Creating a Beautiful Nursery Decor with Decals and Hangings

Whether you've just found out that you're having your first child (congratulations!) and looking for inspiration on how to style your nursery decor or perhaps you're having your second child and looking for baby boy nursery tips, this article shares some of the best baby nursery decor and hangings available. While we also look at what you should consider when buying decor for your nursery (e.g. permanent or temporary stickers).

We've tried to keep this post quite broad so there's something for everyone from people looking for modern nursery ideas to those that are seeking something with a woodland style theme. We hope you're able to find something that suits your needs.

When to Start Decorating the Nursery?

Start with the Colour Palette First

We recommend starting to decorate the baby nursery once you know what sex you're having. Perhaps you've decided not to find out the sex which is perfectly normal but it's at this point you'll have some direction around theme/colour palette. This will help you decide on whether you want a masculine, neutral or feminine colour palette and theme. From here, you can begin painting the room and ordering decals and prints like we mention later in the post.

Look to Order Furniture Early

With the colour palette and theme underway, we recommend ordering furniture early if you can. Generally most nursery furniture requires self assembly which can take a fair bit of time.  

Create a Gift Registry for your Baby Shower

There's benefit in decorating your baby nursery early as it will give you a good idea of what you need in case you want to give people some hints on what to buy at your baby shower. 

Aim to Have it Complete Around 30 Weeks

While most babies come around the 36-40 weeks mark, they have been known to come much earlier and for this reason, we recommend aiming to have things completed by about the 30 week if in the event your little one decides to come early!

How Big Should a Nursery Be?

There's no hard or fast rule to how big a baby nursery should be. In fact, our twin baby nursery is quite small and actually worked really well.

Why does a small space work well? Babies actually don't need much space beyond room for their cot, place to store their clothes, changing table and space on the floor for practicing tummy time. Honestly, you could get away with having the changing table (or using a bed) and having tummy time in another room if you're super short on space. 

When it comes to room selection for your baby nursery, we recommend a room that has good ventilation to promote good airflow. If you're worried about ventilation in your baby nursery, do what we did and consider getting a ceiling fan to help move air around which will help keep the room at a comfortable temperature for your little one. 

What Does a Baby Nursery Need?

We've written about what to buy when you're expecting twins in great detail but to summarise, we recommend at a minimum that you'll need a bassinet, changing table and extra storage. 

Things to Consider When Styling a Baby Nursery

Find a Theme and Stick With it

We often find that the people that have the best looking nurseries are also the ones that have chosen a theme and stuck with it.  

We live in an area that has lots of native Australian animals so we looked to include illustrations of some of the local animals on the walls.  Going outside the theme would to then start including trucks or animals that aren't native to Australia (like giraffes!). We recommend choosing a theme and sticking to it. 

Find and Know Your Colour Palette

Similar to the above, people that create beautiful baby nurseries are also the same people that choose a colour palette and stick with it.  We have a few tips when it comes to knowing your colour palette:

1. Choosing dark colours isn't a bad thing - These are great for hiding marks and stains that will eventually come from your baby. 
2. Dark colours can make a room feel smaller - Did you know that darker colours can make a room appear darker and smaller? Brighter colours like white are great at making a room appear bigger and brighter.
3. Accents help make smaller rooms appear bigger - Perhaps your heart is set on using darker colours but are worried about the size of the room. Why not opt to use a bold and bright colour on one wall of the room to help make the space appear larger? We recommended looking at decals like below in the article or perhaps a child friendly wallpaper.
4. Consider soothing colours - You want colours that are soothing for both you and your baby. 
5. Think towards the future - Assuming you're like us and your babies nursery will become their room as they get older, be sure to consider how the colours look now and how they'll look as your child gets older.

Create a Safe Environment

There'll be times that you'll be carrying your baby to bed in the dark and the last thing you want is to trip over something left on the floor. For this reason, we recommend creating a safe environment without any clutter by investing in good functional storage which will help keep things organised and safe.

If you don't have the money/space to invest in putting wardrobes in, we found storage baskets a great and affordable way to create storage space.

Consider a Comfortable Seat

We've written about comfortable nursery gliders and rocking chairs in the past but be sure to consider yourself when planning your baby nursery so you have somewhere comfortable to sit when doing feeds or helping your baby fall to sleep. 

Make it Functional and Not Just Pretty

It's all well and good to have a beautiful looking baby nursery but what's the point if it's not functional at all and you're constantly having to leave the room to get things like nappies or wipes.

For this reason, we recommend having a change table with  everything you need stored nearby. Fortunately change tables come in many different colours and designs so you're bound to find something that suits your baby nursery.

Nursery Wall Decor for Boys

As a dad to twin boys, I've gone with the easy option of starting with what's familiar and starting with wall decor and decals for a boy's nursery.