Getting ready to welcome a new baby can involve some stressful preparation, but it’s also just a lot of fun! One of the most enjoyable parts is decorating the nursery. If you’re looking for the perfect nursery paint idea to go with your adorable nursery theme, stick around.
In this article, we’ll start by giving you a few tips on how to make your nursery both cute and safe. Then, we’ll give you 10 nursery paint ideas that anyone can do — no professional painting experience required!
Making Your Baby’s Nursery Both Safe And Cute
While there’s nothing cuter than adorable nursery decorations, your first priority is making your baby’s nursery a safe place for them to sleep, grow, and play. Luckily, it’s not hard to make your little one’s room both safe and cute!
Here are four basic ways to look out for your baby’s safety while decorating. You’ll need to choose the right crib, choose a safe crib mattress, keep decorations out of the crib, and arrange furniture well.
Let’s dive into what those things look like!
Choose The Right Crib
The crib is often the focal point of the nursery decorations and there’s nothing wrong with that! Just be sure you don’t sacrifice safety when choosing a crib. What sort of things should you look for?
- Check the width of the space between the slats — the slats should be no wider than two and three-eighths inches apart.
- Be sure you have the right size mattress to fit in the crib. You’ll want to make sure there’s not a big gap between the mattress and the inside of the crib.
- Finally, assemble the crib carefully and do a thorough check afterward for loose screws and sharp edges.
For more tips on choosing a crib and making it as safe as possible for your baby, read our article here.
Choose A Firm Crib Mattress
Your baby will spend a lot of time sleeping, so it’s of utmost importance that you plan for sleep safety. Part of keeping your baby safe while they snooze is choosing a firm crib mattress.
While a firm mattress might not sound comfortable to you, it’s the best way for your baby to sleep. A soft, plush mattress is simply a safety hazard.
For even more peace of mind while your baby is off in dreamland, opt for a firm and breathable mattress, like Newton Baby’s Crib Mattress. This mattress is firm enough to keep your baby safe, but it’s also comfortable.
Traditional mattresses are often rock-hard and wrapped in plastic. The Newton Baby Crib Mattress, on the other hand, is free of foam, glue, latex, and springs. It's also GREENGUARD Gold Certified, which means it exceeds the most rigorous 3rd-party emissions standards which test for off-gassing!
And, of course, it’s breathable, which means that if your baby rolls over in the middle of the night, they can breathe straight through their mattress.
Keep Decorations Out Of The Crib
Another aspect of sleep safety is keeping decorations out of the crib. Just as a plush mattress is a safety hazard, so are crib bumpers, blankets, baby pillows, and the like. They might be cute, but they aren’t safe for your baby to sleep with.
Save your decoration inspiration for outside the crib and keep your baby’s bed bare!
That doesn’t mean the inside of their crib has to be a total bore. Outfit your baby’s mattress with one of Newton Baby’s Breathable, Organic Cotton Sheets.
The organic muslin cotton provides a soft and gentle sleep experience as well as superior airflow, keeping your baby comfortable for better sleep.
Arrange Furniture Well
Lastly, keep safety in mind when laying out the nursery and arranging furniture. To avoid a mishap, place the crib at least arms-reach away from any blinds, curtains, or cords.
Additionally, think through what decorations you place above the crib. If you’re hanging something on the wall, be sure it’s completely secure.
Now that we’ve covered nursery safety, let’s get straight into some amazingly adorable nursery paint ideas!
10 Nursery Paint Ideas
With safety in mind, you can begin to dream up a nursery theme and the paint and wall decor to go along with it! No matter what theme you’ve chosen, we’ve got 10 nursery paint ideas to help you complete the look.
One last note before we give you our ideas. The ideas we have listed below will work with any color, so get creative!
If you think baby colors like pink, blue, and yellow are outdated, we’d suggest reconsidering. Any of these colors look great in both baby girl and baby boy nurseries.
On the other hand, your nursery doesn’t have to be painted with those “baby colors.” We love a bold black and white nursery, fun rainbow colors, or calming neutrals and earthy tones. It’s up to you!
1) Use Wall Decals
A wall decal is a big, removable sticker designed to add some character to a wall. Other than painting the wall the base color of your choice, using a wall decal requires no painting and very little skill!
With dozens (or hundreds!) of wall decals to choose from, you’re sure to find one that fits your nursery theme.
2) Work With Stencils
Stencils are easy to use and can really spice up a paint job!
You can find stencils that help you paint a pattern on an entire wall. Or go with a smaller stencil to add a design — like a tree, flower, or mountain — to one corner of the room.
3) Paint Your Baby’s Name Or Initials
Wall decals and stencils are both a great way to add your baby’s name or initials to the wall above their crib. Or, if you’re an artist, try painting it freehanded!
4) Create A Starry Night
Creating a magical, starry night on the ceiling of your baby’s room might be easier than you thought.
Paint the ceiling a deep blue, mixing in a bit of white paint on various areas for a lighter effect. Then use a variety of sizes of paint brushes to paint the stars on.
Your little one can wish upon a star every single night!
5) Paint The Ceiling
Speaking of painting the ceiling, a starry night sky isn’t the only option. You can take the paint-the-ceiling idea in any direction you want!
Stripes on the ceiling? Love it. Polka dots? Fantastic. An accent color? Lovely.
6) Use Painter’s Tape To Create Shapes
When it comes to nursery paint ideas, painter’s tape is your friend. And it’s not only for taping up the baseboards and such.
Use painter’s tape to don the wall with geometrical patterns, stripes, mountains, zig-zags…the sky’s the limit!
Paint the walls a base color. This will be the color of anything that you tape. When it’s completely dry, use painter’s tape to make your design. Then, paint the exposed parts of the wall with your second paint color.
Once your second paint color has dried, carefully peel the tape off and voila!
7) Opt For Polka Dots
Polka dots may be easier than other patterns to paint freehanded. So have at it!
Paint polka dots by tracing around a mug, mason jar, cup, or any other circular object that’s the right size. Or use a round sponge to make less defined polka dots.
Space them evenly over the whole wall or cluster a lot of polka dots at the bottom of the wall and spread them out as you work your way up.
8) Stick With Stripes
With painter’s tape and a laser level, stripes can also be relatively easy to paint! You may need to do some calculations, measuring the width or length of your wall to decide how many stripes you want and where to place them.
Big, bold stripes can be cute but classic, lasting your and your little one many years! For a more neutral nursery, white and gray is a fantastic color combination for big stripes.
9) Go Half And Half
Add interest to your paint job by painting the top half of the walls one color and the bottom half a different color. Once again, painter’s tape and a laser level are your friends!
Another way to go half and half with your paint job is to add chair rail moulding to the wall.
10) Hang Wallpaper
OK, this isn’t exactly a nursery paint idea, but it can involve paint.
Why not wallpaper an accent wall and paint the other three walls? Or find a wallpaper and curtains that have matching patterns to create a unique effect in the nursery.
Paint Away!
Deciding how to decorate your baby’s nursery can be lots of fun! As you’re coming up with ideas, remember to put safety first. Choose the right crib and a safe, firm mattress, like Newton Baby’s Crib Mattress.
And when you’re putting the final touches on the nursery, make sure to arrange the furniture well and keep all decorations out of their crib.
Otherwise, paint away however you want! With one of the 10 nursery paint ideas that we listed in this article, you’re sure to find something that suits your baby’s nursery perfectly.