1. The Sophisticated Baby Room
The colours of choice for most unisex nurseries are green and yellow because they're meant to be fitting for both boys and girls. Instead, why not go for some grey accents around the room for a chic look? Not that other babies care... but your baby will be the coolest one at daycare. If your baby could talk, they'd be talking about the classy nursery room you designed for them.
2. Mix & Match Bright Colours
Although blue isn't typically used for a girl's nursery (though I don't know why, because I like it better than pink), you can try using various colours for the room to make it less masculine. By mixing green, blue and orange like this photo, the parents were able to keep the nursery neutral for any sex.
3. Murals on a Black Background
Have you ever seen a nursery so whimsical? I didn't think so. If you're having trouble figuring out what to do for your little one's future bedroom, paint the walls a solid colour (black, beige or white) and hire someone to create custom wall art or do it yourself. Concerned about painting something that might lean one way or the other? Why not pick out one of your favorite childhood books (e.g. "Where the Wild Things Are" or basically anything by Dr. Seuss) and paint characters or quotes on the walls.
4. Animal Decor for Every Baby
Whether you're going for a full jungle theme or you've just used framed animal photos throughout the room, decorating with animals makes sense for unisex baby decorations. Animals don't necessarily scream boy or girl (after all, there are both male and females out there in the animal kingdom), so they'll be a perfect addition to your design.
5. Black & Yellow
No, I'm not talking about the Wiz Khalifa song, but as everyone knows, yellow is a great option for unisex rooms. I'm not usually a big fan of the colour, but I like how it doesn't appear overwhelmingly bright in this setup. The subtle hints of black, white and grey around this nursery make it a great space for a baby of either gender.
6. A Nursery for Parents
As much as everyone likes to decorate with the baby in mind, why not share this space? After all, mums and dads end up spending almost as much time in the nursery as their baby does. With grey walls, white furniture and some artsy flare, even I'd want to sleep in this room!
7. Don't Choose a Colour
Rather than picking out paint or wallpaper (which we know everyone hates to do anyway), stick with an all-white nursery. Simple and effective (and easy to wash!).
8. Books Galore
Why even worry about colours or patterns when you can just have an entire wall fully dedicated to books? I'm a complete book nerd so I know that I'll definitely want to do this when I eventually have a child. Start collecting books, whether they're your favourites from when you were a kid or new ones you've picked up at your local Barnes & Noble. Plus, once your baby grows up and transforms his or her new room, (s)he can replace those childhood books with high school and college classics.
9. Stick with a Theme
By theme, I don't mind with your colours, but rather... are you going to do something intergalactic with planets around the room? Something more nautical because you live by the beach? Whatever it is, make sure that it can go for either gender.
10. Disguising the Symbolism Behind the Colour
Seriously though, who said that blue has to be for boys and pink has to be for girls? Hopefully all of that will change in the future, but I digress. If you just happen to be a person who likes blue but who also wants a unisex nursery, you can still have that by simply disguising the colour. Remember how we talked about themes a minute ago? Well, take some inspiration from the photo above by using an ocean theme (or simply a giant picture of a whale) so you can paint your walls blue. Then when someone asks if you painted the room blue because you're having a boy, you can respond with the obvious answer.
11. Fit for a King & Queen
Whether a boy or girl, you baby deserves to feel royal... even though they might not even understand what that means. Yet when it comes to children, all parents want to do is pamper them with unconditional love and I'm pretty sure this decor illustrates just that. Plus, those gold accents right?!
12. Add some fairground flare
Somebody actually thought of, and did THIS. That is all.
13. Focus on One Aspect
Rather than getting worked up over a colour scheme that may or may not be unisex, buy or make an item in the nursery that will be the focal point similar to this fantastic baby crib. If you do so, all the attention will be on the centerpiece and not the rest of the room. If you made something like this, there's a chance you could go without decorating the entire nursery and no one would even notice. However, I don't recommend that.
14. Decorate with Knick-Knacks
Having a boy and a girl but don't want their shared room to dominate one way or the other? Display your babies' personalities through the odds and ends you decorate the room with. Hoping your son will play soccer and your daughter will be a dancer, or vice versa (hey, boys can be dancers and girls can be athletes too, you know)? Just because those two things might not seem to mesh doesn't mean you can't decorate with a little from both.
15. Use Every Single Colour
I mean why not? If you're seriously panicking about what colours to use, just use them all with a rainbow room! If you wanted to know what a unisex nursery room looks like, this is definitely it.
16. Paint It Red
When all else fails, there's always the colour red. Though it might be a loud colour for a baby room, if you can handle it, red paint is a great way to make a nursery feel more unisex. Don't go for any light tints of this hue as it might make the room look a little pink, but try out a dark shade instead. This baroque theme is absolutely perfect!
17. Give the Changing Table Some Style
Personalise the changing table in your nursery room with something that'll work for both a boy and a girl. I love the colour of this armoire (super creative and useful way to save space, by the way) because it provides the room with a rustic feel and is suitable for either gender. Additionally, if you happen to be sharing your guest space and baby room, this mature furniture will work for that as well.
18. Simply Add on to An Existing Room
Let's be real - starting from scratch and decorating a whole room for the baby is a lot of work. Not to mention, after only a few years you'll probably have to change the theme when your kid(s) grow up. So keep a room what you already have and just add baby pieces here and there for your future child. For instance, this nursing spot pictured above appears to cater to an adult, but with the giraffe on the shelf and the ceiling mobile, these little touches really go a long way in making it feel more like a unisex nursery.
19. Work on That Green Thumb
Just kidding. I totally don't expect any new mums to take care of a ton of plants and wildlife after giving birth, but these natural notes of green can make a baby room feel super fresh. Buy a plant that doesn't necessarily need to be taken care of daily or even a terrarium to complement the nursery. Not only will your friends love the room, but it'll also be great for both boys and girls.
20. Go for a Neutral Wallpaper
Who needs paint when you can just put up wallpaper? Choose a style that doesn't symbolize one sex or the other, like stars, images of animals and even trees.
21. Use Storage & Shelves to Distract
Whatever wallpaper or paint design you choose, if you're trying to go with a unisex room, try using storage to distract attention from anything else in the room that may seem more closely associated with this or that gender. Whether a large wardrobe or a giant bookcase like this one, it'll be the only thing in the room that people are focusing on. Well, that and the baby.
22. Decorate with a Nursery Rhyme
Parents read nursery rhymes to their sons and daughters all the time. Remember "Hickory Dickory Dock" and "Jack Be Nimble"? Kids love them! So use these nursery rhymes to your advantage to decorate the entire room.
23. Concentrate on the Mobile
To me, the ceiling mobile is definitely one of the coolest (and cutest) aspects of a baby's room. Sometimes they're so pretty that I wonder why adults don't just have mature versions of them in their room. I guess we have chandeliers but that's still a bit different. Buy or DIY an awesome crib mobile to draw the eye upward when people enter the room. If you buy something spectacular enough, they probably won't even notice the rest of the nursery.
24. Play Around with Words
If you're a fan of Scrabble, you'll love this idea for your little tike. You can decorate the room with random words associated with babies or even spell out his or her name on the wall. The possibilites are endless!
25. Play It Safe with Trees
Going along with the whole plant theme that I mentioned before, using trees to decorate a nursery is a pretty safe bet if you're making it unisex. You can hire someone to paint one on your wall, do it yourself with a stencil or freehand, or even purchase a wall decal in stores. This makes for a great focal point and I adore how this person used shelves to create "branches" for the baby's toys.
26. Use Chalk
There's really no need to spend money on tons of nursery items when you can just draw everything with chalk like this genius parent did! Dedicate one wall (or all of them, though you'll probably want a pop of colour in your room) to this project and use chalk paint to create your background. Decorate with picture frames like the image above or even draw furniture onto the walls. Just make sure you're baby's not in the room breathing in all that chalk dust when you're cleaning the walls or drawing.
27. Get Rustic
First of all, isn't this headboard amazing?! Second, these shades of brown and orange are perfect for a unisex nursery. This look seems so laidback and your baby (boy, girl or both) will definitely feel right at home.
28. Don't Forget the Rug
Although many parents might choose to focus on the subtle details around the room like pictures, toys and trinkets, as well as what goes on the walls and what hangs from the ceiling, it's also important to focus on the floor. If you've already got carpeted floors then that's another story, but if you don't, pick out an area rug that you feel will match both a boy and a girl's personality. Clearly this person saw our tip about using animals throughout the room... wink wink.
29. Save Space
If you've decided to go with a unisex nursery because you're having twins (as opposed to not knowing the baby's sex beforehand), you'll absolutely want to save as much space as possible. With two cribs, feeding chairs, wardrobes and changing tables, the room's definitely going to be crowded. If you have a nook in the room like this one, use it to house one of your cribs to clear the rest of the room for your second crib and other odds and ends.
30. Easy as ABC
If you keep the colours bright and the theme simple - like the alphabet, you can't go wrong. A baby boy or girl would be lucky to have a stylish nursery space like this!
How are you going to decorate your unisex nursery? Tweet us @wewomenUSA!
This article was written by Emma Goddard. Follow her on Twitter @egoddardhokie.
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