There are many reasons for not wanting to know the gender of your child. Or even if you do know or plan on knowing, you might prefer to design a nursery for your newborn that is not gender specific. The easiest way to get started is to avoid themes such as airplanes, trains and fire engines or fairies, butterflies and ballerinas, and of course, the colors pink and blues. Choose instead a theme like world travel, which will allow you to add old world touches like framed maps, a globe or trunk-shaped toy chest.

Select softer, more neutral-toned colors. Yellows, greens, light browns and tans are all good choices. Any one of these shades (from Behr) has the added benefit of adding a calming and tranquil feel to the room. Or if you would like to go bolder, colors like gold, orange and even red are great alternatives for a non-gender specific nursery.

When furnishing your nursery, select baby furniture that is not too light or too dark, since white is often associated with baby girls while black is a popular choice for a boy’s nursery. Cribs like the Orbelle Convertible Mini Portable Crib N Bed in Natural that have a natural or light to medium wood finish are ideal for a non-gender specific nursery design. This crib is very multipurpose – place a changing pad on top of the set of drawers and you have a handy change table; the crib converts to a toddler bed with under-bed storage; and the set of drawers detaches from the unit and can be used as a nightstand.

“Neutral” themed crib bedding is a must in a unisex nursery. The colors of the Bebe Chic Around the World Baby Crib Bedding Set are warm while the antique map pattern of the crib bumper makes this set visually interesting.

Any way you can add storage to a nursery is always a good thing. The Badger Basket Natural Barrel Top Toy Chest has the simple and economical shape of a classic steamer trunk.

The Fun Rugs Supreme Collection Kids World Map Rug uses all of the colors that the crib bedding set does. You can also tie this area rug into the walls by a wallpaper border with a map or other world travel theme.