Nowadays it is very rare to continue using colors that define the gender of a baby, such as blue and pink. Having so many colors available, it’s better to discover new ones that can be used. A gender-neutral nursery now involves accommodating our baby in a room of different colors, with lots of light, colors that reflect tranquility, and above all security for our newborn.
The new trend these days is to create a “clean line” space, that is, less is more and also bring a more sophisticated look to our nursery room.
So, whether you want to wait or not to know the gender of your baby, in this article, you will find several tips that will be of great help to you to set aside the rules and stereotypes according to the gender of your baby. You will be able to create a perfect, simple, vibrant, and beautiful room with some easy tips anyone can follow!
Getting Started
First of all, you must define the ideal space for your baby nursery. It would be important to consider a place with enough light, and also, take into account the temperature of the room, which is neither too hot nor too cold. The ideal would be a neutral temperature and a little humid. Once you have defined the new space for your baby, you can start planning out the colors! I consider that its one of the most fun and important steps since it gives life to the design and the planning itself of the entire room.
Start by looking for some color palette options, look for colors that you feel can give your baby peace of mind, that is not too strong, that can be irritable for both, for him/her and for you. On Pinterest, you will find thousands of options in different ways to combine pastel colors that are other than blue and pink, of course. You will find the best color palettes as well as the most trendy. Go ahead and create a board with all your favorite palette color pins!
Tip 1: Choose a color palette that uses whites, grays, beige, yellow, brown, all pastel colors, clearly living aside the traditional blue and pink. Also, you might want to look at the meaning of some colors and be able to create your own color palette. That would be a really nice DIY activity as well.
Budget Concerns?
Surely you heard or read in several places that having a baby can be extremely expensive, and even stressful, many future parents enter a hole of anxiety and preoccupation because of this. However, it doesn’t have to be this way! With the proper planning and also the style you choose you can create a beautiful nursery room without having to worry about the subject of your finances.
First of all, look for the best offers or stores (online or not) that can offer you packages for putting together your entire nursery room. I advise registering the stores that you like the most with the prices, and the items, and also the availability of the products. You can also create a register in a notebook or create an excel sheet (I consider that it’s easier and is very useful to make a price comparison).
Second, forget about “I need this particular brand”, there are too many brands on the market for you to only focus on one. There are brands at a very good price and great quality that are not well known in the market but will surely satisfy all t of your needs.
So start with a daily plan to find the best products, furniture, and accessories you need for your new nursery room. You will need a maximum of one hour or two hours a day to be able to do a thorough investigation of the best brands and offers in the market, and this will also help you feel super productive. With good planning, you will be able to have excellent control of your finances and you will not have to worry about planning a gorgeous nursery room.
Tip 2: create a method where you can record all your research on prices and products and which stores or brands offer you the best benefits, you can layout a notebook, an excel spreadsheet, notes, reminders, etc. The method that works best for you to organize, is the correct one.
Less is more
Definitely keep it simple. Do not focus on a very complex or difficult style to create, since later you may feel overwhelmed and unmotivated because your ideas are not going as planned. The style that is trendy nowadays and that I really think favors all kinds of tastes would be the minimalist style.
Minimalism basically consists of simplifying what is possible. It uses pure colors and geometric shapes and the most incredible thing about this style is that due to the simplicity that it entails, it makes everything look much cleaner and organized. I think this is what we most want or look for in our new nursery room.
Another very important thing to mention is that this style will provide a much more sophisticated and luxurious look! Curious right? Since it implies having fewer things. I love it!
Tip 3: Focus more on quality rather than quantity. Think of the essentials for the baby and for you so that your coexistence with your new baby is more comfortable.
Essentials for your nursery
If you decide to use the minimalist style, in addition to protecting your finances in a better way, you can already plan better what is really what you need and is important.do not fall into the madness of buying everything that your relatives, friends, and acquaintances recommend to you. Yor are the only person who knows what is best for you and your baby. However, here’s a list that might be helpful, of what are the essentials you need as well.
Crib
You do not need a crib with a bunch of accessories and it does not have to be very large either. Keep in mind that it is a piece of furniture that you will use for a maximum of three years if not less. Look for a crib that is simple, easy to use, comfortable, safe and this will help it to be gentle with your pocket in the same way.
Changing table
Instead of buying a changing table, use a piece of furniture that has several cabinets where you may store diapers and all the things you need. Using an unused piece of furniture and giving it a touch that suits the style of the nursery room could be a really great DIY activity. However, if you really need to buy this piece of furniture, don’t buy a “changing table”, buy a piece of furniture with several cabinets, in the same way, this will save you money, space and you could even store baby clothes in it. Also when the baby is all grown up, you could reuse this furniture for any spot that you prefer at home.
Rocking chair
This is important since you will spend a good amount of time sitting in this space, looking for something comfortable that goes according to the range of colors you chose. It should be extremely comfortable for the baby in the same way, since here you are going to feed him/her most of the time. The good thing about this piece of furniture is that it can be reused for any space inside the house or your porch. You can read books, have a relaxing nap, meditate, or just appreciate the view.
Tip 4: Try to reuse furniture that you already have and that are not being used., or that you can use instead of buying and conditioning them so they go according to the style and colors of your other furniture and of your nursery room. It is important to be conscious regarding climate change and prevent it from worsening further. If you have furniture, use it! And if it is not in the best conditions, go ahead and modify it! Another great way to do DIY activities.
What about decorating?
This is very important since, at this point, we can cross the fine line that exists between simplicity, elegance, luxury against having too many things, that it looks disorganized, cheap and stops focusing on the minimalist style.
Whether you are going to buy accessories or you will make them on your own, keep in mind that the colors you are going to use are according to your color palette and also that they consist of fine and thin lines. Don’t overdo it.
Some ideas to decorate your nursery’s room walls are photos or pictures of animals in black and white, or just some black and white words such as “we love you”, “I love you” or “you are loved”. You can also think about making or purchasing a wooden sign with the name of your baby. Think about not buying a carpet but rather something that has more utility than just decorating the floor, something where the baby can play would be nice or can do some physical activities without having to take care of possible stains.
Tip 5: Another great opportunity to use your Pinterest account again. Here you will find many ideas to decorate your nursery room without neglecting the minimalist style. You will be able to find, from stores that offer super cute pictures and photographs to some very easy DIY’s to do at home and to exploit your creative potential.
Some DIY’s you might be interested in
Wood name sign: for this one, in particular, you might need the following essential materials.
- Baltic birch plywood
- Carbon paper for being able to trace
- Scroll saw or Jigsaw, something to cut easily.
First thing, grab a pencil or pen, whichever is easier to use. Create the shape of the background where the name will be placed, it can be a square, a circle, a triangle, a rectangle, any geometric shape of your choice.
Once you have the geometric shape, it’s time to sand it. You may use any type of sandpaper of your preference.
Now you can paint your geometric shape in the color you prefer. Remember to respect the color palette you choose from the beginning or use colors that go accord the chosen color palette.
With the rest of the material left over, use the necessary tools to make the letters of the name and then follow the same steps as above.
Finally, glue the letters you created to the geometric shape you chose and voila! You already have your wooden sign with the name of your baby.
Another DIY that you can try at home is making some wall art pictures. For this one, I would use some earth-toned colors.
You might need the following essential materials:
- Canvas Boards. (As many as you find necessary)
- Painting brushes
- Acrylic Paints. (your favorite colors)
- Some great imagination to create awesome designs, and let’s get started.
First of all, look for a space that helps inspiration flow allowing you to create a series of beautiful paintings. Use a white sheet of paper and draw a design that you like the most, it can be abstract, traced, a letter, anything you think will look amazing on your little one’s wall, give it your touch!
After having the design on paper, copy it on your canvas, once you have the design you like, start exploring colors.
This activity should be relaxing, it should make you feel good and reduce all kinds of tension that you may be feeling, remember at all times to have fun!
Some extras you might want to include
Some extras that you might consider including in your new nursery room is a speaker where you can listen to classical music, this will help you and the baby as it will have you both relaxed and also has great benefits for the baby.
You may find plenty of speakers online from any brand. It could be from the most expensive brand to the cheapest, it really depends on how much you want to invest. I would advise you to invest in a good since you can use it for several years and many occasions, and also, it is good that the sound emitted by the speaker is of good quality for the baby because otherwise it could hurt his ears or confuse him. It is a little uncomfortable to listen to music from a speaker that doesn’t emit sound as it should.
Another element that I love to have and use at home, in almost all the rooms, are diffusers. What I love about them is that they are great for aromatherapy and also it gives an amazing smell to the entire house. The best part, however, would be that since essential oils are used with the diffuser, you are more than sure that you are not introducing any type of toxins to your baby’s nursery room since you just use only oils and water. That’s a plus wherever you look at it.
You could use lavender in the baby’s room to give him tranquility, relaxation, and peace of mind. The brand that I personally use is doTerra. I know they can be a bit expensive but they are really worth it and it is the only brand that I trust when it comes to essential oils. However, ask your doctor which essential oils you could use best for your baby’s needs and if he has any type of allergies before using them.
You can get a diffuser with light, which gives a spa effect to the place, it does look great!
Enjoy the journey
Once you have everything planned, organized and decorated it’s time to relax. At this moment feel proud of what you managed to prepare for the arrival of your baby. You gave it your own touch full of love, that’s the most important thing. In addition, you were able to remove any tension or thought that stressed you from your body by carrying out different activities and focusing your attention on other things.
The arrival of your baby will be one of the most beautiful things you have ever experienced in your life, I’m not saying it will be easy or that it is, because definitely is not, but it comes much more manageable when you are organized and have a routine in which you and you babe learn to live together and above all, you learn many things from each other.
Enjoy this adventure, because it really is an adventure full of emotions, where I’m almost sure that you will discover new emoting that you did not believe existed, take time to meditate, have a hot tea, talk to your tummy, share time with your partner, discuss your concerns or better devise a plan of action together for when the baby arrives, but above all, enjoy the journey!
Isabella Caprario