Posted
March 10, 2010 by
deb under
Reader Questions 
Manoblue Design
Kristi recently emailed in curious about how she can create a gender neutral nursery. In her own words, she says:
I am embarking on a nursery design project in my home and I would like some ideas if you have any. My husband and I will be refinishing the wood floor and then I can do whatever I would like with it. I am struggling because I would like to have a basic design that would work for both genders but could be customized with each child. We plan on staying in our home for several years so I was hoping that the basics could be gender neutral and then I could switch out bedding, window treatments and wall hangings depending on the gender of the child that is currently in that room. I like the combination of brown/pink and brown/blue. Do you have any ideas that might help me out?
And here is my two cents. As you know, I have a 2 year old. When we found out we were having him, I had the same concerns. I didn’t want to worry about redecorating every couple years. We decided to keep the walls a neutral tan color and decided to accent the room with blues and greens to give it a more “boy” feel.
I think sticking with an overall brown tone to the room, you should be gender neutral enough and be able to make the room feel more girl or boy once the time comes. Other colors such as greens– like seaform and limes are also gender neutral. I think orange is also a gender neutral {and modern too!}; however with the wood floors you mentioned, depending on the stain, it might be too much orange.
Nurseryworks
Whoscutebabies
weeDecor
Design Dazzle
I think the important thing is to stick to your gut and what you like. Paint is one of the least expensive changes to make in a home. Even though we kept our son’s room neutral at the beginning, when his personality started to show, I started getting really excited about decorating his room. We have now paint the walls a dark blue, and are working on creating a space that we feel like reflects him and allows his imagination to grow. So in a nut shell: have fun, and love the space your in!
How about you, Fresh Nest readers? Do you have any pointers that will help Kristi?
Tags: decor, neutral, nursery
Posted
February 16, 2010 by
erin under
Reader Questions We had a reader, Jeanne, write in and wanted to know some good online sources for wallpaper remnants. Here are some of our favorites:
Try DesignYourWall.com Their Modern Section has some great colors from many different designers and companies like Karim Rashid and Graham and Brown.
Karim Rashid Embossed Geometric
Striped Swirls Wallpaper
Need just a little bit for a small project and don’t want to buy a whole roll? Try searching on Ebay or Craigslist for smaller amounts of wallpaper. Many manufacturers will also send you sample amounts to test out so if you need a very small amount, order a sample and use that. (Use this method sparingly!) Try checking with your local paint/home improvement stores to see if they have any samples or discontinued samples you could take off of their hands!
Tags: wallpaper
Posted
April 21, 2009 by
deb under
Reader Questions We have started getting questions from readers which we love and periodically we will be sharing these here on the site. Leanna had a great question that we wanted to share:
I am planning on redesigning my living room in the next few months from the ground up. Including new hardwood floor, all new furniture, paint, and fabrics. I want to know if there is some place you would recommend for buying fabric. I plan to use at least 4 different designs for pillows, window treatments, cushions, etc. Where can I look online or in store for a large selection of modern fabrics that I can coordinate? Thanks!!
Leanna this is a great question and you know how much we love redesigning around here. I have to say that I’m not an avid sewer, but I do love fabric and planning a color palette so I have a couple places I think will help you out.
- Amy Butler- This is the first fabric designer that I thought of as she has great designs printed on quality fabric. You can see all of her current selection online and visit her list of retailers here- she has quite a few that are online.
- Hancock’s of Padacuh
- Hancock Fabrics
- Fabric Guru
- Etsy- This is a great resource for small amounts of fabric. *Sometimes you can find a seller that has larger amounts*, but I usually use these fabrics for accent pieces. These would be a great resource for your pillows, or accent pieces.
As for coordinating the fabrics, I recommend starting with your color palette, along with your foundational piece (i.e. sofa or hardwood floor, in this instance). As you start to look at fabrics online, save the images of prints, patterns & solids that work with the palette & foundational piece you have chosen. Make sure you keep track of where you found the fabric as you go so you don’t have a bunch of swatches saved and can’t remember where you found them. Once you have quite a few swatches picked out (7-10), open a few at a time in a picture viewer and see how they coordinate with each other and your foundational piece. Eliminate ones that don’t work until you have it narrowed down to 4 that you are happy with.
Above is an example of how to coordinate your fabrics. I started with my color palette of green, blue, grey and yellow, along with the charcoal sofa and this is what I found:
Here’s where I found the goods:
- Amy Butler- Silver Daisy Chain
- Fabric Guru
- Hancock’s of Padacuh- P Kaufman fabric
- Amy Butler- Solids
I used this sofa as a foundation inspiration piece to help me pull everything together. I hope this helps & happy redesigning Leanna. Let us know how it turns out!
Have a question that you’d like to ask? Click here and ask away!
Tags: color palette, coordinating, fabric, redesign
