Gender neutral baby nurseries?

[Laila619]

Hi all,

For those of you who didn''t find out what gender you were having ahead of time, how did you decorate your baby''s room? Did you do the typical yellow/green color scheme? Did you not decorate at all until after the baby was born? I''m looking for ideas/inspiration for bedding patterns, colors, wall art, etc. If you know the name of your bedding, that''d be great too! Thank you!

 

[somethingshiny]

I have a few family members who didn''t know what they were having. One decorated with a very cute Under the Sea theme. It was all different colors but very gender neutral. Another one went with Monkeys and yellow stuff and another went Winnie the Pooh. The others waited until after baby arrived to decorate. But, they were very rushed and I don''t think the rooms turned out as cute as they could have been.

 

[Puppmom]

Laila, we''re having a boy but went mostly neutral anyway. Our bedding is Skip Hop - Mod Dot and we purchased some art from this seller on Etsy - Leearthaus.

The ILs have a nursery at their house too and they chose the Sleepy Safari Theme. It''s REALLY cute in person and definitely gender neutral.

Good luck planning your nursery. It''ll be so much fun!

 

[Callisto]

I don''t have kids yet but I''ve already told SO that the nursery will be jungle/animal themed. It''s general neutral but more so I love animal stuff and animal print and just want to theme a room with that and I think a nursery is the most acceptable place to do that haha. I might get weird looks if all my kitchen appliances are zebra print.

 

[princesss]

Date: 5/25/2010 7:05:10 PM
Author: Callisto
I don''t have kids yet but I''ve already told SO that the nursery will be jungle/animal themed. It''s general neutral but more so I love animal stuff and animal print and just want to theme a room with that and I think a nursery is the most acceptable place to do that haha. I might get weird looks if all my kitchen appliances are zebra print.

SAME (minus the desire for zebra print appliances)! I love safari themed nurseries.

 

[Laila619]

Thanks for the ideas so far!

Puppmom, I LOVE your dot bedding!!

 

[NovemberBride]

Laila,

A lot of my friends chose both a girl and a boy bedding pattern and waited until baby was born to buy. Most babies don''t sleep in their nursery right away so it''s not necessary for the room to be complete right when they are born. They either painted a neutral color or waited to paint as well. I know that in NYC there are a lot of stores where you can select items for both boys and girls and call them when the baby is born to tell them boy or girl and they will have everything delivered to your house before you are home from the hospital. In addition to people who didn''t find out the gender,this is common amongst my Jewish friends because there is a custom that you don''t bring anything into the house for the baby until after the baby is born. I would guess stores in other areas do something similar, of course its more likely to be smaller or specialty stores that offer such a service.

 

[iheartscience]

Friends of mine waited to find out and they did a super cute owl-themed nursery and painted the walls a nice bright but sort of olive-y green. I think gender-neutral rooms are usually cuter and more fun than all blue or all pink rooms anyway!

 

[geckodani]

My sister went with a mint green on the walls, and did brown and teal accents. A few weeks before she was due, she bought a boy bedding set, and a girl bedding set. We took back the girly one when my nephew was born.

She added more brown, teal and orange. If it had been a girl, she was going to add more purple and teal.

 

[Lilac]

Date: 5/25/2010 7:25:36 PM
Author: NovemberBride
Laila,

A lot of my friends chose both a girl and a boy bedding pattern and waited until baby was born to buy. Most babies don''t sleep in their nursery right away so it''s not necessary for the room to be complete right when they are born. They either painted a neutral color or waited to paint as well. I know that in NYC there are a lot of stores where you can select items for both boys and girls and call them when the baby is born to tell them boy or girl and they will have everything delivered to your house before you are home from the hospital. In addition to people who didn''t find out the gender,this is common amongst my Jewish friends because there is a custom that you don''t bring anything into the house for the baby until after the baby is born. I would guess stores in other areas do something similar, of course its more likely to be smaller or specialty stores that offer such a service.

I was going to suggest something like this. Could you paint the walls a neutral color (pale green or yellow?) and then find a set of "girl" bedding and "boy" bedding that both match the walls? Then when the baby is born, you just have someone buy the previously picked out bedding for either the boy or the girl (or the store can deliver it).

I am Jewish, so it was interesting to read this response because I would probably do something similar. I have friends who have set up their nurseries before the baby was born and friends who waited until after because they did not want to bring anything for the baby into the house before he/she was born. I would probably pick things out and then buy them (or have family pick them up for me/have everything delivered) after the baby was born.

 

[jaysonsmom]

My kids (a boy and girl) share a room right now, and it''s in a Safari theme with neutral greens, tans, and brown. I know there are a ton of gender-neutral themes and colors out there. I just did a search to find my kids'' theme...it might be a little outdated so I didn''t find their bedding, but a ton of others popped up when I was searching.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

We didn''t find out what we were having and painted the nursery orange. We decided not to do a theme. Sadly, our son never got to sleep in his orange room because we moved out of that (rental) house before he was out of the bassinet

His room now is painted white (I want to change it) and still no theme. We got neutral blankets and crib sheets at my showers and then got a few boy things after he was born.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

We didn''t find out the sex of DD and finding gender neutral bedding was tough. I ended up with MIGI splash bedding and we painted her room a pale blue. You can find pictures on the original "show me your nursery" thread. Being surprised on our DD''s sex was so worth it. It added a little more excitement! Good luck!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Lalia, i''m due in a month and we''re not finding out bebe''s gender beforehand. Plus, we were househunting so there was the chance that we wouldn''t be living here anyway. We actually closed on a house today and have picked out the nursery in the new place and that''s it! We plan to buy the crib this weekend, and will be matching it to a dresser & bedside table we already have. We''ll pick up other pieces as needed (bookcase, etc...)

As others have mentioned, rarely does baby actually sleep in the nursery right off the bat. We have a co-sleeper and will use it for awhile. DH''s parents visit in August and that''s when I plan to "decorate" the nursery with MIL (she''s thrilled to be involved). I have some idea of decor for either gender, so it will just be a matter of putting it all together then.

Here''s a great website with lots of nursery ideas- check it out: http://babyroombio.weebly.com/

 

[blondebunny]

this is my favorite gender neutral nursery!
http://www.decorpad.com/photos/2009/05/16/efcef4a6a71e.jpg

When we have a baby I told DH I wanna wait to find out the sex till its born, and DH said no way he would give me an ultrasound while I was sleeping! lol

 

[blondebunny]

or something like this!

http://fiveblondes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/502242643_8ybTM-L.jpg

do u see how stinkin'' cute the elephant hamper is?

 

[PumpkinPie]

those are great photos blondebunny very cute

 

[blondebunny]

Date: 5/26/2010 12:31:59 AM
Author: Maevie
those are great photos blondebunny very cute

thanks! when i first found the first photo a month or so ago, i fell in love, and always thought we''d have a total girl or boy themed room, but ive definitely switched! I love the look of the gender neutral rooms for some reason. I think maybe because they are little more rare ya know! plus the thought of an all pink room makes me want to barf when i think of the pink room with pink carpet my parents gave me when i was in the 7th grade lol

 

[blondebunny]

oh and another favorite of mine!!!

http://img.hgtv.com/HGTV/2009/03/03/rms_French-Toile-Nursery_s4x3_lg.jpg

 

[Mara]

I love how our nursery turned out and it's fairly gender neutral. The walls were already a yellowish sand, the windows have large white shutters on them and we chose a dark honey for the furniture. We also have wood floors. I chose green with a little choco brown as most of the contrast colors with some pale blues here and there. Oh and white frames for walls to keep it consistent with the shutters. I posted pics in the nursery thread in FHH.

White and green would be a great gender neutral and really 'crisp' looking too. Or even white and yellow and then you can always add in colors after the baby is born to match the gender if you want (aka purple or blue).

There's a fair amt out there that is gender neutral, even if we had a girl I prob would have done the same thing because I don't like pink, and green and blue are my two fave colors. I went with more of a spring 'grass' green vs sage because I love it with sandy yellow. I also didn't go with a 'theme'... but just tried to keep the colors consistent. Etsy has GREAT art and you can also have any bedding made to your own specs on Etsy as well if you find a fabric you like etc. It's pretty cool, SO many options!

 

[Laila619]

Thank you everyone! I love your suggestions! Blondebunny, those are super cute photos.

Interesting about the Jewish custom to not bring anything into the house for baby until after he''s born. Anyone know why? Is it a superstitious thing?

 

[Lanie]

I''m totally loving this thread! We are planning on finding out the gender, but I love gender neutral nurseries! I''m not a themy/matchy matchy person, so these photos and ideas are great!

Etsy has some fabo venders who sell fabrics for bumpers, curtains, etc. I haven''t purchased from them, but their stuff is so cute!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFabricFarm

 

[NovemberBride]

Laila,

I believe (I am not Jewish myself, but this is what I have been told by friends) is that the belief is that bringing things for the baby into the home before the baby is born invites dark spirits that may bring harm to the unborn child. I think the custom is more commonly followed in orthodox and conservative circles, but I have some friends who are reform or even non-practicing who followed the custom as well. I have a few friends who skirted the issue by having showers or buying items, but storing everything at their parents or in-laws until the baby is born.

 

[Puppmom]

Blondebunny, what great choices! You have some good taste, lady!

Lanie, I LOVE those fabrics! I definitely lean way more toward patterns than actual themes so those are right up my alley!

 

[Pandora II]

I''m just doing Daisy''s room now....

Procrastinating over paint colour as usual, but I''m pretty sure I''m going for Farrow & Ball''s ''Pale Powder'' on the walls, which is a pale greenish blue almost like a subtle aquamarine. Wood-work will be in F&B''s ''Pointing'' which is an off-white. There are loads of built-in wooden cupboards, bookcasing and wardrobes so a lot of white.

The cot is by Stokke, and the curtains, lightshades etc are from the Hodge Podge range by Mamas & Papas. Other furniture is IKEA''s Leksvik baby range but painted to match the woodwork.

 

[Puppmom]

Date: 5/26/2010 12:44:43 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''m just doing Daisy''s room now....

Procrastinating over paint colour as usual, but I''m pretty sure I''m going for Farrow & Ball''s ''Pale Powder'' on the walls, which is a pale greenish blue almost like a subtle aquamarine. Wood-work will be in F&B''s ''Pointing'' which is an off-white. There are loads of built-in wooden cupboards, bookcasing and wardrobes so a lot of white.

The cot is by Stokke, and the curtains, lightshades etc are from the Hodge Podge range by Mamas & Papas. Other furniture is IKEA''s Leksvik baby range but painted to match the woodwork.

Your procrastination may have paid off...now you get to create a room knowing D''s likes and dislikes. It''ll be nice to decorate her room knowing her personality.

 

[Lanie]

puppmom -- I meant to comment about your bedding as well. I LOVE it. Is that on the pricier side, or am I just out of the loop on baby bedding? So cute though! I think we have similar taste...I love your owl prints. I love funky retro looking birds/owls, colors. Do you have a picture of your nursery so far?

 

[onvacation]

This is one of my favorites.

 

[Callisto]

Date: 5/25/2010 7:31:08 PM
Author: thing2of2
Friends of mine waited to find out and they did a super cute owl-themed nursery and painted the walls a nice bright but sort of olive-y green. I think gender-neutral rooms are usually cuter and more fun than all blue or all pink rooms anyway!

That sounds super adorable.

 

[onvacation]

Oops!

Isn't it adorable?