Decorating Your Room for a Newborn Baby

What is the best way to decorate your room for a newborn baby? It’s important to think about selecting a general theme for the room, while also considering factors like available light and how you can best create a peaceful atmosphere; you’ll also need to have a practical sense of how to clean the room, while selecting the right furniture, and working out how to adapt a room for sharing with another child.

Choosing a Theme

In terms of choosing a theme, what you go for can depend on whether you have a boy or girl, and whether or not you want to go for a traditional blue or pink, or something more neutral; there’s no strict rules over what you should opt for with your theme, but you can experiment with simple designs like animals, cartoon characters, or nautical themes with sail boats. A theme can be easily created and modified by using sticker decals for walls and windows, and by using dream catchers and mobiles.

Think About Light

The sleeping patterns of a newborn baby can mean that they can be asleep or napping for long periods during the day; in this context, you need to decorate with a strong sense of what lighting is appropriate for your baby. Low energy light bulbs can work well to prevent a room from being too bright, while night lights can also be added in. Another idea is to use window blinds that have a black out layer - this allows for a dark atmosphere for napping during the day, and can be combined with a UV reflective layer to prevent heat from passing into a room during the Summer, and for insulating during the Winter.

Sharing Considerations

You may have to think about converting part of another young child or toddler’s room into a nursery, and particularly if you’ve had two children quite close together. A good idea is to divide up the room, and have one corner for the baby with a particular decoration, and then to decorate the other side for your other child; having a neutral colour scheme, and adding in posters, special shelving and pictures, can help prevent another child from being left out.

Think About Cleaning

You’re almost certainly going to have to deal with a lot of spills and mess in a newborn’s room, and you should factor this into your decoration schemes - a good idea is to have a hardwood floor, which can be easily cleaned. When buying wallpaper, it’s also probably not a good idea to get an expensive type, but rather something that can be painted over level; neutral browns and whites can be good ideas for colour schemes, as white can accentuate stains.

Getting the Right Furniture

Depending on how much space you have, you’ll need a crib or cot for the newborn that’s well padded and supported, as well as a comfortable chair or rocking chair for feeding; you’ll also need to get a changing table, which can be combined with hooks for waste bags for nappies. Having hooks on the wall and shelves that are high off the ground means that you can keep essential items on hand whenever you need them, which can include a baby monitor, wipes, and toys.