CUSTOM BABY NURSERY MURALS

You are pregnant. What an exciting news! No matter whether it was planned or a surprised, whether it took you long or no time, if you are reading this is because you are ubber happy and looking forward to figuring out what your nursery room will look like. Planning your first nursery can be a somewhat confusing process with a steep learning curve. I remember feeling utterly overwhelmed over all the choices and options when attempting to assemble my gift registry. However, no matter how confusing, it should be a fun process. My goal with this new series of articles for Little One’s Nook is to help you get through that process with as much ease and fun as possible.


First things first: Assess your space and needs

I find that the hardest thing for most people to visualize when planning a nursery is the space they have to work with and wrapping their brains around their true needs. If you have been dreaming about this pregnancy, chances are you have a pretty clear sense of what you want that nursery to look like. My mission through Little One’s Nook is to help you realize that vision in a way that fits your reality. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind before you even start looking for cribs or thinking about themes:

1. How much space do you count with for your nursery? Is it a large or small room? If you are in NYC, it may very well be a corner in your living room. No matter the size, that is the given to start with.

As a rule of thumb, you should have three feet of space in front of your crib for it to appropriately fit the space. If you do not, then you should either choose a smaller crib or choose a larger room in the house to be the nursery. (I will cover the various types of cribs in the market in a future posting.) If you will be the mommy of multiples, this is all the more important since, chances are, there will be more than just yourself and the babies most of the time in the nursery to care for them. The more people expected, the more space needed.

If your living room or den will play the nursery role even for a short period, consider whether you want your nursery corner to blend with your general décor or stand out. This decision will help you with the subsequent choices you will be making from crib size to finish and bedding.

2. Room Orientation: does it face North, South, East or West?

This may seem silly, but a room facing South will receive great lighting during the winter months that you may want your baby to be exposed to. However, the same amount of sunlight over the summer months may overheat the nursery if your windows are not properly shaded. A North facing room will have great even lighting all year round. An East facing room will wake up your baby with early sunshine, while a West facing room will warm up the room right before it is time to go to bed (again‚ good for the winter months, but not so great over the summer if proper shade is not available).

3. Appropriate Temperature and Ventilation

Babies are most comfortable at 68 degrees F. Fresh air (i.e. window) accessible to the room is of prime importance. I live in NYC, where most people have their apartment heating controlled by the building, and a window in the room is of the only tool to balance out the temperature. (I know… sorry environment… it is not exactly an energy efficient practice, but that is what many of us are left with in order to cope during the winter months.) Fresh air is also supremely important to keep good air quality in the room. Last, but not least, we all need windows to feel connected to the environment surrounding us, and babies are no exception‚ even when we may think they are too little to notice.

Consider these few points when deciding where your little one’s world will be and you are off to a great start. This is actually the hard work to be done. From here on, is all fun and glory… well, until baby arrives, that is. Then it will certainly be glory with lots of work to get through until you figure out how to have fun again in your new mommy role. Nonetheless, I promise you… you’re in for the ride of your life. And it will be a fun one.

Coming soon: A guide to the world of cribs…