There are just a few finishing touches left before the baby’s room is finished and ready to share with all of you. Before the official reveal, I thought I’d share two alternate nursery plans that I considered–one colourful and one neutral.
There were a couple of things that both plans had in common.
We knew we weren’t finding out if we were having a boy or a girl, so no matter what the room looked like it needed to be gender neutral. (Sorry, no gender reveal post coming until baby arrives.)
The second thing was that I wanted an Ikea Strandmon wing chair and Animal Print Shop photos in the room. The Strandmon is a super comfortable chair. I knew the high back, wings, arms and generous seat would be good support for a tired nursing Mama. The Animal Print Shop images are super fun and would be a friendly addition to a baby’s space.
I’ve really enjoyed pulling the baby’s room together and thinking about what feel I wanted and what made the most sense for us and our baby.
Here are the two ideas that I started with.
Neutral
The neutral design came when I considered using the guest room as the nursery. This room has faux wood paneling on the walls, which I thought would look great in white. The dropcloth curtains that I made for the guest room were a soft non-colour that would contrast just enough with the walls. The rest would be wood, leather and natural tones like brown, white and grey. Something like this room from Cheetah is the New Black or this one from design dump.
Source: Cheetah is the New Black
I’ve learned that light colours are very calming for me, so I felt like this would be a zen space, even if I’m not always feeling zen.
I also felt like this scheme would work really well with our farm–all of the natural materials and neutral colours would be a fit for the country setting.
Here’s a moodboard with some of the items I was considering.
Sources: Dresser, Chair, Pouf, Crib, Cowhide rug, Goat picture
Colourful
The colourful scheme was the one that had been in my head the longest. I had originally planned on using my office for a baby’s room. The walls were turquoise, and I liked the idea of that inspiring, high energy colour for a baby. This pillow from Anthropologie (which is no longer available) inspired the rest of the decor.
I felt like white would be important to temper the turquoise. At the same time, I liked the colourful tassels, and they inspired me to think about other colours that would mix with the turquoise.
Here’s the moodboard for the colourful nursery.
Sources: Crib, Chair, Pillow, Ottoman, Hooks, Dresser, Paint, Goat picture, Pompom trim
The final space ended up being a bit of a combination of the two plans, and I’m excited to show it to you.
What design appeals to you most?
Home on 129 Acres 
I like both designs, but the first one is my fav because I love the rug in that first picture!
Happy decorating baby’s room!
Decorating the room has definitely been a fun part of expecting a baby. You’ll notice my designs are decidedly lacking in rugs. We don’t have them elsewhere in the house, so I’ve left one out of the baby’s room. Although that may change as Mama’s knees get sore from being on the hardwood floor.
The neutrals appeal to me because I agree they look calming! But I love that fun tasseled pillow!
Side note: what program or app do you use to make your mood boards?
I know! That pillow has magnetic powers.
I use Photoshop Elements. Mood boards like this are a bit fiddly, but I’ve used PS for years (first learned it in university) and am pretty comfortable working in it. When I use other imaging programs, I tend to get frustrated by the lack of functionality and control… although PS is overkill for most of the editing I do.
Thanks! I have occasionally wanted to make one (usually for room decorating) but I have yet to find anyone using anything but Photoshop. It seems like overkill for how seldom I need one.
I think if I were designing my girls’ nurseries over again, I would go with the neutral to begin with, then add in more color as they grew. So … a mix, I guess. Neutral is so calming in those early days, and once they grow and collect toys their rooms get pretty colorful anyway. A natural evolution.
That’s a good point. I’m curious how our room will evolve as bébé grows and its own personality and preferences come out.
My one nephew’s room started out a very soft blue and now it’s lego green (his choice).
Sometimes I feel like a sociologist or anthropologist instead of a parent, because I do find it so fascinating how their personality develops and asserts itself. And so much of it is there right at the beginning! Congrats to you! Can’t wait to follow your story!
This whole thing seems like a giant experiment so far! 🙂
Thanks for your good wishes.
I like the neutrals to. I knew the sex of my youngest two girls because, due to my so called advanced years (mid 30s and a couple of high risk factors for good measure) I had amnios for both and yet I still had neutrals/pale yellow for both. I’m pleased I did because Middle Mudlet is a tomboy and rarely goes for pink anything and I’m glad I didn’t assume she would be a girlie girl when she was a baby, if that makes sense.
One thing I would say, although I’m sure you have already thought of it, if you are intending to breast feed, make sure your comfortable chair is next to something you can rest a glass of water on for those midnight/wee small hours feeds. You’d be surprised how thirsty you can get feeding a ravenous newborn at 2am.
I love how you let your kids be themselves. That’s really important to me, and I hope I can foster that for ours.
Thanks for the nursing tip. I’ve invested in a new water bottle and we have a small table next to the chair. Fingers crossed I’m set!
I like both of them! I agree the neutrals suit the farm, but I also love the colours, especially that pillow. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Coming soon!
They both look really nice. I think I like the one with more colors better but I really can’t decide. As you know, decorating is soo not my thing and I have a hard time picturing anything until I actually sit in a room and see it! My mother in law has helped us so much with decorating. Thank goodness! Haha.
That’s handy to have someone to go to!