Nursery Woes

Decorating a nursery for your baby can mean that you’re suddenly faced by a whirlwind of choices. The Woman’s World Team brings you design tips and ideas to help you build the perfect home for your little bundle of joy

Prepairing a space for your newborn or toddler requires more hard work than you think. Last week, we told you how to plan a room for your baby when you don’t have the luxury of space, but if you plan on decorating a separate room for them, getting the right colours and décor should be at the top of your mind. Creating an environment that’s stimulating when your baby is awake, but also one that isn’t too distracting for a baby to fall asleep in, can prove to be quite a challenge. Getting the balance right is tricky. You will also need to find a space for all your needs, which probably includes a compromise, and you will need to take some safety precautions to guard your baby during play time. Here we bring you tips from design experts on how you can make your nursery an enjoyable place for your baby, with fun things that you can add and a few handy ideas, to make the most of your child’s nursery.

GETTING STARTED

• Ayushi Kanodia, the founder of Ayushi Kanodia Designs, says, “Children love freedom, space and a sense of adventure, and planning a space in which your child can feel comfortable as well as have fun is the way to go! When you design your baby’s room, you need to remember that this will be a space wherein, your child will spend most of their time and so, the space will have a huge impact on their growth, development and skills.” She elaborates, giving us a few tips on how to set up a room for your newborn.
   
• The current trend is to use neutral paint colours with thematic accessories which are bright and fun. Parents often try to incorporate a lot of colour in their child’s rooms, but that can turn into a complete mess. Using a neutral colour, with bright accessories as accents makes the room more soothing to the eye. For instance, instead of painting a car on the wall, placing bright vintage car models on the shelf will make the room look sophisticated and unique. Also, since your child’s interests will change over the years, picking accessories that could be changed according to their interests will make your life much easier.
   
• Picking a theme for your child’s nursery will make it fun for your child. One universal theme you can pick is sports — it’s popular among parents and children.
   
• Using wall art is an easy way to dress up a baby’s room. Also, wallpapers with designs such as animals, alphabets in colourful, typographic forms or insect motifs will make the room look more lively!
   
• Some creative and fun accents that can be used in a child’s room are magnetic boards on which you can stick playful and educational magnets, and a whiteboard or a blackboard that can used as a practice board for their homework or other creative purposes.
   
• A child’s personality isn’t fixed at an early age and neither are his interests, so their room should be able to grow with them. This is why having design elements that can be updated, replaced or removed according to your child’s need is extremely important. Using removable wallpapers, pictures and themed accessories that can be replaced when your child outgrows them is relatively inexpensive as well as easy to change!
   
• Flexibility is key while designing your child’s room. In terms of furniture, keep it multifunctional so that it can be used in different ways as your child grows. For example, pick shelves that can hold toys when your child is young and books when he/she starts going to school. A multipurpose bench which has storage space for toys now and books afterwards and which can be used as a foot rest or as a reading bench would be ideal!

HOW TO MAKE ROOM FOR A NURSERY IN A SMALL HOUSE

• Make use of hidden places for storage Living in a one-bedroom apartment is comfortable for a couple, but if you’re expecting a baby, things can take a turn. Making space for a nursery can be tricky to handle and so, make use of the empty space around your house is the first smart step. Areas under your bed and above your closets can be used to store suitcases and items that you don’t use regularly.
   
• Get rid of the closet You obviously don’t need a big, dedicated closet for your child. You can store their items in small, compact dressers. Not only will this save space around your room, but small dressers genuinely look good.
   
• Hang your storage Towel rods, suspended baskets and rungs can store more or less everything that a baby needs. From constantly-needed towels to rarely-used soft toys, all these things can store a good deal.
   
• Make decorative pieces functional There might be a few racks around your house that you used to hang curtains on. Now, you can use them to hang your baby’s clothes and towels.
• Start with a mini crib Though they look small, mini cribs work the same way as normal cribs do, while saving a lot of space.

THE FUN FACTOR
In addition to cribs, wardrobes and other must-haves for your child’s nursery, you can add a quirky touch to bring in a playful mood. Shella Kapil, owner of Joie De Vivre tells us, “Give your children an outlet for their  imagination, you can affix a blackboard where they can doodle without having to scribble on the wall and provide them with  colourful chalk pieces, or embellish the blackboard with cute stuffed cloth hangings or candid pictures.” Here are a few ideas.

Little Trinkets
The beauty of adding fun elements to your nursery is that even a small trinket can help you jazz up the décor just as much as a big couch piece. You can hang pretty wind chimes to add a musical touch. But, make sure to pick those in softer tones. You can also pick  vibrant craft banners and place them on  your walls.

Quirky walls
You can simply select one part of your wall and paint it with either, a bright colour or a glut of colours, as per your penchant. Again, this blends well particulary with whites, greys and even pastels. 

A comfortable seat
A standalone piece of furniture can be enough to add a quirky touch to your décor. And, a colourful, comfortable chair does that perfectly! Pick a big couch or rocking chair that will also help to make sleepless nights less terrifying for you. The key here is to pick bright hues like blues, reds and yellows to add a burst of colour.

Decorative wallpaper
Wrapping your nursery with decorative sheets of wallpaper can change the mood of the room entirely. If your interiors are predominantly white or grey, dish out fun prints such as cartoons and birds. This will add a fresh touch to the nursery.    

A Personal Touch
Don’t forget to add a personal touch to these cute décor ensembles. You could use deep-coloured photo frames or wall hangings to display your family pictures.

Decorating ideas for a nursery
We asked Shella Kapil, for a few decoration ideas for a baby’s nursery. Here’s what she has to say

Connect through music
Did you know that the ear is the first organ to be developed in an unborn baby? Babies are internally musical and music has a positive effect on their brain development. Strangely, this doesn’t strike people when they are designing their baby’s room. “I always suggest introducing newborns to the power of rhythm by making a provision for a compact music system, which will calm and soothe the baby and the mother,” says Shella.

Think out of the box
There are no set rules when you’re decorating a nursery. Think out of the box and experiment with the colour palette, rather than just going for pinks for girls and blues for boys. Avoid loud colours — keep it subtle.

It’s okay to decorate with slightly grown-up décor
You don’t have to overdo the room with baby things to make it look baby-oriented — placing too many stuffed toys, for example is just overkill. A newborn is too small to play with stuffed toys and could even develop breathing problems due to the mould and dust they gather over a period of time in the nursery. It should also be comfortable for the mother as she will spend an equal amount of time as the baby. Pick furniture that you don’t have to discard once your child grows up.

ENSURING SAFETY
When it comes to a baby’s safety, there are so many aspects to consider that you may miss out on something that seems innocuous, but could be potentially dangerous. Make sure you take care of these:

• Keep any hanging fabrics or wires away from the crib — this could include curtain ends and random wires.
• Ensure that the walls are in good condition and the paint isn’t peeling off — you don’t want concrete pieces (no matter how tiny) falling around or on your child.
• Keep the crib away from windows or tables — basically anything that your baby can use as a support to climb out of the safe confines of a crib once he/ she is old enough.
• Take out all soft toys and extra pillows from the crib before putting your baby to sleep — the extra items not only make it uncomfortable for your baby to sleep, but can also cause suffocation.
• Any boxes that you place in your nursery (such as a storage box) should have light, preferably unhinged lids. With hinged lids you run the risk of your baby’s arm being trapped under the cover.

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of browsing and picking décor items for your nursery, here are some basic items that you can get started with

Hooked
This simply-designed hook from Sanctum is a practical addition to your child’s room.
Price Rs 525

All smiles
This smiley pillow from HyperCITY will look great in the corner of your nursery. 
Price Rs 899

Keep it subtle
If you want to keep things simple, pick up this pillow from Sarita Handa.
Price Rs 1,900 onwards
 
Time for fun
This clock from Home Centre by Lifestyle should be a cute wall addition to the nursery.
Price Rs 895

Light it up
We love this ceiling light from Anemos. It’s cute as well as unique. 
Price Rs 9,800

Round-about
Another great option from Anemos, this will look lovely in your nursery.
Price On request