Baby Nursery Furniture & Nursery Decor Ideas

Baby Nursery Furniture & Nursery Decor Ideas

There seems to be an inclination toward the grotesque in furnishing children's rooms. Glaring borders of impossible birds and beasts and men, decorations that are repeated on the furniture in the same scale are, to my mind, most unfortunate. Living with them is like looking at an amusing, grotesque drop-curtain hour after hour with never the relief of having it drawn up to display the action and life beyond. Even a child must suffer ennui looking up from his bed at the same blue and yellow little girl pouring exactly five drops from her watering pot upon the never-to-be-seen-on-land-or-sea flowers. A border and furniture decoration that is purely decorative and not pictorial is possible, something that serves as a background but not as a picture. In earlier life a child will acquire much more power of concentration if he is not surrounded by a bewildering array of distracting pictures on wall and furniture. Charming silhouette borders come with graceful fairy processions, and the effect is decorative and not pictorial. Pretty papers also come with delicate bluebirds on green branches, which serve as an excellent background when the rest of the furniture is kept simple. This design may be repeated on the drawer fronts and table corners with good results.

Special children's furniture is now made with sharp corners and edges eliminated. I am sure that for this innovation many children are unwittingly grateful.

Painted wooden furniture is most appropriate for a child's room. Low seated chairs and get-at-able drawers, that a child may reach without assistance, and several lightly built boxes of wicker or thin wood constitute the necessary accessories. A most useful piece of furniture is a case similar to an ordinary open bookcase, on the shelves of which may be stored the toys and picture books. With this at his command, the master of the house hasn't to ransack through a big toy box or bureau: he can see his things plainly and can get them.

The room should also have a low, steady table for meals. It can be covered with a blue and white checked oil cloth with a painted border and the dishes can be blue and white check or with a bluebird design.

A hardwood floor is best, with several rugs, preferably washable. A desk, adjustable to the proper height, will give the child an admirable place to scribble and paste at

Another piece of furniture, one designed to save hunting for shirts and stockings in the morning, is what, in the trade, is elegantly termed a "costumer". It is really a clothes tree on which can be hung the child's clothes at night in such an orderly fashion that they are always there on the spot when morning dressing time comes. The pole may be low enough so that the child can get her own clothes. If there are several children, each child may have his own separate little pole. This will avoid the general morning mixup and subsequent quarrels that generally take place when several children in the household have the habit of throwing their clothes to the four corners of the room, regardless.

White painted furniture is altogether the best for the baby's room. If possible, bows of ribbon tied upon every piece of it, the usual fashion, should be eliminated. A white painted bassinet or crib, decorated, if desired, with immaculate white dotted muslin and with spotless white dimity spreads, gives an air of babyhood much better than any number of be-bowed, over-draped pieces of furniture. Bassinets are quite expensive, and there are always substitutes. I know of one woman who had very little money and who solved the bassinet problem by getting a basket maker to weave her a good, staunch market basket. To this the father applied several coats of white paint, finishing in enamel, and, to show that it was a girl baby, he painted the edge a real baby blue. In this the baby was easily carried about the house and porch.

Nothing is more deplorable than a mussy, over-elaborated bassinet, be-frilled and be fur-belowed. When one is to be purchased, choose one of simple lines. With it can go a white chiffonier to accommodate the baby's wardrobe.

If a gay flowered chintz is used at the windows of the nursery, be sure that the background is white and the flowers clear and fresh in their coloring. From the curtain hangings, designs may be chosen to apply to the chiffonier drawers and on the stand or tables. A large, comfortable chair of white wicker (squeak-proof, if possible!) and a low rocking chair of mahogany will be found useful. While they are attractive, plain white walls may prove too glaring. Deep ivory or soft blue would suit the simple white furniture much better as a background.

Do not place the crib so that direct light from the window or fixtures shines in the baby's eyes. I remember going into the baby's room of a maternity hospital. The nurse turned on a strong electric light in the center of the room, around which were arranged eighteen or twenty cribs each containing a baby. Those that were awake all cried out, blinked and scowled, and those that were asleep screwed up their eyes and squirmed about, and many awoke. The rule against strong sun or artificial light was vividly and vociferously demonstrated.

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