Here’s a moodboard for a pink nursery – I love the Ostrich wallpaper and the armchair is suitably battered for a cosy reading perch:

Nursery with Pink Accessories

Here’s a moodboard for a nursery with a blue and orange theme:

Accessories for a Boy's Nursery

Colour for the Nursery

Don’t opt for blue or pink as the dominant colour for a young child, keep it fairly neutral and add in the blues/pinks with accessories and as the child’s favourite colour becomes apparent. Some girls like blue after all!  Once they are old enough to be crazy about a particular theme e.g. Barney or Barbie, you can purchase smaller accessories in that theme and then replace them as the phase goes.

Paint or Wallpaper?

Is wallpaper a good option for a nursery?  Wallpaper adds warmth, interest and texture to a room. Many parents seem to be opting to wallpaper a feature wall as the most popular sized order for children’s wallpaper is two rolls. The D’ya-think-e-saurus is a firm favourite for boys bedrooms and the Ostrich and Merry Go Circus are lovely for girls rooms.

Colour In Wallpaper

What about the risk of children writing on the wallpaper?  You could create a ‘writing zone’ as they get older with some blackboard paint or choose a wallpaper that can be coloured in such as Tick Tock or C60 in Snow – hours of fun colouring in are guaranteed!

Wall stickers are great too – I particularly like those by Love Mae which are reusuable and removable so they can be ‘redesigned’ by little fingers and reapplied – allowing them to be as creative as they wish to be.

Above the cot!

Forget about a mobile for over the cot to amuse the baby as she/he is lying in the cot.  What about wallpapering the ceiling instead?  It would certainly be different and create an impact while leaving plenty of space on the walls for storage and shelving.

This picture from Houzz might be a little over the top but you get the idea. I love the damask pattern and it certainly wouldn’t be ‘grown out of quickly’!

Storage

You can never have enough storage in a child’s nursery – for items such as nappies to toys. Baskets and tubs are really handy as you can remove a tub with selected toys to bring to another room and then replace.

Inspired by one of our blog posts, a reader asked her brother to create these shelves for her little girl and sent us the picture. We went her some offcuts of wallpaper to finish the job which you can see too. I love the way it will double as a doll’s house for her as she grows.

Nursery shelves

Bookshelves – rather than having shelves that require the books to be tightly packed, opt for narrow farward-facing shelves such as these ‘racks’ so the books become a feature, can be seen easily and are easy for the child to find and to replace. Spotted here.

Flooring

Personally speaking, I like softness underfoot in a child’s room, I think it is much easier for their little feet to grip and softer on their knees as they crawl about. Softer on your knees too as you’ll be down there with them!

Owl Rug by Designers Guild

 If you are opting for a hard flooring, think about a rug for beside the cot or bed. Designers Guild have many gorgeous rugs for children.

Seating

Small chairs are really cute for children and they feel very grown up having little children’s tea parties with their siblings or friends. Don’t forget seating for you too.  You will need a comfortable seat on which to perch while reading those bedtime stories, one that is big enough for them to site on your knee comfortably.

Marionette Cushions

Some cushions like any of those by Ferm Living will add comfort and character to the chair too.

I hope these tips prove useful if you are just about to embark on decorating a nursery for the first time, and many congratulations

Girl's Bedroom

Have you used Polyvore to create moodboards? Or do you use any other websites to create moodboards.  There’s Olioboard too but I have yet to try it. I might give that a go and then I’ll give you my opinion regarding which is the better/easier one.

Blue and orange are opposite each other on the colour wheel and hence while blues and browns can be calming and sophisticated, blue and orange can be quite invigorating, especially if you are concerned about blue being a cold colour.

I’m really liking this look for a boy’s bedroom:

Bedroom Ideas for Boys

Marionette Cushions

I think my favourite is Elle Elephant.  Do you have a preference?

While hard flooring is popular in children’s bedrooms (again protecting against allergies), do provide a soft floor area where children can play comfortably and crawl around with their lego / cars / dolls.

A rug beside the bed too provides warmth in the winter when they are jumping out of bed as well as providing plenty of character.

Some of my favourite rugs for children are by Designers Guild. Soft, 100% wool, gorgeous designs and quality, they’re not cheap at £195/€235 but will last for many years.

If you are in Ireland and would like us to order one of the Designers Guild rugs for you, do get in contact with us.

Is it a doll’s house? Is it shelves? It’s both as well as being absolutely fabulous. I have been gently reminding Brian to make one for Kate and he protests that she has plenty of shelves. However, I feel, that like shoes, a girl can never have enough shelves.

Beatrice sent me pictures of the set of shelves her brother made for her little girl and now that I have seen these, the gentle reminders Brian has been getting will be becoming a more savage nag! Isn’t this just gorgeous?

Before Paint!

Painted and wallpaper with offcuts from Designer’s Guild’s latest collection for children, doesn’t this look fabulous and it will last this beautiful little girl for many many years.  I think Beatrice did a terrific job.

One of the key themes with children’s bedrooms has to be storage.  Apart from storage for clothing, children will require storage for toys and books.  The better the storage is, the easier it will be for the child to tidy up! – well, that’s the parental intention!

Ikea supply a wide variety of shelving options which are all budget friendly. You can never have enough shelves. However, ensure that wide shelves are split along with dividers as it will make it easier for children to replace books if they aren’t all about to fall on them.  Ensure that the shelves aren’t too tightly packed so the child will see spaces to put their possessions.

Make a bookcase more interesting and personal by making one out of the child’s initials. (Source: Tove Lisa)

I also love this idea for shelves – perfect for making books more accessible and having them on display, even one shelf will be perfect as the favourite books (why do young children always prefer one book that you have to read millions of times) can be displayed there.

Isn’t this fabulous? It makes a great feature wall as well as creating a perfect spot for having time out with a book. (Elizabeth Sullivan)

Beds with storage underneath are a great idea for smaller bedrooms – whether you opt for a bed with drawer storage or a bed that can be raised so that there is space to play or study underneath.

This set of bunk beds is great – apart from the under bed drawer storage, I love the quite sophisticated stairs to the top bunk and with the side drawers, every inch of space can be used for storage. (Source: Bunk Beds A2Z)

And here’s a more feminine version of a set of bunk beds with storage. (source: Fit in House)

And this is one of the most gorgeous examples I’ve seen of beds with a play area underneath – Imagine having your own VW campervan equivalent in your bedroom! (Source: The Lettered Cottage via pinterest)

Spotted here via pinterest

For kids with asthma, the dust from the chalk may not be a good idea but there are plenty of wallpapers available now that can be coloured in. There’s the funky ‘Colour in’ wallpaper by Jon  Burgerman.

Mini Moderns also produce a number of their design in ‘Snow’ colourways which can be coloured in or left plain.

The C60 cassettes wallpaper is more retro and the third is the Tick Tock featuring all types of clocks to be coloured in.

Perfect for budding artists to hone their skills!