Should I Paint That? Nursery Edition
New child on the way for your household? If you haven’t already, you’re likely going to be starting the process of decorating your house and building a nursery for your child/children. One of the most challenging parts of this can be the room, rather than the decorations and furnishings within. So the question at hand might be, “Should I paint the nursery?” If you’re painting it, what color should you choose? Do you pick a neutral or traditional color theme? Should you hire a painter to do the job for you?
Planning is an important part of helping you get through decorating easily. You can plan a grand childhood playful room or a simple and elegant design that will continue to work for your kids as they mature through life. The options are entirely up to you and what you think is going to be the most pragmatic for your family life. Going the extra mile and decorating your nursery to the nines will likely mean a redesign a few years later, which might be more time-consuming than you want. However, that might also allow your child to have agency in choosing what they want their room to look like when that time comes. The alternative is having that neutral coloring, which can allow your child to grow with that room and decorate with things other than a repaint, whether that's with furnishings or other decorative elements that might be less work than an entire painting process would entail.
So, what color should you choose? Children aren’t going to be able to process any colors whatsoever for some time, and the earliest color a child can recognize is red, which is bad for sleep schedules. Softer colors are easiest on the eyes for all, but also more perceivable to infants. Do you want a more thematic color? Pale greys and soft whites are always a safe bet. Yellows, oranges, and subtle greens are also great colors that can grow with your kid and be redesigned for years to come. Neutrals and non-gendered paint swathes work great because they can be easily revised.
Unlike wallpaper, paints are a great option for nurseries because it’s easier to adjust over the years and is less likely to become out of touch with time. With paint, however, it is important to think back to years ago, when paints were much more toxic to your health. Now they tend to be better, but it’s important to look for paints with a low VOC rating (Volatile Organic Compounds) with fewer chemicals and more naturally sourced colors and ingredients. Either way, painting the nursery at least a few weeks before your baby is due is best to make sure the paint is dry and cured with no fumes which could be harmful to your child.
That all sounds like a lot of things to consider and you’re likely to be busy with so many other things preparing for your baby, so with that in mind, you might be thinking that you can’t handle it on your own. With a child on the way, focusing on your family should take precedent. You can always hire your local professional painters at PaintPositive to do the job and make sure you get the best looking nursery possible and that the paint will be best for your child's health.
