Decorating tips for a gender neutral nursery

Shared Bedroom Style

Decorating a shared bedroom for your kids can definitely be a challenge. Especially when the siblings have a few years age gap or are the opposite sex or they just have very different tastes. Another problem is older child may tend to take the lead when picking a theme or colour choice. So to avoid any arguments and to mediate the best solution, we have a few style tips for decorating a shared bedroom. This way you can decorate a room your children can agree on and won't grow out of too quickly.

jungle themed nursery

You can decorate a nursery for baby without resorting to only green and yellow. Think in terms of beautiful neutrals and muted colours. Creams, browns, khakis and tan are all very soft and sophisticated when mixed and work well for boys and girls.

THEMES

Tons of great themes work well for both boys and girls and all can be done in muted tones that don't scream "boy's room" or "girl's room":

Jungle

To achieve this look in a gender-neutral way, use muted colours inspired by the jungle [browns, greens, khakis, creams, yellows] with some punches of bright colour as accents. Try these understated and sophisticated wall decals that will help you complete your jungle theme without going totally wild.

Moon and stars

When considering a nursery theme for your boy or girl room, look to the heavens--literally! A sky-inspired theme is a perfect way to decorate a both-sex bedroom. We can't get enough of this sophisticated yet soft moons-and-stars theme nursery from Pottery Barn Kids.

Seascape

An oceanscape is a great gender-neutral theme because the options for pattern, style and colour [pastels vs. bolder or brighter tones, for example, are truly endless. Of course, blue is a central colour here, but an ocean-themed room doesn't necessarily mean boy's room. Incorporate fun colours such as pink, orange and yellow in the fish, coral and other sea life to give this theme a softer look.

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PATTERNS

Choose a pattern, then use it in one colour for your son and another for your daughter. For example, instead of a theme, go with dots, stripes or a combination of both that can be designed in either a fun/funky or more subdued pattern. Think small similarly sized dots for a more sophisticated room, while dots of varying larger sizes and colours can add some fun to a room.

FURNITURE

Nowadays, most simple nursery and childhood furniture can work with either a boy's or a girl's room. Select a simple style devoid of ornate details in a simple wood finish that can complement any décor and multiple décors as the kids get older.

EXPRESSION

Older kids form definite opinions on how they want their rooms to look. Give them a little free reign to decorate [we said a little!]. Allow each child his or her own space within the shared room to decorate how they wish and give them little freedoms of expression such as choosing fun pulls for dresser drawers or picking their own pillows. But keep the main overall theme, along with bedding and furniture, coordinated to keep the room tied together.