Planning a nursery can be a time consuming and pocketbook draining excursion, especially when you have multiple children of different sexes. There is a way to make the process easier, and more cost effective, while still creating fashionable, comfortable, unique nurseries for your babies!

The theory rests upon the "base room". In this case, the base room is an antique white and a deep, rich nautical red. The walls and ceiling are all painted with the neutral white and the backsplash of built-in bookcases and two shelves are painted in the red. Any architectural detailing, such as molding or a window seat can be painted with your second color. If you do not have architectural detailing, one wall can be painted red, and free hanging shelving can be added to bring color to the other walls. After the paint is finished, the furniture is purchased in a light honey wood grain to match the stained wood floors. Baskets are purchased both in the honey color as well as a darker walnut to add contrast. A simple antique white rug is used in the middle of the room. The fabric is red corduroy matched to the paint color. It will serve as an ottoman cover, a pillow to place on the rocker and as a throw for the crib. It will probably take a few weeks to complete the base room, but this is the longest and hardest step in creating three (or more!) different nurseries, so congratulations - You’re almost finished!

After the base room is complete, the detailing for each room can begin. The first room is for a baby boy, with a blue, antique white and red plaid from Ralph Lauren and a star theme. The amount of fabric you buy is very minimal because you already have your base corduroy fabric. In many cases a pillowcase or two will do and these are sometimes much cheaper to buy than the original fabric! The fabric is used to place decorative covered buttons on the pillow and ottoman, as a mat in frames and as trim on window treatments. Wooden stars from a craft store and wooden shaker pegs mounted on wooden stars are painted red. These are used throughout the room in several capacities. Three shaker pegs hang under a shelf and display baby hats in deep khaki (to reflect the lighter wood color) and denim (to pick up on the blue in the plaid). Another peg is used to hold a frame from a blue satin ribbon. The frames are painted either white or red, matted with the room’s select fabric and then a red star is centered in the middle of the print and voila! You have instant art! Stars are also hung from the ceiling above the baby’s crib in varying heights to add height to the room, and negate the need for a pre-fabricated mobile. The baby’s clothing and blankets is placed in open baskets with all white and blue items placed on top to emphasize the accent color. Baskets full of toys are also filled with light blue stuffed animals to reinforce the color scheme. Finishing touches can include antique wooden toolboxes painted red and filled with wooden blocks, wooden tractors and trucks painted red and displayed on shelves against the white background and metal stars salvaged from old farmhouses and painted to display on the bookcases.

The second room is for a baby girl and is perhaps the most fun to create! This room still relies on all of the elements present in the base room, but the accents will all change to brilliant pink and pale pink. The fabric is a minimal paisley in antique white, deep red, brilliant pink and pale pink. This type of fabric is so busy that there is no need for an additional theme element, and one must be careful in this room to make sure it does not look like a Valentine’s Day card, so hearts are a definite faux pas! The paisley fabric will replace the covered buttons on the ottoman and pillow, matting in the frames and the window treatments. The windows will have a simple valence with one large center pleat. The frames are matted with the new fabric and the stars are replaced by black and white graphic photographs of tiny "baby parts", such as a newborn baby’s foot or a profile of the baby’s face. The baskets from the base room are lined in the new fabric, tied with bows to add a feminine touch and placed on shelving and bookcases. Baby girl clothing and blankets are placed in open baskets with all white and pink items placed on top to emphasize the accent color. Baskets are also filled with pink dolls and stuffed toys to reinforce the color scheme. The stars hanging from the ceiling are removed and replaced with a simple canopy made out of three window shears hanging from hooks screwed into the ceiling. The shaker pegs are also removed and replaced with a row of pegs at a child’s height for hanging white and pink dress-up clothing. Finishing touches include a small table and chairs set up for tea parties, a small paisley painted design around the central ceiling light fixture and a meaningful quote painted on the wall in pale pink above the crib.

The third room is a modern geometric room for the parents that want to create a gender neutral room. This room starts with the base colors of antique white and deep red, and add an accent color of yellow with a circle theme. The fabric is a yellow and red striped ticking fabric and is used on the pillow and ottoman as various sized circles overlapping and sewn onto the base corduroy. The walls are painted with several large overlapping circles in yellow and red. These can be made to look almost like bubbles with a combination of a little clear craft glitter gel mixed in with polyurethane. After mixing the gel with the polyurethane, paint one or two small curved lines in each painted circle. These will be clear, but will reflect in certain light to give the bubble effect. The ticking fabric will be used in the same frames and with the same graphic black and white prints. The fabric will also replace the lining in the baskets throughout the room and yellow clothing, blankets and toys will be placed at the top of the baskets to reinforce the color scheme. Finishing touches include replacing the antique white rug with four circle rugs either in red, yellow or a combination of both and red and yellow raingear, such as boots, coats and hats, hung from the shaker pegs.

These rooms can be created in 1-2 days after the base has been completed and take very little money to update from one sex or style to another. The base room can be any color or design that appeals to you. For example, a base room could be painted in mint green and off white. The room could add a blue to create a nautical theme for a boy, a light pink toile for a girl, or a chocolate brown stripe pattern to create a modern neutral room. The possibilities are endless once a solid base room is set up and this procedure allows busy parents to make a unique and fun room without spending a fortune on new furniture and nursery décor.

Jason Ladock

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