The First Time Mum's Guide to Decorating a Nursery

As a first-time mum, there are so many exciting things to look forward too. Although decorating the nursery is one of the fun tasks, once you begin you might feel a little overwhelmed about how exactly to decorate a nursery. Where do you start? What theme should you choose? What furniture do you need? Well, if you just read that and thought ‘wait, I need a theme?’ then this one’s for you…

Do you really need a nursery?

Before we get into the ins and outs of decorating a nursery, you should probably consider if you actually need one. Some parents opt to ‘co-sleep’ with their new-born, and if this is your plan too, you might be wondering if you will need a nursery. Firstly, this comes down to space. If you live in a 1 bedroom home, then having a nursery might not be possible for you and that’s ok. But if you do have a spare room, we do recommend setting up a nursery. This is more for your own space and organisation. Even if your bub doesn’t sleep in there at night, they might for daytime naps. Plus having somewhere to store all of the baby things will help you feel more organised.

When should you start decorating the nursery?

Chances are that you will be way too excited to wait to set up your nursery, and it’s never too early to start. But try to have it finished at least 2 weeks before your baby is due to arrive, in case of early labour. Depending on how convenient it is for your lifestyle, setting your nursery up slowly throughout your pregnancy is a great way to spread out the cost.

How to decorate a nursery

The first thing you will need to do is decide on a theme, this is great to do early on because it will help control those impulse buys. By always asking ‘does this go with my theme?’ you will be able to keep yourself in check. Next, you should write a list of the main things you will need to have in the nursery that will take up space. That way you’ll know if you have room for things like this play mat (great for tummy time). You might also want to consider if you have any other important criteria, such as organic or Australian made products.

How do I choose a nursery theme?

One word – Pinterest! Pinterest will be your new best friend. Start a new board dedicated to nursery decor and start to pin everything that you love. After you have a range of pins on your board, go back through and see if you can spot a consistent theme in there. Delete anything that doesn’t go with your most common theme, and use this as a base.

What furniture do you need for a nursery?

Again, this will largely depend on your budget and space. The basic essential furniture items will be a bassinet, a changing table and a feeding chair. Then you need to consider all of the things that will make the room more functional like storage, a rug, and a nightlight. Then, of course, depending on your budget, there are all of the things that make a nursery extra special like shelves for toys, which you will definitely need if you are as obsessed with Olli Ella Holdie Folk as we are. Storage will be a big one, because you will end up with so many cute little toys and other bits. Checkout these velvet chests for storage.

How do you style a nursery?

Firstly, get all of the big furniture items in the room and organise them in a way that feels right for you. Now that you know what you’re working with, decide where a good place might be for some shelves like these so you have somewhere to put toys and books. Slowly add all of the bit you have collected. Remember to refer back to your Pinterest board for inspiration!

How to decorate a small nursery

Don’t worry if your nursery space isn’t very big, babies don’t need a whole lot of space, and minimalism is in. One tip would be to try and get a bassinet with storage underneath, this will mean squeezing less furniture in the room. Secondly, make sure you have a cute storage solution for all of the little pieces you will end up with, we have a range of storage options to choose from.

All in all, just the fact that you are here and looking for tips on how to set up a nursery means you are well on your way to doing well. Good job Mumma!

Read to look for some nursery inspiration? Start here.