…and now, the reality check. How much can you realistically spend? Having a baby is an expensive exercise, so it’s important to start saving as soon as possible and create a budget.
Justine Davis, author of “How to Afford a Baby” estimates that Australian parents spend $6000 - $8000 to set up a nursery. Spend wisely, and you could successfully trim the excess whilst still creating a beautiful room.
Start saving and prepare your budget.
Photo by ^Vanessa^
More on Planning a Nursery
Part One: Your Style
Part Two: Desired Ambiance
Part Three: Your Budget
If pinning paint swatches to a corkboard seems a little messy, COLOURlovers is a no-fuss way for you to create your colour palette for your nursery decor.
Become a member and join the modern baby nursery group to discuss your boy, girl or gender-neutral schemes.
We’ve also suggested some nursery colour schemes to match our debut art series, In the Woods.
An important factor is to aim for a general ambience you want your baby’s nursery decor to evoke. Do you want your nursery to seem peaceful? Feel optimistic? Or playful?
One way for you to achieve this is through the creation of a mood board. It’s a helpful tool to construct a design and keep you focussed on your original thoughts, colours or textures for your room. Save clippings from books, magazines and images from websites of beautiful things that catch your eye to help convey your adjectives. The clippings needn’t be objects to buy or photographs of rooms, they can be anything you desire. They may include patterns in fabric, some paint samples or a flower or two.
Stick your images onto paper or pin them to a corkboard to create your mood board. Better still, create two boards to describe different ways you could approach your nursery decorating idea.
Spend time during this stage — it’s best you live with your inspiration sources for a while as ideas take time to mature. Display them so you can see them every day. As time goes by, edit your mood board as ideas lose favour.
Lobster and Swan’s inspiration for the above mood board came from an apple and almond tart and its description “slivers of cherry red apple look like delicate petals have floated down onto sweet, crisp pastry.”
This, combined with the indulgence of Marie Antoinette makes for a perfect imaginary ladies’ own entertaining room. Can you hear the clinking of teacups and clattering of conversation?
Create your mood board to illustrate your desired ambiance.
Photo by Lobster and Swan
More on Planning a Nursery
Part One: Your Style
Part Two: Desired Ambiance
Part Three: Your Budget
Creating a stylish nursery needn’t mean squandering a fortune on the most expensive furniture or fittings. Style isn’t defined by how much you spend nor what you buy; it’s about addressing the function whilst adding your own flair. It isn’t fashion or trends; it is your distinctive way of creating a look.
A starting point is to contemplate your personal style characterised by the other rooms in your house. Do you mix retro, second-hand finds with contemporary? Are you a fan of clean modern lines with splashes of unexpected colour? Do you favour minimalism — all white walls with evidence of human life concealed in cupboards? Is sustainability the most important issue for you?
Consider taking your personal style and tailoring it to the needs of your baby. Think about how many years you need the look to last; after all, in the blink of an eye, your baby will grow into a child. Have you found a signature piece — an artwork or fabric pattern — that could inspire the rest of your room?
Now isn’t that an awesome room? Jake Nickell (co-founder and president of Skinnycorp) and his partner, Shondi, are responsible for the above nursery that exemplifies their creative style; the wall prints and some of the toys were previously owned. The muted tones of the carpet and walls make a peaceful backdrop to the explosion of fun and colour of the toys and accessories. In addition, the room can quickly grow with the child by simply changing the furniture. Many of the accessories will last a lifetime; disco balls and softies are for two day olds as well as twenty-somethings.
Start dreaming and consider your personal style.
Photos by Skaw
More on Planning a Nursery
Part One: Your Style
Part Two: Desired Ambiance
Part Three: Your Budget
Soon I will be writing articles about planning a stylish nursery, décor ideas and interviews and tips from the professionals who know best.
Or do they? Send in your photos, ideas and let us know how you went about planning your nursery and your baby’s room could be featured on these pages. Email us now!
