So, you’re having a girl! Congratulations! Not that I’m biased or anything, but daughters are the best! Just kidding, I’m totally biased. I have a two year old daughter and am currently 8 months pregnant with daughter numero dos. It’s great!
I think the best part about pregnancy (besides the cool tiny human you get as a prize at the end) is the planning! I think I started planning my daughter’s nursery from the second that the ultrasound tech confirmed (after asking them to check THREE times, just to make sure) that we were having a girl!
There’s just something so much fun about planning your baby’s nursery. For me, getting my daughter’s nursery together and completed made the pregnancy feel way more real (as if the gigantic belly wasn’t enough).
Of course, if I had known that we would be a cosleeping family, and that my daughter wouldn’t even use her own room until she was 2, I might have not put so much time and effort into it. I’m not making that mistake with this one. In fact, I have yet to start on this new little babe’s nursery at all…and I’m 33 weeks pregnant. Haha…yikes?
Anyway, if you’ve decided that your baby WILL be using the nursery from the get go, you’ll want to start planning for it as soon as you can. Not only do you not know exactly when that little babe will make her entrance, it will also just make you feel a lot better to have it completed. Trust me. Plus, it gives you something to do while you’re counting down the days until you give birth. Without something to focus on, that stretch of time between finding out you’re having a girl and actually giving birth to that girl is going to feel like a million years. Planning, organizing, and completing the nursery will give you just the distraction you need. Before you know it, that little baby girl will be in your arms!
One big issue that I came across when planning my daughter’s nursery was that I am, easily, the worst person ever at making decisions. I second guess myself, I overthink, and then I just give up because I’m too overwhelmed. Sounds super healthy, right? I know. If that sounds like you, I’d start a Pinterest board right now. Seriously.
The truth is, there are a billion designs, themes, and ideas that you can use for your baby’s nursery. It really comes down to your taste, budget, and willingness to actually put your plans into action. I’ve taken it upon myself to include a few ideas for you. Hopefully, it’ll take the pressure off a little!
When I was planning (and then ultimately creating) my daughter’s nursery, I decided to go with colors over an actual theme. I liked the planning aspect of the whole situation, but I hated the execution. I don’t have the natural eye for design and it was really stressful. Picking colors vs. an actual theme meant that I wouldn’t have to redo everything in a couple years when my daughter outgrew whatever theme I had picked for her before she was born.
I went with colors that were easily found everywhere: a blush pink, light gray walls, and white furniture. I printed out some art prints that would match the style and that was that! It easily came together and made me feel like I was ready for my baby to finally be born.
If your baby is going to be using the nursery more than mine did (which is not hard to do), you might want to pay attention to the psychology of the colors that you pick. What’s that? YEP. Colors matter!
You want their nursery to be a calming experience for them, so you don’t want to paint the walls a color that will be exciting or stimulating for such a tiny baby. In such a big world, your baby will find so much stimulation every minute of the day. Let the nursery be a relaxing place for your baby. Plus, a calm baby means a good night sleep. Who doesn’t want a good night’s sleep? A crazy person.
According to shape.com, there are five main colors that you should paint walls in order for them to have a calming effect on the person staying in the room (also known as your baby).
The first color the article mentions is blue. They offer a few shades that would work best and lists the actual names of the paint colors that you can buy at your local paint store. The shades they offer fall under the pastel category and look very nice! Blues (in all shades) has been proven to have a creative, yet calming, effect on the people who paint their walls with it. In fact, blue is widely recognized as the best color to decorate a bedroom with. I guess that’s a good thing for me, my own personal bedroom colors are navy blue, gray, and white! Score!
The second color this article lists is violet (but, personally, I think it looks more like lavender). They list it because it stems from the blue colors they previously talked about. The shades of violet that they list are also more pastel than anything else, but I like them! I can see how they’d be considered calming, especially since (as the article mentions) violet/lavender gives a sense of tranquility that would make a bedroom super calming.
The third color shape.com lists is pink. To be honest, pink surprised me. However, like the previous two colors, the article lists different shades that would be calming and they all fall under the pastel category. What I didn’t know, that the article mentions, is that people who follow the Feng Shui concept of design often prefer pink because it “soothes” the energy inside of a bedroom. Good to know!
Color number four that the article mentions is green. The reason behind the green is that it goes hand in hand with nature, which can have an intense calming and relaxing effect on a person.
I mean, think about it. When you’re on a mountain and you look out to see all of those trees, and you breathe in a deep breath of fresh mountain air, don’t you feel so much more calm and relaxed? I know I do. The color green makes sense to me. Plus, like the previous three colors, the shades of green that they list are more pastel than anything. Pastel colors are calming because they’re not stimulating and you can accessorize them easily.
The final color that shape.com lists is gray. Gray is a good wall color (and very in these days) because it’s neutral without being white and plain. It gives a good pop in the background and you can accessorize with, literally, any color. I have grey walls in my entire house and it gives me a nice base to work with.
Okay, so you’ve given colors a lot of thought but you still want to do a theme for your baby girl’s nursery. The good thing is that there are so many ideas. All you have to do is search Pinterest for “girl nurseries” and thousands of ideas will appear. I’ll list a few of my favorite for you, here.
The first theme that I really love (and will probably use for my new baby) for a baby girl’s nursery is a boho theme. Personally, I’m more drawn to that design. My tastes have changed since I decorated my oldest daughter’s nursery. I’m way more drawn to earthy, yet feminine tones and decorations this time around. While I will be using my older daughter’s white furniture for the new baby, and probably won’t paint the walls any other color, I will use a boho theme to accentuate the room. This means lots of earthy colors, flowers, and a simple overall feel.
If boho isn’t your style, what about a star/sky theme? You could use any color scheme and then pick up some decor that incorporates stars into it. You can find cute star decor really anywhere, all you have to do is a quick Google search. Consider Etsy and Amazon as two places to get the most for your nursery without having to spend an arm and a leg to pay for it. If you’re looking for some inspiration for how to decorate, I’ve found a few options for a star-themed nursery:
- Etsy has sooo many cute options for star decals that you can put right on the wall (and remove!). Here is one of the cute ones that I found in my research!
- This star shaped night light would be the perfect addition to a nursery, especially for late-night wake up calls!
- Every nursery needs curtains! These star curtains are the perfect addition because they’re cute, come in many different colors, and are blackout curtains (which means they block light and keep the heat/cold out)!!
Another popular theme for girls tends to be elephants. I can see why, though, it’s so cute! When done right, an elephant-centered nursery can easily, be one of the cutest rooms ever! If you’re looking for specific ideas, I’m including some super cute elephant decor options below! Check them out:
- This little elephant frame would look so cute with baby’s first picture inside of it!
- This little elephant rug is the perfect addition to your baby girl’s nursery!!!
When researching different themes for this article, I came across the “Woodland” theme for baby girls! I had always only really heard of it for boys, but I’m glad I stumbled upon girl options because there are so many cute options out there!! For instance:
- I could literally die over these crib sheets. Maybe I love them so much because they have a boho feel to them! Who knows. All I know is that they’re adorable and you should get them.
- These animal art prints would look so good on any wall! It doesn’t even matter what color you decide to paint the walls! These prints are just too cute.
- This mobile would be the perfect thing for baby to look at when she’s spending time in her crib. I mean, just look at how adorable it is!!!!
If you’re looking for a more classy approach, there’s always the ever favorite princess theme! While this theme is not my kind of style, I did do a thorough investigation into the world of princess decor. The obvious color scheme is PINK EVERYTHING! Because, hey, what princess doesn’t like pink? Here are some items you can use to decorate:
- This picture frame is the first obvious choice for a princess themed room. Can you picture your little sweet baby girl’s picture in this frame?
- Baby’s first piggy bank! Click here to start on that college tuition ASAP!
- What princess room would be complete without a big, princess, personalized wall decal? Click here to see this magical decal (and take a look at the pictures for some heavy inspiration)!
Honestly, like I said before, the theme of your baby girl’s nursery is all up to your taste, budget, and willingness to actually decorate it. There are so many options out there, it’s almost too overwhelming!
My best piece of advice is to start early…and to have an idea of what you want before you dive down the rabbit hole of nursery ideas. You’re bound to get sucked in, but that’s okay!!
The good news is that your baby girl will have zero idea if she’s in a fully decorated nursery or not, so don’t feel too pressured!!! I’m sure the nursery you choose will look fantastic, mama!