispersed and paired with neutrals.

TIP 6: Don’t Be Afraid to Be Bold

When designing a nursery, you can layer many different colors and patterns to create unique space. Don’t be afraid to be daring and whimsical! Take a look at these images from our designer Katherine’s nursery! The wallpaper has a fun pattern and bold colors, and is limited to one wall. In the remaining space, she used neutral colors paired with various pops of color that speak back to the wallpaper. Using stuffed animals and pictures of animals on the wall, Katherine was also able to incorporate an animal theme in a tasteful way. 

TIP 7: Invest in Core Pieces of Furniture

You’ll be spending a lot of time in the nursery, so make sure you have a nice place to sit. We recommend investing in a timeless chair that can be reused after the nursery undergoes another transformation. Eventually, you will no longer need the chair in the nursery, but by investing in a chair with durable fabric and a timeless design, this piece of furniture that held you in your sleepless nights in the nursery can follow your child to their sleepless nights of studying in the dorm! For core pieces of furniture like chairs, cribs, dressers and changing tables, we recommend taking a look at Universal and Stone and Leigh as they have a great variety of nursery furniture at a nice price point. Also, take a look at Lee Industries; they have many durable and timeless upholstery fabrics!

TIP 8: Be Sure to Secure

No matter how you decide to design your nursery, make sure to secure all furniture and artwork to keep your little one safe!

Designing a nursery can be overwhelming but use this stage in life to create a charming and comfortable space that fosters life-long family (and pet) memories.

To see other images of nurseries and statement walls, follow @crimsondesigngroup on Instagram ! Also check back in next month to learn some tips and tricks for designing kid’s rooms!