When you bring your precious little baby home, you want to have a special place prepared for them: the nursery. Choosing the nursery decor is a concrete step parents take to prepare to welcome their child into their home.

However, settling on a theme isn’t always easy. With hundreds of choices out there, it seems impossible to pick just one. Don’t worry! In this guide, we’ll walk you through some strategies and tips that will help you choose the perfect nursery theme.

Start with a Color Scheme

The colors in your baby’s nursery will help define the entire mood and theme. Needless to say, colors will play a big role in the development of your nursery theme. But, how do you pick them?

There are several strategies you can use to pick the colors that you’ll use. For example, blogger Camella of Bubbles and Bumps recommends the following:

“My advice in picking a theme for a nursery is to first find the furniture that you love, then establish a color palate, followed by some artwork, and lastly buy all the cute little details...”

However, there are a few other ways to go about picking your color palette:

• Know Your Shades: If you know for sure of any colors you’ll want to include in your nursery, you can start there. For example, if you know you’re having a boy or girl and want to include traditional colors like blue or pink, then you can use that as a guide. Or, maybe you know that you will paint your nursery walls white or beige, which can help direct your nursery theme choices.
• Get Inspired by Art: Some people use art to help inspire their color choices. For example, you might find a beautiful painting that has the perfect combination of colors for your nursery.
• Pick Crib Bedding First: Some people strategize by choosing crib bedding and window treatments before making other decisions about the nursery. Can you imagine if you went through the work of painting the whole nursery and then found the perfect crib bedding, but the colors in the quilt don’t coordinate with the walls. It’s much easier to find a shade of paint to match crib bedding than the other way around. Furniture also comes in many shades and colors, including neutrals like natural wood, gray, espresso, or white. You could even paint the furniture if necessary. Finally, you can add in details like artwork, toys, and any knick-knacks based on the color scheme featured in the baby bedding.

Pro Tip: Consider using the 60-30-10 color rule. According to this rule, you choose one main color that covers 60% of the room. This is usually the color used for walls, perhaps the rug, and some of the furniture. It’s usually a somewhat neutral color. Then, 30% of the surfaces such as window treatments, furniture, or an accent wall, use the secondary color. This could be another shade of the main color. For example, if your main color is a light pink, your secondary color might be dark pink. Finally, 10% of the room should feature an accent color. This can be a brighter, bolder color that’s featured in art, decals, knick-knacks, and other accessories.

Elements of a Nursery

When thinking through your nursery decor, it’s important to know what elements you might include. Here is a list of the main elements in any nursery:

• Furniture including the crib, bureau, changing table, seating, and shelves
• Baby Bedding
• Mobiles and artwork
• Books, stuffed animals, and toys
• Wall Decals
• Rugs and playmats
• Lamps and night lights
• Changing pad and cover
• Curtains
• Storage/Hamper

You might include other elements in your nursery as well. Knowing the main elements to include will help you plan out how to implement your theme, in particular, your color palette.

Think of the Future

When choosing your nursery theme, keep in mind that your baby will soon be a toddler and then a little boy or girl. A theme that seems perfect for a newborn may seem too babyish for a toddler. You won’t want to have to re-do everything once your baby grows in a few years. However, there are plenty of baby nursery themes that are also appropriate for older children. From safaris and woodland themes to favorite cartoon characters or ocean animals, these themes leave plenty of room for your little one to grow.

You can also opt to use nursery elements that are easy to change. For example, wall decals are easy to remove and replace, while painted murals will take a bit more work. So, if you choose a wall decal for your nursery, but your toddler is interested in something else, you can easily take down the decal and put up a new one that’s more in line with their interests. The same is true if you buy large, neutral picture frames for artwork and prints that you can change out as your child grows.

Get Inspired

Explore a wide range of themes, including the latest trends in nursery themes to help you pick your nursery decor. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Classic Themes: Timeless characters such as Mickey & Minnie Mouse, or Winnie the Pooh can make for the perfect nursery theme. Other classic themes like Noah’s Ark, sports, lambs, and florals, are also great options.
• Animal Themes: Babies and animals go together perfectly. Whether you choose to go the woodlands route or opt for jungle or safari animals, your little one is sure to love the theme. Dinosaurs, butterflies, owls, unicorns, and ocean animals are other popular choices.
• Your Interests: Do you have a particular interest you’d like to pass on to your child? For example, if you have a favorite sports team, you might opt to include colors and elements of the team in the nursery decor. Or, if you love stargazing, consider using a space theme,or celestial.
• Use What You Have: If you have a favorite antique toy or heirloom piece of furniture to incorporate into the nursery, you can use this as the main focal point. For example, if you have a gorgeous old rocking horse, you might match the furniture’s stain to that color and feature a general horse theme.

When you make your final decision on a nursery theme, make sure it’s something that you like looking at because, in some ways, the nursery is for you to enjoy as well. You’ll be sitting in your nursery’s glider for many hours of rocking and feeding. Make sure the space is comfortable and attractive for you and baby!

With care and dedication in the planning stages, implementing your nursery theme can be a fun project that will bring you closer to your baby before they’re even born! Before you know it, your little one will be ready to explore the special room you’ve prepared.