The decoration of your baby nursery is probably one of the most fun and rewarding renovation projects you will undertake. It is also one of the most important to get right. A well decorated nursery will bring you joy and give you and your baby a safe and harmonious environment in which to bond. An ill-planned nursery can cause you frustration and fatigue, or worse, inury to your baby.

Rule number one in creating your ideal baby nursery is to make it functional FIRST. Once you have the functionality of the room planned out you can then start choosing your baby nursery decorations. By doing it this way you will find that your nursery decor fits harmoniously into the room rather than looking like a jumbled assortment of items. It will ensure that your nursery is a haven for both you and your baby.

First draw a floor plan of your baby’s room before you begin decorating. After you have drawn the floor space go back and add in windows, lighting, wardrobes and powerpoints. Make some photocopies and keep your original as your masterplan (you may want to have a few goes at this).

Write a list of all the major functional items that need to be considered in your baby nursery. Nursery furniture that should be considered includes a crib and crib bedding, a rocking chair or glider chair, storage space such as a chest of draws or dresser and a change table. Add the items to your floor plan and note the maximum size that you can allocate to each piece of furniture.

If you are lacking space there are a number of options:
•    Fit a chest of draws into a wardrobe cavity,
•    Fit a contour cushion to the top of a dresser instead of buying a change table,
•    Add a hutch on top of a dresser for more storage.

Also consider the lighting in the room. It is best to keep the baby crib away from windows. This way they are less likely to be able to pull on any fabric when they get older. If the curtains are very thin in the room it may be wise to consider decorating your window treatments with block out blinds. Windows also let in the cold or the heat and this is another reason to keep the crib away from this area.

Adding a dimmer switch gives you greater control over the lighting and means that you can enter the room without waking baby. A lamp can also be used to achieve the same effect but remember it needs to be placed near a power point, on a suitable piece of furniture and out of reach of little fingers.

An often forgot part of baby nursery decoration is the flooring in the nursery. If you have hard floors then a nursery decor rug may be necessary. Carpet is great as it is soft for baby and muffles any noises however it also traps more allergens and will require shampooing which may bring more chemicals into the nursery. Cork floors are a great alternative as they are ’spongy’ soft and dust can be cleaned away easily.

Once you have the major elements of your nursery planned out you can see if there is room for any optional extras such as a bookcase or a nightstand. Dont over fill the room. You want to be able to move unhindered from crib to rocking chair and from your storage space to your changing table.

With your floor plan in hand you can now begin to think three dimensional. Your next step is to create a design board that will guide you in choosing your baby nursery decoration.

Here’s an article that you may find interesting reading:

• baby room decorations – … and add other dcor and equipment as the need arises. about the author: by the way, you can find out more about baby room baby room wall paper as well as much more information on all types of children’s wall murals at baby room murals.