One of the most fun parts of preparing for your baby is decorating the nursery. You may picture yourself nuzzling your little one while swaying peacefully in the rocker, you walk through the store eyeing all the beautiful furniture, you thumb through your favorite sites looking at everything from sheets to changing tables to mobiles while dreaming of all the restful sleeps your baby will enjoy in that room.
If only decorating your baby’s room was that simple. When you actually begin to prepare your baby’s nursery, you are more than likely a little bit overwhelmed by all of the decisions you have to make. And based on the stories you’ve probably heard from parents that have come before you, or your own recollections from your older children, you are worried about getting baby to actually sleep in their nursery when the time comes.
Well you can you stop worrying right now, because we’ve got you covered!
Choosing the right paint color can help baby sleep better
Creating the right sleep environment involves many factors, one of which can be color. In fact, science has that certain colors can help all of us, young and old, sleep a little better. And a Travelodge Survey found that people who slept in a light blue room got the best night’s sleep, with moss green, pale yellow and silver following close behind.
It is important to keep in mind that babies can’t really see color the way that adults do until they are around 8 months of age. And most infants share a room with their parents for at least the first few months, if not longer.
But chances are, you aren’t going to be painting or repainting the baby’s room when they are 8 months old and the decorating you do when you are expecting is the decorating the baby will enjoy for the first few years. So once baby can appreciate colors, the wisdom that applies for adults, applies to them too. The most calming are low saturation colors like:
- Blue
- Green
- Pale Yellow
- Neutrals like gray and beige
Where can I find ideas about the best colors that go well together?
Okay, now that you know the colors that are best for baby sleep, you are probably wondering how you can pull them all together for a Pinterest-worthy, color-coordinated nursery.
Don’t worry!
One place to turn to is, Pinterest, of course. A quick search of terms like “calming color palettes for baby nursery” will bring up a wide array of inspiration. Other great sources of inspiration are the paint manufacturers themselves like Sherwin Williams Baby and Toddler, and design magazine likes HGTV.
It’s important to remember that you don’t only want to choose one color for the nursery (or any room for that matter). You should choose a primary color (which is your wall color) and two accent colors and use the 60-30-10 rule which is:
- 60% of a dominant color
- 30% of a secondary color
- 10% of an accent color
Looking for ways to throw in that bold splash of color? Try accents like:
- A throw pillow on the rocker
- A piggy bank on the dresser
- A lamp
These are also easy to swap out when you tire of them or baby grows up a bit and you want to turn the nursery into your toddler’s room.
Start with a style or theme
A theme can really give you direction. If you’ve alway wanted a nautical themed room in your house, now is your chance. Love hot air balloons, the zoo, or Disney? Well you’ve got something to focus your decor around.
Also, if you fall in love with a set of sheets, a receiving blanket, or a painting, you can also use that as your starting point and pull your colors from there.
Some don’ts
It is important to I also pay attention to other elements in the room that could impact baby’s sleep.
- Contrast. Babies see contrast way more than they see color, especially early on, so a room full of dark furniture in a light room will be highly stimulating. The same goes for those adorable wall decals if they are high contrast. That doesn’t mean that you can’t put them in your nursery. Just chose ones that have more subtle colors.
Bright lights. Lighting is a good place of focus for little ones, so go with diffused lighting over bright lights It will help finish the serene sleep atmosphere that you start with your wall color.
Test before you commit
Paint chips are so deceiving. SO deceiving. Save yourself time and effort in the long run and buy samples of the color(s) you are thinking of painting the walls and test them in the actual room before painting take the plunge. The second to last thing anyone that is very pregnant person wants to do is paint a bedroom.
The last thing a very pregnant person wants to do is paint a room TWICE.
Think long-term
It is so true, the days are long but the years are short. Even though you are just preparing for your little one, before you know it they will be hitting the terrible twos and the even more terrible threes – so pick a wall color that will help your baby sleep and one that can also grow with your child – and swap out things like bedding and accents so that you don’t need to repaint in a couple years.
