A nursery with rhyme and reason

From the Resene colour inspiration – latest looks gallery

A warm and whimsical pattern on your nursery wall will be soothing to more than just bubba.

As an expectant parent you’ll most likely have put a lot of thought and effort into creating a beautiful nursery for your new arrival. But considering that babies rarely have strong opinions on interiors and you’ll be spending a lot of, mostly sleep-deprived, time in the space as well, it’s important that the space is comforting for you too. This scalloped dot decoration is a whimsical, gender neutral way to decorate a restful and soothing nursery.

We’ve used Resene Chelsea Gem to create rows of scalloped dots across the walls of this soul-filled baby room. Varying the size and having an imperfect placement of the dots gives the pattern an organic feel and creates playful movement within the decoration. Using a Resene testpot brush, paint in a scalloped pattern of your choice – there’s no right or wrong way to arrange the scalloped shapes, have fun and let your imagination run wild. However, if you’d prefer the shapes to be more uniform – and save a little bit of time in the process – you can also try making a stencil for your pattern, repeating it in regular spacings across the wall.

Although we’ve gone for a high-impact design, having a refined palette of clean whites as the base colours on the wall and floor means the room still has a versatile neutral feel. We used the light and classic Resene Double Alabaster on the walls and Resene Merino on the floors as a base palette to give the colour scheme longevity.

Layering in other soft tones such as the star lamp in Resene Half Pale Rose and stars in Resene Soulful adds further restful tones to the scheme and helps make the overall look feel gentle and cosy.

Well-matched tactile bedlinen continues the soft desert-inspired colour palette. Incorporating tonal artwork in contrasting colours builds on the layers of dusty blues accents elsewhere in the room, such as the house box shelf in Resene Time After Time.

Smart storage solutions help keep small possessions tidy and but still in sight and can easily be repainted in your child’s favourite colour as their personality develops. The lipped shelf in Resene Green Meets Blue to display artwork could also be used in a few years to display favourite books. For slightly older children a canopy in Resene Shuttle Grey or Resene Cinderella is a great way to add some magic into the room.

Making quick swaps of accent colours on soft furnishings and accessories is an inexpensive way to update the look and extend the life of the room. We’ve painted the second house box shelf in Resene Vintage but other colours that could be added or swapped out include hues like Resene Scoria and Resene Pale Slate.

The small details can make all the difference to the overall feel of a room. To tie the colours of room together we created a mobile of wooden Monstera leaves and stars painted in Resene Mother Nature, Resene Peace, Resene Yuma and Resene Soulful. Using high-quality painter’s masking tape, we painted the triangle design onto the wooden toy box in Resene West Side, Resene Ballerina, Resene Honey Flower, Resene Aqua, Resene Bright Red, Resene All Black and Resene Alabaster to coordinate with the theme of the room.

Bring in a natural woven rug to soften the floor and make it a comfy place for playing and tummy time, after all a nursery is for more than just sleeping in.

Project by Annick Larkin. Photography by Bryce Carleton. 2021