Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Gender Neutral Nursery

Manoblue Design


Kristi recently emailed in curious about how she can create a gender neutral nursery.  In her own words, she says:

I am embarking on a nursery design project in my home and I would like some ideas if you have any. My husband and I will be refinishing the wood floor and then I can do whatever I would like with it. I am struggling because I would like to have a basic design that would work for both genders but could be customized with each child. We plan on staying in our home for several years so I was hoping that the basics could be gender neutral and then I could switch out bedding, window treatments and wall hangings depending on the gender of the child that is currently in that room. I like the combination of brown/pink and brown/blue. Do you have any ideas that might help me out?

And here is my two cents.  As you know, I have a 2 year old.  When we found out we were having him, I had the same concerns.  I didn't want to worry about redecorating every couple years.  We decided to keep the walls a neutral tan color and decided to accent the room with blues and greens to give it a more "boy" feel.

I think sticking with an overall brown tone to the room, you should be gender neutral enough and be able to make the room feel more girl or boy once the time comes.  Other colors such as greens-- like seaform and limes are also gender neutral.  I think orange is also a gender neutral {and modern too!}; however with the wood floors you mentioned, depending on the stain, it might be too much orange.


Nurseryworks



Whoscutebabies



weeDecor



Design Dazzle


I think the important thing is to stick to your gut and what you like.  Paint is one of the least expensive changes to make in a home.  Even though we kept our son's room neutral at the beginning, when his personality started to show, I started getting really excited about decorating his room.  We have now paint the walls a dark blue, and are working on creating a space that we feel like reflects him and allows his imagination to grow.  So in a nut shell: have fun, and love the space your in!


How about you, Fresh Nest readers?   Do you have any pointers that will help Kristi?



3 comments:

Traveling Mama said...

These are all SO cute! I may be a bit partial to the camel print in the first one! But oh, how I love the turquoise with the Eames chair. I want one of those chairs SOOO much!!

suzanne anderson said...

I've been wondering if your most recent baby posts mean anything? *wink* *wink*

And here is the link to one of my new favorite design blogs. I've told you about Caitlin Wilson before, she just recently moved to Dubai, she just launched a new design blog and I think you'd enjoy her "fresh Nest".

http://caitlinwilsondesign.blogspot.com/

-Suzanne

AceProFinder.com said...

What beautiful baby rooms. My wife and I are expecting in a couple of weeks and you have some really wonderful ideas.

Thank you again