Many expecting parents decide to find out the sex of their baby before it’s born, however there are still the few that enjoy the surprise. This then often influences decisions around how to decorate the nursery, whether to go for the typical blues and pinks, or whether to try and keep the room as neutral as possible, using shades of greens and yellows. However, it’s not just the colour of the walls which needs to be considered, but also what the most suitable flooring option is too!

Solid And Engineered Wood Flooring

Although not such a clear choice for a child’s bedroom, both wood options unquestionably come with their own benefits. Unlike carpet, real wood flooring doesn’t lose its colour over time. It's also considerably more durable, looking newer for longer whereas carpet can tend to appear worn and trodden in, particularly the more wallet-friendly options.

In terms of damage, one of the main causes of damage to flooring in children’s bedrooms is when it gets discoloured or stained due to spillages. Although there are a number of cleaning products out there to help deal with spillages and stains on carpets, it’s arguably a little more difficult to get them out of wood flooring. Having said that, if you have chosen to lay wood flooring in the nursery, as long as you act quickly in the event of a spillage, you should find that no lasting damage has been done. If over time you find that stains do appear on your floor, with a solid or an engineered wood product, you’re able to sand it down and the floor will look as good as new. With a carpet on the other hand, you may find you need to replace the entire room, making it more costly in the long run.

Wood flooring also never goes out of fashion and can even add value to your property, so if you want to use the nursery for other purposes or even look to sell the house in the future, there should be no issues with this at all!

Carpet

A popular choice for bedrooms, due to its homely and soft feel. This is especially good for young children, as it's gentle against their skin and warm when playing on the floor. It also looks pleasing, so it is easy to see why carpet is an obvious choice for a new baby’s room.

While carpet is a sensible option, it is worth considering all the factors that help you narrow down your preferences when choosing for a new baby. Firstly, if you know the sex, you may have already decided on a theme. But if you don’t know the gender then a neutral colour such as cream, light blue or white may be preferred.

Secondly, babies cannot object to whatever colour flooring you decide to lay down, but, if this is to be their room as they grow older, they may decide that they want something different. If you decide on a bright pink carpet and the child turns out to be a pink hater, you have a problem. Of course if you have kids, you’ll know their taste is always changing. One week they'll like one thing and the next week they’ll have moved on, not to mention them growing up so fast! That is why we would always recommend a softer neutral colour so it’s hard for them to feel so strongly about it. Still, if spillages occur, then it is more obvious with a lighter floor. It all depends on what’s more important to you.

Luxury Vinyl Tiles

If you’re wanting to be completely practical, then Luxury Vinyl Tiles could be the perfect solution. Unlike wood flooring and carpet, it’s completely waterproof and stain-resistant, so you won’t have to worry if anything gets on it.

On the other hand though, it perhaps doesn’t look or feel as homely as carpet or wood flooring.

LVT isn’t as warm or as inviting as the two previous options, but it does come in a range of styles, colours, patterns and thicknesses meaning you can find the perfect solution for your nursery, should you want a little more practical option.

Ultimately, only you can decide whether you’re looking for the style of wood flooring, the comfort of carpet or practicality of LVT.

Now, once you’ve decided on the very best flooring for your new little darling’s room, it might make choosing a décor theme a little easier.  You’ll both be spending a lot of time in the room, especially in the early days, so make sure you love it.

Furniture

If you do go down the route of neutral walls and flooring, then perhaps you can afford to be a bit more adventurous on cot colours! Pastels are a charming soothing look, baby blues and pinks… clue is in the name! They will also keep your room bright; most people don’t want dark harsh colours in their baby’s room. Even the timeless look of a traditional wood cot, perhaps with shapes cut into it would suit most décors.

We know that cots aren’t the only furniture in a nursery; you’ll also likely consider traditional rocking chairs, bookshelves, and chests of drawers. Whatever furniture you choose for the room, there are plenty of places to buy it!

Walls

Now we need to face it, there is a danger your little tot will draw on the walls at some point, so something that’s easy to cover or replace would be rational. There’s a lot of stickers popped onto walls at the moment, including fun dinosaurs, birds, aeroplanes, teddies and these stickers are also handy as a temporary solution to hiding marks on the wall!

Soft Furnishings

From a practical point of view, a black-out blind would be a great idea to help your little one sleep through the night, by making the room as dark as possible. You can double up by including curtains too, which in addition to making the room as cosy as possible, can also make a real statement, with a variety of designs and patterns to choose from. Some parents even chose to make their children’s curtains themselves, which really allows you to personalise.

Other soft furnishings including throws, cushions and blankets will often match with other elements of the room, such as the colour of the furniture, wood work or curtains, in order to continue a theme throughout.

Having a baby on the way is an extremely exciting and busy time, but there’s no reason why you can’t take delight in decorating their room. Don’t stress about it - use it as a relaxing project and don’t worry if it isn’t complete by the time they come - we can promise they won’t mind!

Have Your Say

How have you decorated your baby's room? Let us know in the comments below!

Remember to follow us on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram for the latest news and discussions. We’re always finding new ways to improve our stock, so keep up to date!