Nursery Decor Ideas

After years of designing nursery furniture and as parents designing our own kids’ rooms, we have collected some useful tips for preparing a modern and functional nursery space.

Thankfully the baby nursery is now considered as important a space as the rest of the home. And if you think about how much time you'll be spending in there over the years, feeding, changing, watching over baby and reading to them you'll appreciate how a well designed nursery can positively influence your mood.

The most important thing you can do in creating this space is to design a nursery that makes you smile, relax and enjoy.

Start by collecting some Nursery inspiration. Luckily with the magic of Pinterest and Social Media there is so much out there to be inspired by. Start to catalogue images and products you think you'll like to have in the room.

Begin with a hero piece for your baby's nursery – a product or furniture piece you absolutely love. Perhaps you'll decide to select your cot first. The Cot is usually the first big investment for parents and is often the centre-piece in your child's nursery. In contrast, you might begin with a smaller piece of decor – a beautiful pendant or bunting, a nursing chair or glider or a beautiful piece of art and build your room around this one item. What this will do is define a beginning point for you to create your nursery interior, colour scheme and set the tone for the nursery theme – ‘earthy, neutral nursery with a pop of colour’, for example.
Alternatively, begin with a colour palette or a picture from Pinterest or instagram of nursery decor or a baby's room that you absolutely love and pull inspiration from that. Some great search terms within Pinterest and Instagram are 'nursery decor', 'nursery inspo', 'modern nursery furniture', 'stylish baby nursery', 'nursery decor ideas'. Ready to get started defining your Nursery hero pieces? Click here.

Tick off your items as you've sourced them. These are generally the items required in a nursery space:
- Cot, change table / changer dresser, nursing chair, nursery storage, lighting (pendant lamp or sturdy table lamp, nappy bin, wardrobe storage, floor mat or rug, baby toys, books and soft furnishings – decorative cushions, curtains if needed, soft blankets and baby cot bedding. Other aesthetic items that add to the overall aesthetic are bunting, nursery wall art and hanging mobiles.

Think practical and don’t let aesthetics stand in the way of coming up with a functional room design. For example will the nursing chair be comfortable enough to sit upright in and feed your baby? Does the changing table/dresser have ample storage space? A soft rug or carpet under foot could be ideal for baby to lie on the floor and play perhaps? So your cot looks amazing but does it meet Australian Safety Standards? Is what you intend to hang over the cot baby-safe?

Are the material surfaces of the products in your nursery space able to be wiped clean or washable? Let's face it, there's no point creating a space that cannot be lived in and these beautiful babies do get messy!!
Storage is vital when bubs and kids are involved! It's amazing how many things a baby actually needs. Feeling organised and having your nappy and changing needs at hand, as well as baby clothing and toy storage sorted takes some forward thinking. Design Kids wide range of Baby Change Tables and Dressers are all designed with ample space and soft closing drawers. Why not try our clear acrylic Booksee bookshelves which can hold your kid's favourite books whilst doubling as a beautiful and bright wall feature. Open bin storage and tubs are good to store things like blankets, throws and soft toys.

Try bringing the outdoors in to improve air quality. Consider including a pot plant in baby’s room. Apart from adding something beautiful, living and green in your baby’s room space they’re scientifically proven to help pull toxins out of the air. A hanging pot plant is also a good way to provide a design feature whilst keeping it safely away from inquisitive babies.