Here’s a guest post from my friend Anchorage wonder-designer Fernanda Conrad about how she put together her adorable, gender-neutral nursery:
“When my husband and I found out that I was pregnant we did not want to know the gender until the baby was born. Knowing what I do for a living, people’s first question was ‘How will you decorate the nursery if you don’t find out what the baby will be?’ Easy – was my answer – I design a nursery that works for either a boy or a girl.
Gender neutral nurseries are very common, not only because you may decide not to know the baby’s gender, but because they can be ‘recycled’ for the second (or third) baby, as well as being practical shared spaces.
I decided that instead of giving the room a theme, I would give it color of the bold variety. I started by coating all the walls and ceiling with Sherwin Williams Extra White. In this case it was important to use the whitest white because it makes every other color look sharper and brighter in comparison. Then I painted 2 walls in 6 inch stripes alternating Extra White and Sherwin Williams Forsythia Yellow. A 3.25 inch pre-finished chair rail from Lowes gives the illusion of wainscoating. The other 2 walls are painted solid Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray.
The wall to wall carpet is Mohawk Delicate Charm in Billowing Cloud. I could wax poetic about this carpet for the rest of the post, but I’ll spare you. All you need to know is that it has smart strand silk, it is teddy bear soft, and you can find it at K&W Interiors.
I kept the furniture white so that I could give the room pops of color with the accessories. The crib, changing table, hamper, and dresser came from Burlington, I changed the knobs that came with the dresser for colorful LEGO knobs, and instead of a mobile I chose a custom felt garland. The last two items, along with the fitted sheet, came from Etsy.
I found the wire cube wall shelf, bookshelves, hanging lamp, crib skirt, and area rug at The Land of Nod, and the bear paper bag at Tellkido. The knit pendant lampshade gives the room some cozy charm, while the colors of the accessories keep the room playful.
The elephant lamp is from the Jonathan Adler collection for JC Penney, the A-frame chalkboard was bought second hand, and the rocking horse was a baby shower present from one of the grandmas.
I’m in my happy place any time you give me a room to transform, but creating a real life environment to encourage my son to read, explore, discover, and rest, has been one of the most special projects I’ve undertaken. Now there is only one thing missing, art! But I am waiting for him to create his own. Didn’t you know? It’s a boy!
Elmer the elephant and baby Ben explore the nursery world!