With Alyssa settled in at school, her 2nd birthday party underway and all our little home improvements completed, we can finally start preparing the nursery for our little boy who is due to arrive in just 8 weeks! I’m excited about creating a special space for our son, where we’ll be spending a lot of time. I want a space that feels appropriate for a baby, but also something practical that would feel connected with the rest of our home.We are reusing many of the basic pieces from when Alyssa was little, but I am hoping to transform the room so that we still get that “new” feeling before baby arrives.

I was struggling to find inspiration for the space and tapped Melissa Louise, interior designer at Zana  and the author/editor and drive behind Melissa Louise Lifestyle and Interiors, to answer a few of my questions.

1. What are the current trends and popular themes for nursery’s currently?

Now day’s monochrome baby spaces are very popular. The great things about trends are that they can evolve with the growth of your child.

2. Without having to fall back on the cliché colours and themes, what is the best way to decorate a nursery for a specific sex?

I love the use of texture within spaces. In a girls nursery I would make use of faux fur, metallic sequence fabrics, ribbons etc. While in a boys nursery I would make use of velvet, silver metal and raw timber. The hard and soft contrast will define the sex.

3. Lots of baby items can make a room seem cluttered. Are there any appealing workarounds? 

Storage solutions in the forms of boxes and woven baskets are great at hiding the clutter. Shelves are also great.

4. Our nursery will be the smallest bedroom with the least amount of natural light in the house. How can we best utilize the space and make the room seem lighter during the day?
If you are able to – the addition of a sky light is a great solution for any small space, but the colour white always makes a space appear larger than it really is. Even paint your floor boards/concrete floors white, the less defined corners you have in the room the better.
5. Although it’s a different room, this is my second baby and we will be re-using a number of pieces such as the crib, compactum and feeding chair. What tips do you have for incorporating these items without having that same old- same old feeling?

Revamp these items…. There are some really affordable ways to breathe new life into a space. Re-upholster the chair, paint/strip the compactum and crib. Another way to give the space a different feel is to create a gallery wall with artworks of your babies growth or graphic prints.                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Thank you for the great advice Melissa – it has given me the inspiration to get the nursery underway! I can’t wait to see how it all comes together and will share the outcome with you once it’s all done!

xxx

Hayley