Decor Portfolio

‘I need my own space’ is a familiar cry of the late twentieth century. But very rarely do we relate this lament to our children’s lives. We are so often tempted to relegate them to the smallest rooms (where there is, in theory, less room to make a mess) and somehow we don’t imagine that their little lives could possible be so full of confusion and clutter as to require a well-thought-out, organized, private space all to themselves.

We forget about the pressures brought on by bickering brothers and sisters, the claustrophobic life of the schoolroom and the confrontations of a competitive playground, not to mention the constant attention of parents who ‘don’t understand’. Is children are to survive and to develop into sane adulthood, they need all the help we can give them and if, by allocating them their own special quiet space, we can help this along, then so much the better.

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Anticipating the arrival of a new baby can be such an exciting time and the temptation to concentrate on the pretty details of the nursery decoration hard to resist. However, if your baby is to be healthy, comfortable and safe, it is essential that adequate thought be given to some practical elements before anything else.



In addition it should be remembered that the small immobile bundle of joy will, in a matter of months, double in size and will attain a high degree of mobility, not to mention curiosity. Although few electrical sockets will be required in the nursery at this stage, they should be planned for with an eye to the future and those not currently required can be blanked off until needed.



Temperature is an important factor for the comfort of your baby. Controllable central-heating radiators are probably the most successful way of safely heating a child’s room, but these should be out of reach if possible, either hidden behind an item of furniture or protected by a guard. It is often forgotten that a young baby is just as vulnerable to overheating as to the cold. For this reason it is important to provide adequate ventilation (at a safe height) and to ensure that a baby-s cot is positioned well away from any direct source of heat.



A washbasin with running water in a nursery is often considered a luxury, but when it is seen in the context of the lifetime of the room, the benefits become more evident. The nursery may soon become the child’s playroom, then a teenager’s bedroom. Finally it may even become a guest room. In each of these guises the inclusion of a washbasin could be considered a bonus. If the basin is housed within a vanity unit, shelves beneath can be used at this first stage for the storage of the baby’s necessities and later perhaps for storing toys.



Few items of furniture are needed in the nursery of a very young baby. A cot, chest of drawers (the top of which, when covered with padding, could be used for changing the baby) and an easy chair with low arms for the nursing mother are all that are required. Shelves for displaying pictures, toys and books help to decorate the room. A trolley to house the baby’s nappies, cream, powder, a bucket and so on is a useful addition and can be put to other use when no longer required in the nursery. Later on, as the baby develops, a small wardrobe, high chair and playpen might be purchased.



The decoration of the nursery need not involve great expense. Plain painted walls that allow for surface decorations to be added and changed as the child’s matures are a good idea. Pictures, stencils, mobiles, paper borders and pasted cutouts are all decorations that will inspire the imagination of your child. Colors should be right and cheerful, and in these enlightened times there is no need to be restrained by the ‘blue for a boy, pink for a girl’ dictum.



When it comes to floors, hygiene, ease of maintenance and the child’s comfort and safety can all be served by laying such materials as cushioned vinyl, cork or hark wood (so long as it is splinter less). The addition of easily washed play mats will soften the hard floor effect.



It is preferable for curtains not to drop to the floor as the child’s to support himself/herself may well use these. The addition of a blackout blind or curtain lining may help you child to sleep in the easily evening and will help prevent him/her awakening with the dawn.