Nursery decorating is always a fun exciting project

Any theme or color in the world is fair game, so read these tips and jump in

A first step would be to take the Nursery Assessment Quiz in order to understand the needs of a newborn. Print this sheet here and fill it out at your leisure. Get an overall view of the needs of a newborn. Plan your baby’s space right from the beginning so that as your child grows, the room and it’s furnishings will be adaptable for growth.

Deciding on a look and feel when nursery decorating

You most likely have been thinking about nursery decorating and the look you'd like to achieve. Maybe you'd like it to match the decor and feel of the rest of the house. Perhaps you want to go all out and make it an individual area for you latest family addition, and have the means and budget to accommodate your ideas when decorating a baby nursery.

Whatever your budget or desires, you will be able to find baby furniture to fit your ideas for nursery decorating. Whatever you decide, the one thing to keep in the back of your mind is the fact that children grow quickly. When buying furniture, pass up that cute little bunny shaped bureau and the $200. rocking chair that won't hold anyone over the age of one year. This is not to say child sized furniture should not be used. If your budget allows it and you really don't mind redoing everything in a year or two, go to it. But to get value from your spending dollar, look ahead to get some perspective of what's coming up.

Look for furniture that will retain its style and good looks over the years and buy the best you can afford. Functional pieces such as bureaus, armoires, and chests should be chosen with an eye towards how they will fit into various decorating changes as the child ages. When furniture is chosen carefully from the beginning, it should be able to take your child from the nursery to college and beyond. Many children develop great attachment to their rooms and furnishings, and having furniture that is able to be kept as they grow gives them a sense of stability and security.

Creating a safe and hazard free environment is your first priority when decorating a baby nursery

The safety and well being of your baby is always a first priority of nursery decorating. The crib, cradle or bassinet, which is the main area where your new baby will be most of the time, should be stable and sturdy.

Many parents have their infants sleeping in bassinets or cradles in the first few months because they are portable and easily moved from room to room. This allows more flexibility over where the infant will sleep, particularly is the child is distressed or ill.

Once the baby has outgrown these smaller sleeping accommodations, then they are moved into the larger crib. There are standard safety specifications applied to cribs. You will often find them posted in baby stores where cribs are sold. Be sure to read these carefully when selecting furniture for your newborn. Safety always should take priority over decorative value.

In order to understand what stimulates and entertains your baby, it is important to know the development stages of your child.

For the first 2 months your baby can only see what is within 12 inches of him, and his color sense is not developed. Bold patterns and shapes are what he is attracted to. Strong black and white patterns will catch the baby's attention during this time span. Motion also always catches his eye.

The baby will be 6 to 9 months old before she will be able to see clearly both near and far, and be able to determine the full range of colors.

A great place to hang mobiles is over the diaper changing area. Your child will focus on the mobiles and make changing easier. Babies get bored seeing the same things day after day, just as adults do. Buy a mobile with changeable attachments. Use hangers and attach small soft toys or stuffed animals on them. Remember that the baby is looking up at them from the bottom, so try to hang them from that point of view.

Hang colorful inexpensive posters on the wall and rotate them every few months to hold your baby's attention. Hang colorful flags, kites, or windsocks from the ceiling.

If the nursery is a separate room, consider a sitting area for visitors and family members

Nursery decorating should include an area for the comfort of family members. A comfortable place to settle in for the midnight feedings, or a place where visitors can sit and visit with the newest addition, will be well used and appreciated. The following options all contribute to comfort and convenience of the caregiver and other family members:

• An upholstered chair with an ottoman
• A rocker padded with a well washed, soft, antique quilt
• A day bed where a parent can rest when the child is ill

Storage is all-important for efficiency in nursery decorating

Even though baby items and clothing are small and don't take up much room, planning storage that will grow with the child's needs right from the beginning will be appreciated in later years.

An armoire can be used now for hanging small child sized clothing, and as the child grows can accommodate a computer or other media equipment. Built in bookcases for toys can later hold books, photos, trophies, and CD's as the child grows. Chests chosen to hold stuffed animals can later be a catch all of sports equipment or a wonderland of dress up clothes for make believe.

A large collection of plastic and wire baskets for toys and other miscellaneous equipment will make picking up quicker.

Some miscellaneous ideas

Here are a few odds and ends of ideas you can incorporate into your nursery decorating scheme:

• To aid in midnight feedings and night diaper changes, install a dimmer on the overhead lighting
• Don't put a lot of soft toys into an infant's crib. Babies can easily get themselves into situations they can't get out of, such as putting thier faces into a pillow or soft toy
• Have a small stereo or tape system in the nursery for playing soft music or lullabies
• Keep a baby monitor in the room by the crib
• Have adequate storage near the changing area. Make sure to can access everything with one hand as you will often be dealing with a squirming baby
• Be sure the bedding fits tightly on the crib. Sheets that come loose are a choking hazard. Also pillows, thick quilts and comforters also present suffocation problems and shouldn't be used for the first year.

Get on your hands and knees

Remember that babies see everything close to the ground. Get down on your hands and knees, look around, get their point of view. Check for any safety hazards. After all, this is their room and the point of nursery decorating is to give the child a comfortable safe environment.

The ideas given here are just a jumping off point to get your creativity in gear. Look at books, magazines, and research the internet. Go back and read the basics of floor planning, color basics, and comparison shopping,
Follow these same guidelines in planning your nursery decorating and both you and your baby will be enjoying the fruits of your creativity and labor of love.

Happy Nursery Decorating and Enjoy Your New Baby!

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