Creating A Gender Neutral Nursery

This summer, Alex moved out of the nursery into Maggie’s room. They are loving their shared space and to my surprise, not waking each other up! The nursery was fairly neutral before Alex moved out, but like any nesting momma, I really wanted to redecorate and make a special new place for the new baby. We kept the furniture the same but created a brand new room. 

Besides design, there were 3 things that I knew the nursery needed: a glider, night stand and bigger rug. When Maggie and Alex were infants, I always thought “it would be so nice to have a comfy glider to feed and rock them in”. Third time around, I finally have one! Along those lines, I thought about how convenient a little table next to the glider would be for a small lamp, to put bottles on etc. We had a teeny, very old rug in the nursery. In our first nursery, in our old house, there were wall to wall carpets. I got a little rug to put near the crib for decor. Our current nursery has hardwood floors. For warmth and crawling babies, I knew we really needed a bigger rug. So, those 3 items were the things I was looking for, or at least the basis for me trying to convince Tom I needed to redecorate yet another room!

Like with the girls room, I got design help from the team at The Land of Nod. They were wonderful when it came to figuring out how to best use the space in the girls’ room to make it work for 2 kids. This time, I was able to send pictures of what we already had and wanted to use, and the team helped me use the old to create a brand new space. They put together a Pinterest board filled with great things to add to the room. I highly recommend their design services. 

Creating the gender neutral space:

When creating a gender neutral nursery, you obviously need to start out with colors that are neutral. I chose a gray for the walls. Next, I’ve always wanted do do a wall of wallpaper in a room and decided the nursery would be a fun place to try it out. I found awesome designs over at Chasing Paper. There were so many fun options, but I decided to go with the Tribal Chevron, because it was the same color as the paint on the walls. I wanted the wall to “pop” but wanted it the same, neutral color. The Chasing Paper wallpaper was so easy to put up. There is no glue, water, etc involved. You peel the back off of the strip of wallpaper and stick it to the wall like a sticker. Then, it comes off just as easy. 

The color palate: I wanted to go with bright, bold colors. The furniture is dark wood and the walls are gray, so I knew I could get some great colors into the room. I went with the Farmer’s Market bedding collection from Land of Nod. I loved the yellow lemons and having the  reds and blue in the theme as well. My plan is to add more green and navy into the room if we have a boy and to add more pink and orange into the room if it’s a girl. 

One of my favorite things in the room is the new rug. It’s a great pattern and the green color really brightens up the whole room! Like almost every rug in our home, it’s from Rugs USA. I have yet to find a place that has more options and at such great prices. This is one site to be sure to sign up for emails. Rugs USA sends the best coupon codes (sometimes up to 80% off). We have 4 other rugs in the house from Rugs USA and we’ve always been really happy with the quality. It’s so nice to have a rug in the nursery that now goes from the crib, all the way across the room. It feels so much cozier! 

And I finally have my glider and table! The glider and night stand are both from Land of Nod. The glider is the Toby glider in Valencia Angora. The style of the glider is great for our space, because it’s not quite as large as most gliders. I like that it swivels side to side, in addition to gliding. When I was deciding on which one to get, someone on the Land of Nod team told me this fabric felt like the inside of a new sweatshirt. She was spot on. It’s the softest feeling chair I’ve ever sat in. Right now, we spend time reading in the chair and none of us want to get out. This new little nook of the nursery, with the comfy glider and table, almost make me excited for those middle of the night feedings (almost). 

Above the glider is our magazine book shelf. I’ve had this since Maggie was born, and it’s a favorite of mine. I love the look and having a place to put some of our favorite books. The girls helped me pick out some books to put in for the new baby. 

Another spot that I love in the new room is the changing table area. I never paid much attention to this spot in the nursery before, but when the Land of Nod design team recommended the Honeycomb Wall Shelf, it was the start of an adorable little scene above the changing table. The gray shelf looked great above the bright yellow changing table pad. Originally we were going to do two Honeycomb Shelves (they all interconnect – check out all the different colors and patterns you can do over at Land of Nod). Two looked “too big” on the small wall, so we opted for 1 shelf and then added these great prints from Uh Oh Pasghettio. They had a great bumble bee print and then a honeycomb design that looked neat next to the Honeycomb Shelf. 

Speaking of Uh Oh Pasghettio, I knew I wanted to add something else red into the space. I loved how the red cherry pillow looked on the gray chair. Uh Oh Pasghettio makes most of their prints in a variety of colors, so I was able to get this big alphabet print in red. We love the prints from Uh Oh Pasghettio. The 3 prints they created for the girls’ room last year are awesome. What’s even more awesome is that now you can order the prints from Uh Oh Pasghettio as canvas prints. I really enjoy getting prints for our house, but really do not enjoying finding the time/ money to then frame them. Having these nursery prints (all 3) come as a canvas, ready to go right on the wall, was a huge time saver. They also look great! 

We still have to add curtains, a lamp for the end table and something on the wall above the little toy chest. These are all spots that I plan to add colors that are a little more “gender specific”. That’s one of the things that I enjoy about creating a gender neutral space. You can get all the basics set in neutral colors and then add more accents once the baby arrives and you know if it’s a boy or girl. This is also a great way to use the room over and over again for siblings. It’s easier to change accent pieces than to change the whole space. 

Whether it’s a gender neutral nursery or not, one nursery essential us are some of the Aden + Anais bedding.  Their sheets are great and hold up very well to washing. The Dream Blanket is truly dreamy. Alex got one as a gift when she was first born and still sleeps with it every night. It’s big, and covers a 3 year old just fine. It’s the softest blanket around and I often joke that I am going to order 4 of them and sew them into a blanket for myself. I knew baby #3 needed a Dream Blanket of their own and found a print with yellow giraffes to match the room. 

Last but not least, my favorite new item in the nursery is the special framed picture created by Maggie. When the Honeycomb shelf arrived, I was on the hunt for what to put in the spaces. Maggie and I spent some time hunting around some little shops in town. She asked what we were shopping for and I told her I wanted some little things for the baby’s new shelf: I was thinking maybe a little animal, baby block or a cute little bumble bee. We searched a few places, but found nothing. Then, the next day, Maggie came running to me, so excited. She said she made the perfect gift for the baby’s room. She knew I wanted to find a bumble bee, so she made one herself. We put it in a little frame and she is so proud that she added something to the nursery. I am so proud too. Both girls have been really excited to help set up the room, which has made this the most fun nursery I’ve created.