Decorating your baby’s nursery is a fun project for parents-to-be, and there are so many different options. When decorating your baby’s space, create a happy and stimulating environment for your baby. You get to play with color, wallpaper, fabrics, patterns, and more to reflect your family and the interests you would like to cultivate in your child. The more colorful, playful, and functional, the better! Here are some ideas to keep in mind when creating your baby’s first space.

Wallpaper, paint, and pictures

Choose a wall color or pattern that can be both vibrant and calming when decorating your nursery. Start a Pinterest board with all your ideas. Pick a theme and choose some fun artwork like pictures of animals or flowers. You don’t have to choose a gender-specific baby blue or pink; you can always choose neutral colors like yellow or green or use a rainbow of colors. Paint a mural and put up pictures of your family for your baby to look at near the changing table. Add some wall borders and some stick-on decals, and stencil designs on the ceiling.

Noise, light, and temperature

Make sure you can control the amount of outside light, as well as noise, that comes into the nursery. When your baby dozes off to sleep, you’ll want decorative curtains that absorb and block the sound. Get some indoor lighting fixtures that can be dimmed. Make sure the vents are clean and that the temperature in the room can easily be adjusted.

Storage and accessibility

Have storage next to your changing table so you can easily grab necessities like powder, lotion, extra cloth, diapers, etc. Try keeping these things in open baskets or decorated cubbies. Place a covered garbage can and a laundry bin next to the changing table. Don’t put the crib next to a window, and avoid letting things dangle over the crib, like strings from blinds or curtains, and watch for anything that could fall on the crib.

Comfort

Make sure you have a comfy spot in the nursery to sit, like a rocking chair or a daybed, to make the late nights and early mornings with your baby more bearable. It can be a great extra place to sleep and will come in handy when nursing. Choose your furniture wisely and think big picture so you can continue to use items as your child grows up.

Most importantly: have fun decorating!