More so than ever millennial parents are choosing not to find out the gender of their baby-to-be.
This means when it comes time to preparing the nursery, they are choosing neutral colours, earthy tones and products so it can house a boy or girl comfortably; think earthy swaddles, crib sheets, bassinet sheets, woven fabrics, bamboo and cotton mixture and rattan furniture. Whether you are waiting to find out the gender of your baby after birth, or have siblings sharing a room, a gender-neutral nursery or bedroom can be fun, playful, and colourful - and with the right choices, it will easily transition through the years.
Creating a space that is unique to you and your child is so important. The nursery, especially for your first child is such a special experience. It is a place where you will spend a lot of time!! And that you will remember forever. Do not feel like you need to get it all done at once. We can promise you that baby will not notice, so choose things that you really love for the space and do not worry about taking your time. BREAN's choice to keep things 'earthy' highlights a trend in nurseries across Scandinavia and Australia - who are similarly forgoing the iconic pink and blue themes for mustard, clay, vanilla and steel grey tints.
We recommend that you play with this, do not be afraid to mix vintage with new. Mix Rattan pieces with wood. It does not mean having to find antiques or something retro, it just means that you are picking pieces that in the end create a look and story that is all yours. A vintage print hanging over a modern crib creates a look that is beautiful and a bit unexpected. Mixing is also what makes a room look thoughtful and curated and not precious or overly designed. It also means that if you do not know if it is a boy or girl, you can be flexible with the décor. The BREAN design is all about playfully mixing colours to give you this thoughtful and curated feeling along with the textures, while being very eco conscious and using got certified organic cottons.
One color that you cannot go wrong with when you are decorating a gender-neutral nursery is clay. BREAN calls this Sedona as it reminds us to the Sedona sunsets. It is so transitional and works well with any style bringing warms into any earthy tone designs. Once you used Sedona as your starting colour you can continue with playfully blending the others. Mustard blend for Sunflower, earthy greens as Enchanted Forest, and the so trendy Sweet Dreams bringing all or colours into a thoughtfully designed rainbow, all of them blending so well with natural woods, baskets, and rattan furniture.
Walking into the nursery and looking at the colour selections you will see the hues of the ocean, seaweed, driftwood, sand, sunsets, and foliage all the above representing this incredible landscape of Brean itself. And who would not like a versatility piece such as our bassinet sheets that you can also use as a change pad cover.
When selecting pieces for the nursery we also enjoy some creative playfulness, such as the ingeniously used a Kmart dish rack as a bookshelf, providing the same wooden aesthetic that you see in Scandinavian or down under nurseries from Australia.
These pieces will easily house a Vanilla nursing chair, perhaps with a quote on the wall and multiple storage compartments for the child's nappies and bathing utensils. Wood plays a big part in neutralizing the colour palette of the room - with many parents opting for a deep brown to match leather lounges or a lighter shade of oak if the room is yellow.
Designing a gender-neutral nursery is also an ingenious idea to go with a gender-neutral nursery room set up if the couple is expecting twins - one of each gender - so as not to prioritize a 'feminine' colour over a 'masculine' one. A timeless way to use this very first nursery perhaps for your second and third baby, and so on, with ease, rather than having to swap the colour scheme every time you give birth.
Decorating your first nursery will be a special time you will remember for the rest of your lives. Do not rush this process, cherish it and take your time. You will receive so many gifts once the baby is born that you do not need to fill every nook of the nursery before. I remember the countless hours I spent staring at the empty crib all full of love and anticipation of seeing my newborn soon. This is the feeling you will transfer into this special room. I remember how much I loved finding special little meaningful pieces. I wrote my favourite childhood poem on the wall creating a personalized mural. You may want to frame prints from books, art cards. And do not forget to incorporate toys and books from your own childhood into the rooms. The nursery is an extension of your house and your style, and you’ll be thankful in the long run you went with earthy neutral designs.
Finally, remember that your child is going to spend many nights and days of play and rest in their room. It is hard to imagine now but this is a place where one day they will hang out with their friends, play with their toys, and spend countless hours of dreaming and creating. Make it a place where they can play without worry, will inspire their imagination and creativity and is a space that will be treasured in their memories forever.
