Nursery Wallpaper: Top Ideas & Tips
In the Spotlight: Mirror Mirror
In nurseries and children’s spaces, the paint versus wallpaper debate should end before it even begins. Because rooms with an appetite for creative expression cannot be as satisfied with a plain coat of paint as with the vibrancy of pattern. After all, a room should be an extension of the occupant’s personality, so a nursery naturally gravitates towards wallpaper that carries an infinite potential to introduce colors and prints. If you share this belief and are keen to dress your baby’s nursery with wallpaper, this blog is for you. Coming ahead are inspiring ideas and tips to turn any nursery into a sweet haven with well-considered wallpaper.
Opt for Neutral-Toned Demure Prints around the Crib
In the Spotlight: Surmai
Colors shape ambiance, especially when they wrap entire walls. So, when it comes to the area around the cradle, avoid stimulating colors like bright reds and oranges as they make it harder for your baby to wind down from play mode to catch a wink. Instead, opt for wallpapers with a muted palette.
Think serene neutrals like cream, beige and pale gray, or soft pastels like sage, blush pink and powder blue, that create a calming effect. These colors are not eye-catching but relaxing, so your little one can easily fall asleep.
Take Surmai, for instance, which paints a jungle scene with muted browns and greens on a white canvas. Or, Brillara, a beige gingham, that covers every inch with pattern, and yet keeps the atmosphere calm with its soft earth tones. Or, consider a duck egg blue floral striped wallpaper like Dove Feather that brings a playful touch with restraint. These wallpapers create a soothing, sleep-friendly atmosphere even as they indulge in intricate pattern play, offering a quiet counterpoint to the clamor of toys and toons.
Go Vibrant and Carefree in the Play Area
In the Spotlight: Dracaena
The play area calls for an entirely different take compared to the sleeping zone. This is where stirring hues like scarlet, cobalt, and yellow find their place—infusing life, inspiring joy, and coaxing the young mind into activity.
Yellow lattice-textured Nero feels as exhilarating as the summer skies or sprawling daffodil fields, offering the perfect sunny backdrop for your toddler to ride on the wooden pony or chase bubbles on all fours. Likewise, Dracaena’s floral bustle on a vivid red canvas brings an animated energy to the room, making it ideal for your tot’s whimsical play area.
Use Pattern as a Teaching Tool
In the Spotlight: Stellar Tide
In a nursery, color and pattern go beyond their aesthetic roles and double up as learning tools for a young, curious mind. So, use the opportunity to introduce prints that can also serve as primary lessons for your little darling.
Take, for instance, gingham Stellar Tide that could be an introduction to basic geometric shapes, nature print Winged, whose lush vignettes could serve illustrations for story time, and chinoiserie Aafreen that weaves a whimsical story of a garden lulled by birdsong.
Future Proof with Timeless Themes
In the Spotlight: Chiffon
Cradles will soon get replaced by bunk beds, plush toys will give way to Legos and board games, and the wallpaper? Well, the wallpaper has to quietly make the transition without ever feeling like a misfit in the ever-renewing grander scheme of your kid’s bedroom.
That’s why we consciously keep away from overly cutesy prints like caricatures, bunnies, and polka dots. Instead, our wallpapers lean into timeless prints like stripes, plaids, and florals that will outlive your child’s fleeting taste, ensuring that your nursery wallpaper can stay while all else gets swapped.
Depending on your plan for how long you’ll keep this room dedicated as a nursery and kids’ room, you can choose colors and prints that will work for the long haul. For instance, you can lean into dainty hues carefree for your first child, anticipating that this room will remain a dedicated nursery for more years than otherwise. But, if you envision stretching your wallpaper’s lifeline well into your child’s tweens, consider more mature neutral tones that will suit your child’s coming-of-age preferences.
Take a Gender-Neutral Approach
In the Spotlight: Tuman
If you’re one of those parents who, from the very first year, want to steer clear of gender stereotypes, consider opting for colors that do not carry default tags. Instead of opting for the standard baby blues and pinks, try a different take, with colors that look adorable but carry no strong connotations of gender.
Think yellow, as in The Dance Class, or green, as in Mesa Grande—colors that inspire a juvenile energy yet do not conform to gender-oriented color palettes. Or, opt for ever-versatile neutrals like gray, as in Tuman, that are not only gender-neutral but also time-proofed, ensuring that your nursery’s wall dressing will not only sidestep stereotypes but also overcome foreseeable taste evolutions.
Counterbalance Arresting Prints with Solids
In the Spotlight: Fiddle
No matter how often you deep clean and organize, nurseries and kids’ rooms will get cluttered in no time. And that’s why the decor in this room must maintain a balance between patterns and plains, such that both can shine without dominating.
So, if you’ve chosen a vibrant print on your wallpaper, opt for plain beddings and window treatments. And, in a small nursery, where the risk of plushies and toy cars taking over the scene is high, opt for low-profile prints like damask Sonas or geo-print Fiddle that offer richly textured backdrops, instead of loud, eye-catching prints.
In short, make sure that the wallpaper’s pattern does not overwhelm the room. Offer breathing space for the eye to rest with solid components, or use the wallpaper itself as the refreshing quiet that counterbalances the nursery’s hullabaloo.
Pair with Complementing Window Dressings
In the Spotlight: Morning Air
The decor story of a nursery does not end with the choice of wallpaper. The picture feels complete only when the wall and window dressings go hand in hand. Thankfully, at The White Window, it is easy to coordinate both.
So, ensure that the walls weave a close-knit color story by choosing curtains/roman blinds that complement each other. For instance, if you chose Morning Air wallpaper, go for Valley Stars cotton curtains to drape the nursery with the serenity of olive green. This cohesive color story creates a carefully curated space that reveals its bespoke character beyond mistake.
Shop Nursery Wallpaper at The White Window
In the Spotlight: Borneo River
The nursery is the entire world of your infant, and it ought to offer a fresh mind a glimpse of the vast universe waiting to be explored. It also ought to be a haven of comfort where little eyes can glide to fairyland without much ado. The right nursery wallpaper will set the tone, craft the mood, and offer something visually engaging to keep your tot amused before the toys are laid out. So, go ahead, browse our aisles and pick a wallpaper that shapes your baby’s nursery into an idyllic sanctuary, where comfort and curiosity are balanced tastefully. Happy papering!