From parents looking for gender-neutral options to people who prefer a nursery design that fits with the overall look of their home’s color palette, neutral design is in for baby nurseries. If you’re a parent-to-be looking for inspiration for your neutral baby nursery, this guide should help.
Start by building your nursery from the floor up
When designing a space, it’s easy to overlook the floor, but your floor is the foundation to everything else in the room. While you might not have the option to change the flooring itself (unless you’re doing a full nursery remodel) you can still set the scene in your space with the right mat.
The Insider comes in a number of off-white patterns, and with area mats as well as runners you can mix and match for even more visual interest. If you’re going for a more natural look, The Innerweave provides a woven aesthetic that you can pair with similar staple pieces like woven baskets and natural shelving.
Design around nursery essentials
A beautiful, aesthetic nursery is the dream, but it’s important to remember that you need a space you can actually use. Designate specific areas for sleeping, changing, nursing, and playing. Before you select your furniture for your nursery, be sure to measure.
Select a color palette for your neutral nursery
One of the major benefits of a designing a neutral baby nursery is that you’re creating a calming space for both baby and you, but neutral doesn’t have to mean no color. A muted blue or grey or green in an accent wall can add color without creating too much visual stimulation. Tie those colors into your curtains to complete the look (and be sure to choose black-out curtains to help baby sleep!).
Interesting textures and patterns in neutral colors can add visual interest to the space as well, achieving a similar design effect as a brightly colored statement piece. We love the texture of The Insider area mat in Wild Side Dove for a nursery. Visually it fits that soft, rounded, neutral aesthetic of the modern baby’s room.
Tie your nursery design into the rest of your home
When selecting pieces for your nursery, take a quick look around to see if you have anything in your home that might make sense to repurpose in your nursery like an antique bureau. You can also tie into the broader design of your home by matching your floors mats to those used in your hallway or entryway for a cohesive design throughout the home.
Keep the future in mind
When designing your nursery, keep the walls and crib neutral then decorate with items specific to your baby. That way you can change things up or re-use the space for another baby without repainting the walls. For larger staple pieces, like your floor mat, choose items that can transition with you and baby—from belly time on the floor to the toddler years and well into childhood.
Remember: your space isn’t going to stay perfect
Even a perfectly designed nursery won’t stay picture-perfect. From spit up to spills to everything that comes with welcoming a new baby into your life, you need a space that’s usable. That’s especially true when it comes to your floor mat.
A good mat for a nursery needs to be soft, stain-resistant, slip-resistant, easy-to-clean, and not too expensive (it wouldn’t hurt if it looked great as well). The Insider by Porte + Hall checks all these boxes and more.
Still need a little help designing your nursery? Check out this photo gallery from a nursery we designed around The Insider in Wild Side Dove for a little inspiration.
