How Murals Can Stretch a Small Baby Nursery

How Murals Can Stretch a Small Baby Nursery
By Dorothy Ray

How murals with the right colors push back the walls of a small baby nursery

Nursery Decorating Theme is Dr. Seuss Art

A reader of my blog was concerned about having enough wall space left for murals when she got all the furniture into her 10x10 nursery.

After making a simple floor plan, I found there was plenty wall available. Good sized murals can go on two walls. Keep them above chair rail height because that's where they'll be seen. Perhaps there will be a space down to the floor here and there, but most of the lower walls will be covered by furniture. This is going to be a fun baby nursery.

Mural #1 | The Crib Wall

I'd suggest a crib with a curved side that will eventually be the headboard of the full bed. The 4 in 1 crib looks perfect centered on one wall. On the wall over the crib, the mural will perhaps extend across the whole wall. The main subject matter will be over the crib and the rest of the painting will ease off toward the corners.

Mural #2 | On Wall Across From Crib This is where Mom's chair will be and where the hall door opens to cover part of the wall. The mural can be centered or extend the width of the wall.

Mural #3 | Small Motif Over the Dresser It doesn't want to be major artwork. A little bit is all you need in this small area. This would be a good place to hang a framed print of a Dr. Seuss painting, or character you have painted.

Dress Up the Dresser

This project can't be called a mural, because it's just an added attraction. The dresser is a good place to expand on your theme, to add more color. You may not need more color. With two big murals and something over the dresser, this room may have enough going on. Part of how busy the room appears now depends upon the colors you used in the mural.

To paint the dresser

Get one from Goodwill or a yard sale to save money. It will be best if it has a plain front. Paint the chest a solid color that picks up your one of your major colors, a soft one. On the front, paint small themeatic characters on each drawer. Or, paint a scene across the entire front. Ignore the cracks between drawers and paint the pulls to be part of the design. Varnish the finished dresser all over with clear acrylic varnish when it's dry. That will keep the paint from rubbing or scratching off. You be the judge as to when you reach the stopping point with your baby art. Know when enough is enough.

How to Choose Small Room Colors for Baby Art

Oh, the Places You'll Go video has colors that suit any baby, boy or girl. They also do well in a small baby nursery. Plug this link into your address line to watch the video. It's several minutes long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRWeZy-S8Q&feature=player_embedded

The fresh colors you see are unlike early Dr. Seuss stories. Those are illustrated with mid to dark tones with lots of black. Often, white is included and there's a high contrast. These somber colors make the stories exciting to look at in books.

Seuss' colors, as well as his words, are part of the charm of his stories. There's a reason he used them. When he started out, Seuss was stuck with black and white and maybe two other colors for printing purposes. (He was born in 1904.) Oh, the Places You'll Go, is a relatively recent work. The whole printing process had changed, allowing Seuss to use clear light tones.

All this is a long way of saying that when you decorate your baby nursery with large painted murals, it's important to make major colors soft with low contrast. You don't want the mural to jump out at the baby. Consider Cat in the Hat in a nursery. The cat is fine with his black, red and white, but you wouldn't want much of him as baby art unless you're prepared to care for a hyperactive baby.

Here's what you need to remember: the more exciting your baby art is, the less you need of it. That's it.

How to Stretch a Small Baby Nursery Bigger With Paint

You've got your mural theme and colors going for you, so why would you bother to put a bright color on the walls? Paint the walls very light before you start the murals. White is good. Not a stupid white, but one with a hint of color. For this baby nursery, because it's a dark room, try a warm, sunny white to offset the cool east light coming in. Dr. Seuss used a lot of yellow in his art, so pale yellow will work exceedingidely well. (I thought I'd throw in a Dr. Seuss word.) Think white with a touch of buttercup This will keep natural light bouncing off the walls instead of being eaten up by a darker wall color.

That Should Cover All the Bases. I hope I helped answer your query, dear reader. I'd sure love to see what you do in that baby nursery. Do send photos. Talk to you later,

Dorothy and ebaby decor

Dorothy Ray is an interior designer who writes a blog about baby nurseries. eBaby Nursery Decoration.com is published each Tuesday. She offers theme ideas, directions for baby art and other information for young parents who are putting together their first baby nursery. She and ebaby decor welcome questions and comments.

Dorothy Ray is an interior designer who writes a blog about baby nurseries. http://www.ebabynurserydecoration.com/ is published each Tuesday. She offers theme ideas, directions for baby art and other information for young parents who are putting together their first baby nursery. She and ebaby decor welcome questions and comments.

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