If you are choosing to wait until birth to learn the gender of your child, you might opt to decorate your baby nursery in a gender-neutral style. Of course, gender-neutral doesn’t have to mean no-fun, but if you are struggling to imagine a playful and gorgeous nursery that doesn’t point to one gender or the other, you might benefit from the following inspirational list.
Neutral-colored Furniture
The eye naturally travels to the largest pieces of furniture within a space, and visitors will make assessments about the space based on these pieces. Therefore, you should try to keep the furniture within your gender-neutral nursery as gender-neutral as possible. Neutral colors like white and black are ideal, but if you want to cultivate a slightly warmer space, you might opt for natural wood tones. When the furniture is neutral, you have more freedom to explore different colors elsewhere in the room without obviously leaning toward gendered décor.
Whimsical Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a popular décor choice at the moment, and peel-and-stick wallpaper might be a convenient way to decorate your nursery without making permanent decisions regarding how your little one’s room will look for the rest of their life. Because there are near infinite varieties of wallpaper, you are sure to find some patterns that suit a gender-neutral aesthetic. Some ideas include botanical wallpapers, geometric patterns, vintage animal prints and amorphous swirls of color.
Unique Shelving
Storage is essential for any nursery, and open shelves can be useful in keeping the items you need readily available during all hours of night and day. Yet, instead of lining your walls with boring floating shelves, you might try to use your shelving to make a visual statement — in a gender-neutral way. You can find bookshelves contained in recognizable shapes, like cactuses, dinosaurs and rainbows. You can also make or purchase unique floating shelves which may look like tree branches, mushrooms, clouds and other nursery-friendly images. Additionally, you should try filling your shelves with more than just books; baby supplies like diapers and wipes, rolls of clothing and even late-night snacks for mom can be useful to place in these spaces.
Unconventional Ceiling Fan
If there is one fixture in your baby’s room that you cannot skip, it’s the ceiling fan. Ample research has confirmed that airflow can radically reduce a baby’s risk of succumbing to SIDS, and having a fan running while baby sleeps is one of the best ways to keep your little one safe during those delicate first months of life. Of course, you don’t have to settle for a predictable ceiling fan style within your nursery design. There are plenty of visually interesting fans that fit nicely into gender-neutral spaces, like a caged ceiling fan to give a more industrial look or a ceiling fan with an unusual number of blades.
Stuffed Animal Display
The number of lovies your little one has will get out of hand long before they are old enough to appreciate them. Instead of trying to stuff all those plush animals into a basket, you might use them in your décor, placing them along shelves to add color, texture and life to your nursery design. Especially if your little one has been gifted some of the trendy lovies available today, like those from Cuddle+Kind, or Squishmallows, you should feel proud to show off your baby’s collection.
Living Decoration
Indoor plants are décor that never go out of style. If you have a particularly green thumb, you might find it easy to keep your new baby alive while tending to a veritable jungle of greenery in their nursery. Plants in the nursery can have the added benefit of purifying your little one’s air while enhancing the beauty of the space. However, you might be careful to choose plants that are known to be kid-safe, which means they will be non-toxic and relatively robust.
With a little planning and creativity, you can curate a gender-neutral nursery that is beautiful, fun and safe. Then, you and your little one can grow in the space for years to come.