May 31st, 2010
An Americana nursery theme celebrates this country’s history and potential, perfect for a gender neutral baby’s room. The style should definitely be shabby chic or vintage. It can be a delightful mix of country, rustic or transitional. Americana is a theme that can be expanded and adapted to any number motifs: the stars and stripes, Pilgrims and the Mayflower and other patriotic symbols will give your baby a sense of heritage and of place in the world.
An Americana themed nursery will feature heritage type colors (from Benjamin Moore); ones that introduce some color into the room while being predominately neutral. Because heritage colors were originally created from natural pigments, they can appear soft and muted. Any of these shades would work well in a gender neutral nursery.
While shabby chic or vintage is commonly used for girl nurseries, it is the right style for an Americana themed gender neutral nursery because it is casual and relaxed while being enchanting and charming. Don’t forget that the nursery isn’t just a place for baby – you will be spending almost as much time in the room as your child. And since there will be the usual visitors, your nursery should be warm and inviting, especially for you and baby.
Start with the basic pieces of nursery furniture that you will need, like a crib, a changing table and a dresser. Draw the eye to the star of this Americana themed nursery with the Westwood Design Cypress Point 4-in-1 Convertible Crib. For a vintage style room, with its paneled detailing, crown molding and bun feet, it has a charming casualness and a handcrafted appearance that is right for this theme. There is enough decorative detail to make it visually interesting but not too much that it makes it gender-specific or too “girlie.”
The BeBe Chic Chesapeake 4-Piece Baby Crib Bedding Set will create a very patriotic mood in your gender neutral nursery. The colors are essentially muted but given a splash of bold with the star motif. The use of checkers, stars and stripes gives this bedding set a fundamental Americana vibe.
When accessorizing, the little finishing touches like a table lamp, an area rug, and wall art, should have a timeless, vintage feel to them. An Americana themed gender neutral nursery should have, in addition to the crib itself, at least two other focal points to accurately capture the spirit of this great country. Add a quilt or a braided rug. An armoire or a bookcase filled with vintage toys like an Uncle Sam Teddy Bear will give your nursery design a touch of nostalgic chic for your baby girl or baby boy.
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May 28th, 2010
Go Mama Go Designs offer a revolutionary way to make sleepy-time safer and more comfortable for infants. Crib bedding sets made by this company skip crib bumper pads altogether, opting instead for vertical crib bumpers. These uniquely designed crib bumper sets are more breathable than standard crib bumpers, allowing air to circulate better, keeping baby cooler and fresher. Go Mama Go vertical style crib bumpers also reduce the risk of SIDS and are easy to install, use and clean.
The idea is simple. The vertical bumpers wrap around each of the crib’s vertical rails. Because infant little fingers grow to be curious little fingers, Go Mama Go bumpers don’t use Velcro, but rather zippers instead. These run from top to bottom, positioning them below the mattress line when properly fastened and therefore safely out of reach of tiny hands. Each Go Mama Go is 5” wide and is made of soft, stretchable materials that 
essentially mould themselves to fit the rails of the crib. And they can be easily thrown into the washing machine.
Go Mama Go wonder bumpers are available in packs that can customized to the crib you purchased. The average crib can have 30 to 60 rails. Before deciding on a Go Mama Go crib set, count the verticals rails on your crib. They are simple to put on, there are no ties and they everything from blankies to bumpers are made of very soft materials that will feel good on baby’s skin. Because they cover the entire length of the rail, should a little mishap occur, baby’s head is better protected.
Go Mama Go Designs was created by two enterprising moms in 2006. They were motivated (and continue to be motivated) to designs baby crib products that contributed to a safe and cozy environment for sleeping. Go Mama Go wonder bumpers and wonder bumper crib bedding sets are as innovative and functional as they are fun and fashionable.
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May 27th, 2010
You know you need one, but especially if this is your first child, you might not know exactly what to look for. And then there is the faction that advises to skip the changing table step altogether since you won’t be using it for very long. But even if you won’t need it much past the 18 month mark, it will be well-used for other fun activities such as cutting toe nails, brushing hair and wiping your little one’s nose. Since you will be changing your baby any from 5,475 to 8,213 times during a year and a half, it’s important to select one that is comfortable for both you and your baby. Another good thing about a changing table is that it provides a safe place for you to change your child while allowing you to organize everything you need to keep close to hand.
Essentially, there are three main types of changing tables to choose from: the dresser/changing table combo; the open shelf changing table; the combination changing table. If you are the type of person that likes health, beauty and baby products conveniently handy but out of sight, select a changing table that provides hidden storage like a dresser/changing table or a combination changing table. On the other hand, if you don’t want to bother with opening and closing doors and drawers when trying to make your child dry and comfortable, pick an open shelf changing table.
The trick to choosing the “right” changing table is to select one that will be the most useful to you. Before making a final decision as to which one you’ll purchase, check the following:
- Height – for you to be comfortable when changing a diaper, the changing table should come up to your waist
- Orientation – Some changing tables are oriented so that you are changing your child at an angle from one side. Other types of changing tables like the Badger Basket Corner Baby Changing Table are designed so that the baby’s feet are pointing toward you. Since you are directly facing your infant it can be easier and faster when you’re changing your little one
- Features – Some manufacturers include a changing pad with safety straps or include rails or raised sides. Other types of change tables come with different organizational features such as trays, baskets or cubbies. Pick a change table that has the right combination of safety features and organizational features that will give you the most peace of mind.
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May 26th, 2010
Today we’re going to design a baby girl nursery that celebrates that folk art hero, the sock monkey! Emerging from Victorian times, this well-beloved toy was typically fashioned from socks. Sock monkeys made from a particular a red-heeled wool sock, which became the monkey’s mouth surfaced in the early 1950s. A new twist on a jungle-themed nursery, a monkey nursery is an impishly fun way to create a girl nursery that is light-hearted, while having a lasting, whimsical appeal.
The palette should be soft, soothing and totally girl nursery. Shades of pink (from Benjamin Moore) are the order of the day. Use one of these gentle pinks as a main wall color. Any one of them should blend well with whites or creams when used to paint the windows, baseboards or the ceiling.
Vintage style nursery furniture is a beautiful way to decorate the space in a mix-and-match kind of way. Vintage combines old with new; traditional with contemporary; and classic collectibles with kitsch. The crib will be the natural focal point in the room. A vintage style crib might have hand-painted stencils or motifs; a changing table could have decorative brass or silver accents; a dresser may have a white-washed or distressed finish.
In addition to the crib, you will also need a dresser and a changing table. While the number one priority of designing a monkey nursery theme is to be cute, fun and pretty, it must be practical as well. Give careful thought to how to incorporate storage solutions into the room that will grow with your child. Of the two, a dresser is the most likely furniture piece to grow with your child. But many manufacturers today offer type of changing tables that are designed to be used in other ways once it is no longer needed in the nursery. And the same applies to cribs as well; convertible cribs can be used as a toddler bed, twin bed or in some cases even a full size bed.
Aside from painting a mural, hanging pictures or adding a wallpaper border to the walls, your monkey themed nursery will come to life with the themed crib bedding and accessories you choose. The Maddie Boo Sock Monkey Vanilla 4-piece Baby Crib Bedding Set is charming and delightful and the colors are soothing; a good foil for the predominately pink nursery.
The sock monkey as the star of a monkey nursery theme is a creative and versatile way to decorate your new baby girl’s first bedroom. Tying it all together with whimsical and fun accessories like the L.A. Rugs Bobby Jack Don’t Burst My Bubble area rug, a vintage sock monkey lamp shade and sock monkey curtains will lend your girl nursery a charming, old-fashioned appeal that will make it a warm and inviting place to sleep and grow.
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May 25th, 2010
Designing and planning an island themed nursery for your baby boy can be a lot of fun. Ideal for a bright nursery, tropical birds and flowers are great inspirations for color schemes for walls, fabrics, accessories and nursery crib bedding. Or you can create the excitement of surfing the waves with ocean scenes, surfer prints and posters or a surf board or two. The whole idea behind an island themed nursery is to make the atmosphere feel like a tropical vacation.
This color palette from Benjamin Moore is chosen to reflect the many moods of the sea. Shades are deliberately muted to allow color to be brought into the room through accessories, window treatments and area rugs. Any one of these colors can be used as the main color palette for the walls. Add a palm tree mural or a wallpaper border of dragonflies to give your boy nursery that unique touch to make his first room an extra special place.
The Cotton Tale Paradise 4-Piece Baby Crib Bedding Set combines jungle animals with palm trees and dragonflies for an island themed nursery that will have a playful atmosphere.
Opting for country style baby nursery furniture will give the room a warm and inviting charm to match the tropical island themed nursery. Because island living is famously relaxed and casual go for natural or light to medium wood finishes. The warm wood finish of the DaVinci Parker 4 in 1 Convertible Wood Baby Crib will complement the colors of the walls and the crib bedding. Its relaxed and flowing lines are perfect for island living.
The right accessories chosen with living in paradise in mind, will give your island themed nursery a stylish, finished look. Accessorizing is also the ideal opportunity to add layers of plush tropical texture to the décor. Put a collection of shells on a bookshelf; hang pictures of sea creatures on the walls; place a colorful parrot shaded table lamp on a dresser or a side table beside the glider. And because of its tropical nature, don’t forget to include organic elements like woven baskets, a wicker hamper or bamboo picture frames.
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May 24th, 2010
You can conjure up soft ocean breezes, the smell of tropical flowers and lazy days in the sun for your baby girl with an island themed nursery. It’s a fun and whimsical way to introduce your infant to the sea, island living and palm trees. The ideas are endless and the color palette you choose for your baby girl nursery can be as bright and rich as your imagination.
Use color to create an island mood. These bright shades from Benjamin Moore are a good place to starts. Select either tropical paradise or tropical pool as the main wall color of your island themed nursery. Then choose one of the two others as an accent color. Once you’ve painted the nursery, you don’t just have to stick to “plain” walls – since island themed decorations are popular items for nursery décor, you’ll be able to find appropriately themed wallpaper borders, stencils and peel and stick mural kits.
Select nursery furniture that has a cottage country feel. You will need a crib, a changing table and a dresser. Many mothers-to-be opt to have a glider or rocking in the nursery as a comfortable place to feed baby or to inspire her to drop off to sleep again. If there is room, consider adding a side table or a nightstand that can be used in your child’s room as she grows. This will provide a handy place to put things when sitting in the chair.
Country cottage gives a nursery a relaxed charm that is bright and refreshing, recreating the atmosphere of a seaside vacation or a day spent lazily at the beach. Because it has roots in traditional styles that were adapted life in places outside of the big city, lines and profiles are simplified; decorative detail often includes molding, beadboard or distressed finishes. The Status Furniture Montrose Baby Room Furniture Set is ideal for an island themed nursery because it possesses a simple sophistication especially suited to a baby girl.
While the Maddie Boo Jaime 4-piece Baby Crib Bedding Set isn’t specifically themed bedding, the colors fit right in with an island themed nursery. There’s no mistaking the rich and vibrant shades of green and blue that reflect many different colors of the sea.
Since the crib is not dressed in island themed bedding, you’ll be able accessorize with abandon. Curtains, wall art and an area rug like the Fun Rugs Somethin Fishy Rug that will bring both the theme and additional color into the space give your island themed nursery an enchanting and magical appearance.
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May 21st, 2010
A travel themed nursery embodies curiosity and adventure, a wonderful way to introduce your baby to the world. The great thing about this theme is that you can tailor it for a girl nursery, a boy nursery or a gender neutral nursery, just by selecting traditional or non-gender specific colors. You can focus on means of travel such as planes, trains, ships and automobiles. Or you can feature the countries you might see in 80 days traveling by steamship and train (as hypothesized by the Jules Verne novel). You can go in the opposite direction and give your little one a nursery that is out of this world with spaceships and rockets. You could also take inspiration from the series “Where’s Waldo.” Vintage or modern travel, there are so many options to choose from.
For this particular travel themed nursery design, we’ll start with blue – not for boy but for sky and sea, two things that play a big role in traveling around the world (even if it’s not in 80 days). Blues such as turquoise, aquamarine, sky and maritime are becoming more common choices for girl nurseries as well. This color palette from Benjamin Moore is a selection of “main” wall colors. For accent colors, use greens and yellows. Or if you have it already, take your accent colors from the themed bedding you’ve chosen for the crib.
For a boy travel themed nursery choose darker colored baby furniture; for a girl nursery with a travel theme, select white or natural; for a gender neutral travel themed nursery choose light to medium wood finishes. The Status Furniture Brookfield Baby Room Furniture Set would look just at home in a girl nursery as it would in a boy nursery. It also has the added bonus of including the basic pieces of baby furniture – the crib, changing table and chest of drawers – that you will need.
Dress the crib in a themed bedding set like the Bebe Chic Around the World Baby Crib Bedding Set. The colors are perfect for a gender neutral nursery. Continue accessorizing the nursery with framed maps, vintage suitcases or black and white prints of the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben or a Venetian palace. For those special touches that will make your baby’s first room unique, use suitcase labels as wall art or make a mobile out of small globes of different colors.
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May 19th, 2010
A jungle theme is ideal for a gender neutral nursery because colors associated with a rainforest, safari or jungle animals tend to be bright, colorful and larger-than-life. It also allows you to fill the space with fun, whimsical shapes and colors. Add a jungle animal border or a mural to the walls; accessorize with an elephant lamp; an amusing area. Since it’s the space you and your baby will share for the first two years of your baby’s life, have fun designing your nursery and go wild.
Begin at the Beginning
When designing a gender neutral nursery, the best place to begin is with color. Gender neutral colors include yellows and greens, as well as the classic neutral colors like as beige, white, cream and tan. Earth tones such as taupe, sage and umber are also popular choices.
For accent colors, simply select deeper shades or complementary tones of the main color you have chosen for the nursery walls.
A wall mural or wall art depicting a family of lions, giraffes or hippos will make the room visually interesting.
All Together Now
When choosing baby furniture for a gender neutral nursery, select a crib, changing table and dresser that have an uncluttered appearance. This doesn’t mean you can’t go traditional, if that’s the style that you prefer – just choose a traditional style like Shaker or Louis Philippe that is renowned for its lack of ornamentation.
Select jungle themed crib bedding that matches the colors used on the walls.
Accessories are not just those little finishing touches that make your baby’s room unique. Accessorizing wisely is a great way to harmonize all of the elements in the nursery, from the walls to the baby furniture to the curtains on the window. For window treatments, upholstered chairs and accent pillows, mix and match fabrics such as faux fur with crisp cotton. This is another way to give your gender neutral nursery an additional layer of texture.
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May 17th, 2010
An expecting mother finding out that she is having twins can be a bit of a surprise. But once the “shock” has worn off, you will now be planning a nursery for two babies, not just one. The good news is the only item of baby furniture that you will actually need two of is the crib. Because you will be changing or feeding just one child at a time, you will require only one changing table and one glider or rocker. Some parents opt to decorate two nurseries, one for each baby; the thinking behind this is that eventually they will have their own rooms, why not right from the start? Some parents find that twins sleep better if they share the nursery. Whatever route you choose, the elements for creating a warm and inviting place for your twins will remain the same.
Start with a can of paint. Choose one that is non-toxic. When planning a nursery for twins that are one of each, designing a gender-neutral nursery will create a welcoming atmosphere for both. Select colors that are not shades of pink or blue. If you know whether you are expecting boys or girls you can opt for the more traditional colors like blue or pink.
While soothing and comforting, a nursery should also be a place that will stimulate brain activity and the senses of your twins. Pick a theme with this in mind. Some of the more popular nursery themes are:
- Jungle animals / safari
- Farm animals / domestic pets
- Lady bugs / butterflies / bees
- Sun / moon / stars / planets
- Little Mermaid / Winnie the Pooh
- Flowers / trees
- Sea / pirates / nautical
The basic pieces of baby furniture you will need are two cribs, a changing table and a dresser. Especially if the space is smaller-sized, you will need to make everything fit, and in such a manner that you can move easily around the room. A changing table like the Badger Basket Diaper Corner Baby Changing Table that fits conveniently in a corner could be the ideal solution when trying to make the maximum use of available floor space. Selecting multipurpose items like a dresser/change table is another way to make your twins nursery a little roomier.
Whether the space is ample or smaller sized, storage will be an important aspect of designing a nursery for your twins. Choose a dresser with multiple-size drawers; units with a number of storage options like a combination of cubbies, shelves and drawers; or armoires with compartments that can be easily adapted for baby one and baby two.
When accessorizing, add a little individuality. Yes, they are twins, but by giving them complementing rather than matching nursery crib bedding, area rugs and/or mobiles, you will be “visually” making a distinction between the two with the use of color and pattern.
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May 14th, 2010
A cowboy themed nursery has a rustic charm and an attractive versatility that could have an enduring appeal until high school…well at least he reaches middle school. It’s an ideal theme for a boy nursery because it involves animals, the Wild West, covered wagons, horses and of course, cowboys. It also allows you a lot of flexibility when choosing a design style, from rustic to country and Southwestern to vintage bordering on traditional. A themed nursery, especially a cowboy theme nursery, conveniently ties all of the other elements in the room and gives it a casual and welcoming vibe.
Not only because this is a boy’s room, but also because it involves cowboys and the Old West, choose warm browns, muted reds and sandy tones that reflect their world. When the walls have been painted, you can include the cowboy theme in any number of creative and imaginative ways. If you’re artistically inclined, you can draw or stencil a cowboy scene or motif on one or more of the boy nursery and then paint the mural. Perhaps a mural is too labor-intensive; opt instead for using letter stencils to spell out your baby’s 
name, a cowboy theme wallpaper border or framed vintage prints of cowboys doing cowboy things like herding cattle, etc.
Nursery sets are available in a range of styles. Buying your baby furniture in nursery sets instead of individual pieces is usually more economical. Choose baby furniture for your nursery in classic “boy” colors like black, dark brown or espresso that is well-constructed, durable and stylish. Or since it is a cowboy theme, how about a crib set in natural or pine? You will need a crib, a changing table and some form of storage like a dresser, chest of drawers or an armoire.
Your crib will need a crib mattress and naturally, themed bedding to make it extra comfy for your little one. Accessorize your cowboy themed bedroom. Include the floor in your nursery 
design plan by choosing and area rug like the Fun Rugs California Kids Medium Pile Cowboy Rug. Adding stuffed farm animals, wall art depicting a cowboy’s life on the range or lamps with bases in the shape of a horse or cowboy to the room will give your baby boy’s nursery a vintage look that will stimulate your child’s senses, transforming it into a place everyone can enjoy.
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