DIY Network

Picking Colors and Themes for a Nursery

A nursery doesn't have to match the rest of the house, so any theme or color combination will do.

More in Decorating

first step in nursery design is deciding on theme

A good first step in nursery design is deciding on a theme. You may find a rug or a print that you love and that inspires you, or you may want to go to your local library, bookstore or stationers. Inspiration abounds: you just have to know where -- and how -- to look for it.

Once you've decided on a theme for the nursery, the next step is to choose a color scheme. Researchers say that babies actually see only three colors: black, white and red. Most people, however, prefer a more delicate palette for a baby's room. You may want to create a nursery that would be suitable for this baby and any others you might have in the future, and that also would work for an older child.

In this example, fabrics include toile, gingham and ticking. The walls are painted a soft green taken from the colors in the rug. Green is a color that reminds us of nature, of bringing the outdoors in. After allowing the base coat to dry thoroughly (at least 24 hours), use painter's tape to mark off 12" stripes. To achieve a subtle effect, use a high-gloss version of the same color to paint every other stripe, or use a lighter version of the green (achieved by adding enough white to bring the color down two tints), again using a high-gloss finish to provide a textural variation.

Behind a jutting wall in the room was a pleasant surprise: the chimney of the downstairs fireplace. Removing the drywall exposes the brick chimney. Softening the brick would work better in the French-inspired nursery décor; a simple dry-brush technique using a 50-50 mixture of white latex paint and water lightens the brick while still allowing hints of the red to show through.

The brick wall section ends about an inch from the floor, so to camouflage the gap, a new wider molding is constructed: two layers of 1" by 6" wood are sandwiched between the original molding and a larger base molding to increase the thickness. Behind these, a wider molding adds height, and the joint is hidden with a strip of crown molding. Finally, a narrow base shoe is added. The result is a thick, deep molding that looks as if it had been in place since the house was built.