Stanley Furniture offers their Young America bedroom furniture in many color options to mix and match!

Whimsical crib mobiles can add interest and wonderment to a nursery.

Wall decals  can grow with a child as their interests and tastes change with age.

Nursery furniture, mobile and decals

A kitchen is the celebration and creation of food and family.  Why not glorify the materials with which you use in the kitchen? Food as the subject of your decorating will not only invite conversation but a unique design element that adds color, texture and interest to your space.  Either purchase a print someone has taken or head out to the farmers market this spring with your camera and snap away! Experiment in your own kitchen with your fuits and vegetables and see what you can create – no cooking needed!

Food Art in your Kitchen Design

The best way to create a serene room is to design with a subtle color scheme as the backdrop and accent with loud pops of color.  Insert Emma’s rugs.  Emma Gardner and many other rug designers use pattern and color to create beautifully designed area rugs that are works of art as well as function under our feet.  Take a look at the images below to see some of Emma’s rugs.  Area rugs are a quick and inexpensive way to add color, texture and pattern in a room without having to add many accessories or large artwork.

Bold geometric green area rug

Multi Colored Butterfly area rug

Area Rugs as artwork, not just for our feet!

This is what makes framed art and wall decals so appealing to both designers and homeowners alike.  I, personally, used wall decals in my son’s nursery so that I am not repainting a new theme when he becomes a toddler (or when I tire of the zoo animals).  The wall decals can be found in an array of images, colors and sizes.  The same images can be found as framed art or posters for quick, easy hanging if you don’t feel confident positioning the decals on the walls.  Mix the different offerings and a 3D effect is achieved and textural interest by the frames used.

Petit Collage offers such decals and framed art.  Their decals are adhesive fabric (very nice) and come in animals, shapes and many colors.  Children Inspire Design is another website that offers art and wall cards.  The images are done in a vintage flair and they instantly add color, whimsy and interest to a plain wall.  The options are endless, just Google: “wall decals” and whatever theme or animal or color you are after and you will find endless options! Get creative and remember you can change the look of your child’s room as often as they change their mood!   

Wall decals in a penant pattern

If your fear that a darker, bolder color will make the room look smaller and feel closed in, then you need to understand that it is not the paint color of the room that makes it appear smaller but the amount of contrast and furnishings that occupy the room.  For example, too many accessories, over-scaled draperies or bulky sofas close the room in more than a dark paint color.  A dark wall can help a space feel cozier and provide comfort, especially in larger rooms or spaces with high ceilings.

If you fear a dark color will make a room feel dreary, instead think of it as your little black dress.  Add lighter furniture and accents to offset the darker color and pops of bright color to add interest.  (Think a bright handbag next to a black dress or bright pumps.)  The dark wall color here can be charcoal gray, emerald, or indigo instead of tan or black to create chic, unforgettable spaces that are captivating, not dreary.

If you fear that dark colors are bland or dull, remember that dark colors look richer than their lighter counterparts.  Chocolate brown looks more sumptuous than taupe, emerald looks ritzier than celery green and other paler colors can look washed out or more like Easter eggs.  Add the deeper hue in a high-gloss finish to add energy and personality to the space.

Walls with darker, bolder paint colors and contrasting furnishings

Contemporary Rocking Chair

For all of those who have spent long sleepless nights rocking a crying hungry baby to sleep, I’m talking to you today. After designing two nurseries for my own babies and countless others for clients and friends, I have never found a good looking rocking chair that suits budget, style and function. Until today. Crate and Barrel’s, Land of Nod, offers an upholstered modern rocking chair that lends to the mid-century design aesthetic. It can be placed in a transtional, contemporary or modern nursery decor. Though it comes in neutral fabrics, it can be spiced up with accent pillows or drape a bright colored or print throw blanket over the top and make it pop in your nursery. The design of this rocker is great, I just wish it was around 3 years ago!