10 Tips For Decorating A Unisex Nursery

A nursery doesn't have to be vanilla!

Maybe you've just found out you are expecting (congratulations!), or you are getting nearer to your due date and have decided it really is time to sort out the baby's room - if you have chosen not to find out the gender of your baby, how do you decorate the nursery?

Gender-neutral and unisex nursery decor can feel a bit tricky. How do you keep it from looking bland? Well, here are some top tips to help you with your nursery design, whether you are on a tight budget or going all out!

1. Main Colours

When people think about decorating a unisex nursery, too often they think they are limited to bland colour schemes. This really isn't the case! The colours can be neutral, but that doesn't mean boring. For example, yellow and grey make a gorgeous combination - check out some of these looks here https://www.decoist.com/gray-and-yellow-nursery-designs/ Or alternatively, go with soft pastels - greys, greens, mint, yellows, orange and blue. 

2. Accent Colours

If you decide to go fairly neutral, bring the nursery to life with pops of colour around the room. Make sure your accent colours tone with the rest of the nursery, good example combinations are pops of yellow with grey, mint and red in a white room, navy with yellow or orange. This is a great way to pep up an otherwise neutral scheme, and can be incorporated quickly and easily with a few cushions and throws. Why not try our polka dots, in a range of neutral colours.

3. Textures

Another way to add interest while keeping things neutral is to vary the textures in the nursery. This has the added benefit of appealing to a baby's senses when they are big enough to roll and crawl around, as well as colour. Cushions with interesting textures, like chunky knit, or a woven rug, are an easy way to bring life to a nursery if you don't want to go wild with colour. We love these jumbo knitted cushions and blankets by Laura Aston Design, https://www.laurenastondesigns.com/shopreadymade 

4. Leave Some Wall Space

This may sound odd, but don't fill your walls up all at once - if you leave a little bit of wall space, you will have some room to put up some more gender specific art if you want to, or a picture to commemorate your new baby's birth date, weight or names. You may find that someone buys you a personalised piece of wall art as a gift, or that you want to put baby hand prints or casts on the wall. 

5. Style

This is such a personal thing - you may want to tie the style of furniture in a nursery in exactly with the rest of your house. Maybe you love a boho look, or a sleek and modern style in your home. Our main recommendation with this is to make sure that you go for function as the main focus, over style, in a nursery - that absolutely doesn't mean it can't be stylish, just don't compromise on how effective the item is when you will be using it every day. There is nothing more annoying that finding, once the baby is born, that you bought something that looks fabulous.... but doesn't quite do what it was meant to, or is hard to keep clean, or that the baby can pull over / knock down  etc. once they are mobile. It will start to annoy you and you may end up buying a new item to replace it!

6. Upcycling

If you are on a budget, one of the best ways to get a unique look in your unisex nursery is to upcycle a piece of older furniture. Maybe you buy it on eBay or in a second hand shop, or someone gives you a set of drawers or changing unit. If you want to make it your own style, why not paint it - chalk paint is great and safe to use in a nursery. Check out this great makeover of some old furniture in a nursery here: https://www.alittlecasual.com/chalk-paint-diy-nursery-furniture-set-repurposed-changing-table-100/ 
If you then add some fun or modern handles or drawer knobs for example, you really can give a piece of older furniture a new lease of life.

7. Stars, Chevrons, Dots

We love nursery designs that incorporate simple, strong shapes like stars, dots or chevrons. One of our best-selling wall sticker sets is our polka dot set https://www.stickers4walls.co.uk/product/polka-dot-wall-stickers which comes in a range of colours, and works really well in a gender-neutral nursery.