Shared Spaces: Sharing with the New Baby

Many children share rooms, and putting a baby and preschooler into one bedroom is a common challenge for many of our customers. So how do you make a nursery that’s sweet enough for baby, but also works for big sister? There are certainly a lot of ways to go about doing this, but I think the key is to edit, edit, edit. Functionally you need a lot of stuff in this room, so the simpler the design elements the better.

Start with the textiles. If you like the idea of a themed bedding set (Princess, Zoo, Solar System) that’s definitely an option. But, choose a themed set for ONLY the crib or the bed, but not both. For example, if big sis wants a Princess & the Pea Quilt, go with that, then choose a simpler textile for the crib that pulls some of the colors from the Princess Quilt but doesn’t have a theme of its own. Conversely, if you want a circus crib set, then choose a more classic pattern for the big kid bed, like plaids or dots.

For the room shown above, we opted to stick with a common color and not incorporate a theme into the bedding. The aqua is serene enough for baby, but still packs enough punch to be a playful choice for big sis. Also, it would work nicely for a boy/girl version of this room as well.

Choose one element in the space that has a lot of color, then you can pull from that for the other pieces in the room. In this case, the rug is the focal point. I recommend a plush wool rug that baby can play on and will hold up to a lot of abuse. The design of this rug will definitely grow with the children. Down the road you can incorporate more bits of navy and purple or even red, so it gives a lot of flexibility.

Also, it’s important to make the space flexible. One afternoon it might be a place for baby to learn to crawl. The next, big sis may transform it into a tea party for her dolls. So, think about options like poufs or a Nod Chair that can be easily dragged around by the kids to transform the space.

And to decorate the space, decals are a really nice option. Again, they’re flexible so you can change them as your kids’ tastes evolve and change. Another option would be a gallery wall where you can incorporate a mix of photographs, art and creations made by your children. This can be flexible and change over time as well. Also, it’ll give both kids a place to express themselves in the room.

Lastly, any of the above could also work for a nursery/guest room. We see the need for these spaces quite frequently. Using the above ideas and healthy dose of editing, you can make a space that works equally well for the daily routine of a nursery and holiday visits from Grandma.

By Danielle Kurtz

Danielle is the Creative Director at Nod and an over-protective mother of two. She’s also completely obsessed with Pinterest, Twitter and her Kindle, but not necessarily in that order. Danielle loves to craft, sew and crochet, but all her supplies have a layer of dust on them about 5-years-thick, wonder if it's just a coincidence that her oldest kiddo is 5 years old?