Nursery Decoration

Baby Nursery Decorating Ideas

Some great cheap ideas and tips for play and nursery room interior decoration suitable for both baby boys and girls.

We should be thankful that the old idea of a nursery has passed away and instead of the dreary and rather shabby room without decorations has come the charming modern nursery with its special furniture and wall decorations, its common sense and sanitary wisdom and its regard for kids point of view. The influence of surroundings during the formative years of childhood has a great deal to do with the child's future attitude toward life, and now that parents realize this more, the ideal kids nursery has simplicity, charm and artistic merit, all suited to the needs of its romping inhabitants.

Baby Nursery Wallpaper

The wallpaper for nurseries is especially attractive with their gay friezes of wonderful fairy tale people, faeries, winnie the pooh, lion and lamb, teddy bear, Mother Goose, Noah's Ark and happy little children playing among the flowers. Some of the designs come in sets of four panels that can be framed if desired. A Noah's Ark wall decoration frieze with the animals marching two by two under the watchful eyes of the Noah family, with an ark and upright little Noah's Ark trees, will give endless pleasure to your kids if placed about three feet from the floor where small tots can take in its charm. If the decorative frieze is placed too high, it is very often not noticed at all by kids. Some of the most attractive nurseries have painted walls with special designs stenciled on them.

If any one of these wall friezes is placed above a simple wainscot, the effect is charming. The paper for nurseries is usually waterproof, for a nursery must be absolutely clean. Another thing that gives much pleasure in a baby nursery is to build on one side of the room a platform about a yard wide and six inches high, and cover it with colorful cushions.

Nursery Furniture

The furniture in a day nursery should consist of a toy cupboard stained to match the color scheme of the room and large enough for each child to have his own special, unique, compartment in it. If the children's initials are painted or burned on the doors, it gives an added feeling of pride in keeping the toys in order. There are many designs of sets of small tables and chairs made with good lines, and the wicker ones with lovely cretonne cushions are very attractive. The tables and chairs should not have sharp corners and should be heavy enough not to tip over easily.

There should be a kids bookcase for favorite picture books. Besides the special china for the children's own meals there should be a set of play china for doll's parties. A sand table, with a lump of clay for modeling, a blackboard and, in the spring, window boxes where the children can plant seeds, will all add enormously to the joy of life.

And do not forget a comfortable nursery chair for the nurse maid. White muslin curtains with side hangings of washable chintz or linen or some special decorative nursery design in cretonne should hang to the sill.

Nursery Beds

When children are very small, it is necessary to have sides to the nursery beds to keep them from falling out. The beds should be placed so that the light does not shine directly in the children's eyes in the morning, and there should lots of fresh air. The rest of the night nursery furniture should consist of a dressing table, a chest of drawers, a night table and some chairs.

If there is only one nursery for both day and night use, the room should be decorated as a day nursery and the bed cover made of white dimity with a border of the curtain stuff or made entirely of it.

Nursery Colors

The best wall colors in both day and night babies nurseries should be soft and cheerful as colors can affect moods, and the color scheme as carefully thought out as for the rest of the house. Both rooms should be on the sunny side of the house, and far enough away from the family livingroom to avoid any one's being disturbed when armies charge up and down the play room battleground or Indians start out on the warpath.

Nursery Flooring

The best floor covering for a babys day nursery is plain linoleum, as it is not dangerously slippery and is easily kept clean. If the floor of the baby nursery is hard wood, it should not have a slippery wax finish. It will also save tumbles if the day nursery has no rugs, but the night nursery ought to have one large one or several small rugs by the beds and in front of the open fireplace. Washable cotton rugs are best to use for this.

Decoration with Pictures

There should be a few pictures on the walls hung low down, and beautiful and interesting in subjects and decorative treatment. The fire should be well screened. Pictures like the "Songs of Childhood," for instance, would be charming decoration if simply framed.