4 Simple Yet Stylish Ways to Style a Gender Neutral Nursery from Young America

When I walked into the Stanley Furniture showroom to check out their new Charleston Regency Collection in High Point, NC last April, the last thing I expected was to be “wowed” by baby nursery decor.  That is exactly what happened to me when I came across these 4 gender neutral nurseries from Young America that I am bringing you today. My youngest is 8, so the furthest thing on my mind was baby nursery decor, but that didn’t stop me from noticing how smart, practical, and stylish these nurseries from Young America are.

There are some who must know the sex of the baby before he/she is born and design the baby’s nursery accordingly – pink if it is a girl, and blue if it is a boy.  However, lately I have seen a shift towards gender neutral nurseries, where the room decor is such that it can easily accommodate either a boy or girl.  With the state of today’s economy, young families have practicality in mind when designing a nursery for their unborn child.  Why design a room around the first couple years of the baby’s life if you can get more mileage by purchasing the right furniture to begin with?

Young America is  Stanley Furniture Company’s youth furniture line, whose motto is “Built to Grow”. Their furniture is designed to grow with your child and last from the crib to college. Founded in 1924, the Stanley Furniture Company is committed to superior craftsmanship, quality, and affordability. Young America is made with pride in Robbinsville, NC. The company understands what is needed in a room when raising a baby but they also understand that those needs change as a child grows.   Young America furniture is designed so that it can adapt to accommodate a child’s changing needs. The quality and functionality is FAR superior to a certain children’s furniture line I see in mail order catalogs and stores throughout the country.

Of the four rooms, this is my favorite.  Do you remember the grey and white horizontal stripe trend that I featured on the blog a while back?  Well this takes that trend one step further and offers up a subtle play on grey with just the right amount of color.  Perfect for a gender neutral nursery.

A flock of origami cranes in a delicious palette of sherbet tones give this room splash of color on the walls and above the crib.  I especially love the baby “mobile” made of a painted tree branch and paper cranes hanging above the crib.  Very clever.

This room is a little bit more serious.  I love the theme of typography and typefaces.  If doing this for my own room, I would use removable wallpaper so that the feel and look of the room can be changed in a flash, should one desire a change in wallpaper.  Check out the selection of removable wallpaper at Customized Walls  – by fellow designer Laurie Laizure.  If you don’t find what you’re looking for on her site, no problem -you can design your own by uploading your own file.  Nowadays anything is possible!

The experts say that a newborns can only see blurry shapes and are very nearsighted.  Their vision develops as they grow, which is why brightly colored wall hangings or objects are important for them to be able to distinguish color and form.  This is the perfect room to stimulate a developing baby’s vision, as the colors are bright, crisp, and not a blurry line in sight.  Change out the baby decor and this could easily be a room for a growing teen!  Again, this is the perfect gender neutral nursery, as I can envision either girl or boy in this space.

I am now in the process of redecorating my 8 year old’s bedroom for the third and final time until he leaves for college (more about that on the blog at a later date).  Had I known about Young America back when he was born, I would have probably done things differently, but you live and learn.  My advice to those putting together a baby’s nursery is to think more long term and don’t rush into buying the “baby” furniture.  Look for multi purpose furniture that can adapt and grow with your child.  If you are having your first child, a gender neutral nursery may be the way to go, as the next child may not be the same gender, and hot pink might not fly in a little boy’s room. Just a thought…