The thought of decorating a nursery for your baby on the way can make you get so excited and energized. You begin to picture that perfect baby nursery that would make family and friends go “ooh” and “ahh” when they step in. Baby nursery decoration will get your imagination active.
Next in line is to start making calls to get all the materials needed for the baby nursery decoration. At this point, I’ll like to say, “Hold up! Let’s have a cup of juice and walk through this process so that you would have value for your money”.
Firstly, I want to say congratulations on your new arrival and welcome to the journey of parenthood.
Your baby, though little, would require his/her own space away from the grownup life. So, the things you put in place will not just be comforting for your baby, but you also.
Things To Consider When Buying Items For Your Baby Nursery Decoration
– The size of the baby’s room
Knowing the exact size of the floor plan in your baby’s room should be the first step. This information would allow you to know the exact amount of paint, floor covering and wall covering you would need for the baby nursery decoration so that you don’t buy more or less.
– Create a theme or design plan
A lot of mothers enjoy working with themes, and these themes are usually based on cartoon characters or beautiful scenery they have seen somewhere.
Your theme enables you to work on selecting equipment and materials with complementary colors to bring out the best result for your baby nursery decoration.
– Add to your design plan, safety, comfort and convenience
A lot of beautiful items will definitely catch your fancy, but be careful that you don’t carry what you don’t need. Clutter is not something your baby nursery needs at all.
The last thing you need is to wake up at two in the morning and hit your toe against furniture all because of the clutter. Some equipment might look beautiful, but they may not be safe to be around your baby. Or even be necessary for your baby nursery decoration.
– Think about the future
If you plan on having extra kids in the future, think of buying furniture and equipment that would last and stand the test of time. Cheap will never do; affordable and durable are your best bets.
To further explain these tips, let us take a look at factors to consider when setting up your baby nursery and buying equipment.
– Design
You might decide to use paint or wallpaper to beautify your baby’s nursery.
Ensure that you finish painting and applying wallpaper eight weeks before the baby’s arrival.
The walls should not be the type that gets moldy when it rains. The smell can be irritating to your baby.
I would say go for wallpapers or canvas if you wish to change the color theme on the arrival of another baby. The wallpaper is easy to change compared to repainting.
It is best you go for colors and patterns on wallpapers that would match the different phases in your child’s life. That’s if you want to keep the same design until the arrival of your last baby or you don’t wish to change the design even while your baby has become a toddler.
Regardless of the sex of your baby, neutral colors such as grey, white, and black with a little yellow and brown would do an awesome job. You could blend them into polka dots or stripes, with natural flora and fauna motifs. It all depends on what you desire for your baby nursery decoration.
– Safety
For your baby’s crib, wooden and plastic cribs are better, although stainless steel cribs may be attractive. The most important factor to consider is to make sure that these cribs do not have sharp edges.
Ensure that the bolts are screwed tight too; you don’t want to bend over the crib one day and have a part of it fall on your toes. The mattress should be firm and stay flat, with no space between the mattress and crib.
No matter how attractive comforters and pillows look in a picture, keep it away from your baby’s cot to avoid suffocation.
You can have sound detectors installed in your baby’s nursery so that you would know when your baby is crying if you are not in the room.
Carbon monoxide and smoke detector are also essential.
– Storage
There are baby drawers made out of different materials such as metal, wood or plastic. For the sake of safety, use wooden baby drawers because it would last in spite of the number of things you put inside. Steel could rust, plastic could bend and break too.
You might be tempted to use camphor balls in your baby drawers. They are okay but do not overuse it, such that it affects your baby’s nasal health when they wear their clothes. Use natural insect repellants in your baby drawers.
The drawer should have as much as four to five compartments for clothes and underwear, socks, bonnets, diapers, and cosmetics.
Ensure that you have as much as three plastic baskets in the room; one for dirty clothes, another for taking in laundered clothes, and the last for packing stuffed toys.
– Ventilation
When picking the curtains, they should match your color design. However, pick curtains that are light and easy to wash. Organic cotton materials would do the trick any day, any time.
Do not place the cot directly close to the window, but five footsteps away. The windows should be cleaned often to avoid allergy-inducing dust from disrupting your baby’s nasal flow.
Sprayed floors or thin rugs are way better than heavy or thick rugs because they are easier to clean and do not harbor dust too.
You may be able to afford an air conditioner if you live in very hot areas, but it is best to use a ceiling fan or a rotating standing fan. The air from an air conditioner could pose a threat to your baby’s immunity. Also, ensure that you clean the ceiling fan often to avoid the accumulation of dust.
– Comfort
There should be a big comfortable chair for you to sit on while you feed your baby. The chair could also be a rocker, depending on your choice.
There should be a changing table for when you need to change your baby’s diaper.
For convenience sake, put the drawer close to the table because you would be reaching into it often to pick out supplies.
Do not place the crib too close to the window as stated earlier to avoid direct sunlight over your child’s head.
Always have space in the middle of the room to let you move freely.
If your baby’s room has a wardrobe inbuilt to the wall, such a space would be best for storing strollers, bouncers etc.
Get a shoe rack for your baby’s shoes because dumping them in a box or the wardrobe can make them peel if they are made of leather.
– Light
Your baby’s nursery should have adequate artificial lightning. The trick to this, however, is to use lamps or bulbs with soft light.
You could also use lamp covers with simple designs that slowly rotate and cast soft shadows on the wall.
The light switch should be positioned closer to the door for ease of operation as you walk in at night. You can invest in light bulbs that work with remote controls.
– Invest in antiseptics
Mild antiseptics should never be ignored because your baby’s health comes first. The antiseptic is added to the bath water.
They are also added to water for cleaning and wiping surfaces in your baby’s room, to avoid the accumulation of germs.
– Bathing equipment
Most families have the bedroom with toilets and bathrooms for each room, while some use a general toilet and bath. To be on the safer side, if your bathroom is for general use, buy bathing equipment such as the tub, a low stool, two buckets, and a tarpaulin sheet.
You can spread the tarpaulin sheet in the middle of the room, and bathe your baby there.
– Entertainment and art
You must have made a mental note to add a T.V to your baby’s nursery. A quick “no” to that. Your nursery should be as calm as possible. Televisions and sound systems should not be included in your baby’s room.
If you would love to have your baby listen to music from a tender age, use an mp3 player instead which you can attach to the wall above your baby’s head. The music should always be calm and soothing.
You can also include a mini shelf for books if you enjoy reading stories to your babies. They may not understand what the story is all about but the presence of books and a bookshelf is shaping in their little minds. And it adds some form of aesthetic to your baby nursery decoration.
Put up beautiful pictures of the whole family with the baby on small frames on the wall. These pictures should be placed within the child’s waking line of sight. This little effort would make the child begin to grasp knowledge daily about the members of his or her family.
You could also add other pictures of your choice too if you want.
Another decorative piece some mothers put on the wall is the letter of the alphabet which starts their baby’s name.
Your crib beddings are not left out too! Bedding that matches your color scheme and is 100% cotton is what you need. Crib skirts can add an extra look to the baby nursery decoration, but it is not always necessary.
You can hang a baby mobile above the crib or on the ceiling to entertain your baby while you go about your business.
– Safety
As you put all these in place, consider baby-proofing your nursery; like covering electrical outlets, and tucking away cords.
Anchor tall furniture to the walls with braces to prevent them from falling over or on your child.
Avoid furniture with glass doors or slides; because your baby might break them out of curiosity while crawling around, and hurt themselves.
Do not purchase curtains that are too long because your baby can crawl into them and get strangled.
Also, do not use curtains that have beaded decorations and other embellishments. They could fall apart and pose a choking hazard.
If you use table clothes on your tables and place heavy items on them, don’t let the table clothes hang over the table. Your baby can pull it and get hurt in the process.
Baby nursery decoration without safety in consideration is not for a baby.
Other Items To Add To Your Baby Nursery Decoration
Buy a baby monitor.
Never forget to stock necessities like diapers, wipes, ointments, lotions, ahead of your baby’s arrival and store it away.
Also, purchase pegs, cloth lines, and baby hangers for baby’s laundry.
A sterilizing unit is needed for keeping the feeding bottles, rubber teats, pacifiers, plates, spoons clean and sterile.
Also, ensure you buy diaper bags for putting soiled diapers and big maternity bags for carrying your baby items when stepping out.
Add a travel cot to the list. Most times you would need to travel and makeshift cots are necessary for your baby. If the makeshift cots come with nettings, that is a bonus.
Include a first aid box in your list. It should contain rash creams, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls and cotton swabs, scissors, band-aids, and sterile gauze dressings.
Invest in a medicine box that locks tightly so that your baby doesn’t have access to it.
All the items listed above can be bought to match the color scheme of your baby’s room as well.
Conclusion
You are fully set for the arrival of your little one. I feel excited for you too. On the safer side, ask friends and family for advice on what worked best for them. You could get tons of first-hand tips from experience.
Never try to decorate or shop on your own to avoid stressing yourself. Â Cheers!