A New Look For Baby Rooms

It’s a boy; I must use blue and white…. It’s a girl; I must use pink and white…. Are you tired of feeling trapped in what society views your baby’s room should look like? Well, here are some thoughts for bringing a new look for our future generations.

Light pink is generally used for little girls. But what about taking it up a notch to a darker brighter pink? Pairing it with a lime green and/or a bright dark yellow can bring a phenomenal pop to a room for your little girl. Is this a little bit too much out of the norm for you? Try mixing a dark chocolate brown with the standard light pink. How about adding light green or blue? Just because it’s a girl doesn’t mean she can’t have blue!

Baby Blue is often used for little boys, but what boy is going to want that light of a color once he gets a little older? Why not start off with a brighter blue or navy? Try pairing it with red for a pop! Did you know that red is often the first color a baby can see? Other color combinations for your little baby boy might be lime green and white, black and yellow, or light green and brown.

Now you may be saying, I really like the idea of doing something different but where am I going to find the bedding? The standard baby chain stores typically have the same themed bedding. Try going to a baby boutique in a trendy urban downtown, have custom bedding made or you could even make it yourself! I guarantee the local fabric store will have plenty of what you need. If you have something more specific in mind, I would recommend spending some time shopping on the internet. I bet you can find it somewhere in the world! As for the furniture, try pieces that are painted white, black of even smoky gray. This will provide a sharp contrast against the wall paint you have chosen.

Several other ideas to bring a change to the old fashion baby room would be to hang a trendy baby quilt on the wall. Have their name stitched on it with some fun patterns. Might I recommend animals or sailboats? Don’t forget to bring in the fun colors with the fabrics! As for other artwork, keep with one theme. Trying to add too many can end up giving you a room that looks like mass chaos. As for the typical baby rocker, try modernizing it with a rocker-recliner. In some instances you may even be able to pick a fun fabric to coordinate with the room. Why not be comfortable while rocking you baby to sleep? You are going to be spending a lot of time in that chair, might as well invest some money in it.

Just take a minute to think about this. If you stay away from the typical baby colors, your child may not ask you to paint their room a different color for years. Well, one can at least hope!

Residential Wallcoverings – Characteristics

Wallcoverings can provide different characteristics and attributes for any area in your home. You need to consider how much and the kind of use the area of the home gets to determine the characteristics you may need. For instance, a kitchen may need scrubbability (this means the wallcovering can be scrubbed with a brush and detergent solution per the instructions on the wrapper), & stain resistance (this wallcovering will have been tested with applications of grease, butter, coffee, etc. then wiped clean with no stain or change in the wallcovering).

An accent wall in the guest room may not need any of the above. You may think you just need a pattern and color to enhance the room, but if it has washability, it will occasionally be able to be sponged with a detergent solution in case of a spill.

Children’s rooms typically will need scrubbability and stain resistance, especially younger children. Though most of the markers and crayons are not as permanent as in previous years, you just never know what may be applied by a budding artist that wasn’t in your original design scheme. In children’s rooms, be careful of abrasion resistant wallcoverings.

Abrasion resistant wallcoverings can withstand a lot of rubbing, scraping or scrubbing, but I have found this also means that if you rub against them, you can loose a layer of skin. Abrasion resistant wallcoverings do work well in foyers and hallways.

Finally, if you are applying wallcoverings in a room that has a great deal of natural sunlight, you may want to find a colorfast wallcovering. These wallcoverings have been treated to resist loss of color due to exposure to light for a period of time. Be aware though: nothing is completely resistant to fading under direct sunlight.

Have you found a paper that you thought would work great in a particular space that ended up not working? Have you found a combination for a kitchen or bath that is different than what is found in sample books?