Nursery Decor

Empty crib in a decorated nursery at home.
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These 50 Nursery Theme Ideas Have Every Personality Covered

Think outside the chevron.

by Kinsey Gidick
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Preparing a baby’s nursery is a major factor of nesting. If you’re expecting, you’re likely considering things like crib sheets, changing table options, and baby-appropriate wall hangings. All of these decisions hinge on one question: What’s your nursery theme?

Whether you want to go gender neutral or blow out your nursery in whimsical jungle creatures like giraffes and lions, choosing an idea to focus on will help make all of your other nursery decorating decisions easier. But where to begin?

Much like a baby name brainstorm, building a list of ideas to pull from is a great place to start. You can add images to Pinterest or go old school and break out the glue sticks to craft your own baby room mood board. Either way, compiling what you like will help you make the big decorating decisions as well as stick to a budget that fits your lifestyle.

If that sounds like more work than you bargained for, that’s understandable; what mom incubating a wee babe has time for interior design? Don’t fret. Your list is our command. From space to storybook characters, beach scenes to Curious George, the brainstorming has been done for you with this list of nursery theme ideas.

1Rainbow Room

Whether you want to have someone use calligraphy to write “Somewhere over the rainbow” on one wall or just want a rainbow mural, this is a happy theme for a nursery.

2Forest Creatures

You could go Beatrix Potter with darling bunnies or make your own DIY woodland scene. Pull in interesting textures like fuzzy pillows in green or blue cloud drapes to complete the picture.

3Under the Sea

Imagine the dreams your little babe will have sleeping amongst a world of undersea animals. Think Orca whales, coral, octopus, and starfish.

4Bamboo Forest

Pandas are such sweet looking characters. And you can have fun by creating an entire bamboo forest in your baby’s room.

5Reptile Center

Think: snake wallpaper, lizard pillows, and Komodo dragon framed images. A reptilian nursery could actually be an exotically cozy affair.

6Cedar Look

Remember the book Snow Falling on Cedars? It’s descriptions of flakes lightly covering a Pacific Northwest cedar forest were so evocative. Use it to inspire your baby’s room.

7Beach Scene

If you’re already planning to deploy a white noise machine gently playing sounds of the ocean to rock your baby to sleep, then keep that vibe going with a beach scene nursery. You can go find palm pictured wallpaper and even install an aquarium if you want to give it a literal vibe.

8Grey Garden

You could do a modern and moody gray looking that will be a calming force on those nights your baby keeps you up with colic.

9Metallic Motif

Utilizing metal can make for a stunning baby room. Whether as an accent, like gilded mirrors or frames or on surfaces, such as a metal changing table, this gender neutral material will easily transition once your baby moves out of their crib.

10Moody Blues

Cool shades of blue make for a relaxing space. And isn’t that what everyone wants for their baby’s room? A place where they can feel safe and calm?

11Mountain Vista

If nothing says comfort to you like a fireplace and picture window overlooking a mountain range, you can bring that same energy to a baby room with exposed wood, handhewn baby furnishings and black and white images of places like the Rockies or Cascade ranges.

12Rocket Launch

Ground control to Baby Tom. If you love David Bowie or played Elton John’s “Rocket Man” on repeat while your child was in utero, perhaps a rocket launch motif would make a great nursery. You could even employ an artist to paint a rocket launch mural on the wall.

13Alien Invasion

Love extraterrestrials? Want to spark your child’s imagination about life beyond our solar system before they can even say the word solar system? Then an alien nursery is for you.

14Star Wars

Baby Yoda, Mando, Luke Skywalker, heck, why not throw in a few Stormtroopers too, with a Star Wars nursery. Given the galaxy of decor options the franchise has produced, you should have no problem decorating a room that looks right out of a galaxy far, far away.

15Mickey Mouse

Mouseketeers need not look too far for Mickey Mouse nursery inspiration. A quick Google will show you all kinds of decor items, from crib sheets to wallpaper.

16Toy Story

A Pixar fan favorite, Toy Story makes a great nursery theme as its plot takes place in a child’s bedroom. Decorate with Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys and you’re all set.

17Space

Want to go outer limits with your baby room look? Think out of this atmosphere. Space, as it turns out, can be the final interior design frontier. And maybe inspire your baby to get into astronomy one day.

18Frozen

Whether you’re #teamelsa or #teamanna, you can have fun with Frozen. An ice castle landscape can set the stage with blue and grey accents throughout.

19Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown has been bringing kids joy for 70-plus years, so is it any wonder it's often a go-to nursery choice? Lucy, Linus, and of course, Charlie, make for a great mural in a kids room along with matching crib accessories.

20Finding Nemo

“Just keep swimming” has become a repeated phrase told to children to keep their heads up and keep moving forward. You can encourage that same attitude by decorating a baby room to look like the reef where Nemo lives in the movie of the same name.

21Hello Kitty

Who doesn’t love the pink kitten of Hello Kitty fame? As you must expect, this brand has produced every conceivable nursery item necessary to give your baby the ultimate Hello Kitty world.

22Rainbow Brite

Eighties kids loved themselves some Rainbow Brite, so why not bring the cute cartoon character back to your baby’s bedroom? You can go literal and put a big cutout of the character on the wall. Or just use rainbows to decorate the space.

23Zebra Pattern

You don’t have to go ham on wild animals to give the flavor of the natural world. Stick with an animal pattern and you can create a chic baby room. For instance, zebra print interlaced in wall art and a faux fur rug can look great.

24Winnie the Pooh Nursery

Pooh Bear is a kid classic. So it’s a natural fit for a nursery room theme. You could frame illustrations from a Pooh book or have someone paint a personalized mural for your baby’s room.

25Farm Life

Whether you’re interested in a rodeo vibe or simple country chic, cow print can have a fun effect. Plus, exposed wood frames can add a farm feel.

26Eye of the Tiger Design

Use tiger pattern to hint at a jungle vibe in your baby’s room. Or go all out and have someone paint a pair of tiger eyes above the crib.

27Peter Pan

The Lost Boys and Tinkerbell are all part of one of the most magical storybook world’s ever to be created. Create your own Neverland for your baby’s room.

28Harry Potter

Hogwarts may not be real, but you can use your imagination to create your own interpretation for your baby’s nursery.

29Paddington Bear

He’s a sweet bumbling bear who wears a pea coat and a red hat. What’s not to love? Why not decorate a room in an homage to Paddington Bear?

30Curious George

If you know you’re going to be raising your own curious little monkey, give your baby a role model: Curious George. A wall featuring the Man in the Yellow hat and George floating with the help of some balloons says it all.

31The Little Prince

The philosophical tale of The Little Prince, a boy who finds himself traveling to different planets is a bit of a lonely tale, but the illustrations are so charming, they’ve become a nursery room staple.

32The Hungry Caterpillar

Babies are much like the Hungry Caterpillar. Eating and eating and growing and growing. Perhaps that’s why the colorful book has inspired nursery decor.

33Car Theme

Whether you love cars or you hope to raise an automobile enthusiast, cars make for a fun nursery theme. You can frame images or cars, decorate with car-themed bed spread, or use a car play mat for a rug.

34Floral Motif

Want your baby to wake up every day feeling like they’re in a gorgeous garden? You can do it with floral wallpaper, bedding, and even paper flowers dispersed throughout.

35Fruity Theme

Getting kids to eat good food is a challenge, so why not use some subliminal decor to get them headed in the right direction? Using citrus fruits or big images of bananas and kiwis can give a nursery a playful look.

36Future Big Leaguer Concept

You might not have a heavy hitter on your hands yet, but you can steer your little slugger in the right direction with a baseball themed baby room. You could even DIY your shelves by accenting them in baseball bats to really hit a home run.

37Basketball Baby Room

Picture this: a basketball mobile, a court outlined carpet, a basketball pillow. Your NBA great in training can get a head start with a b-ball themed bedroom.

38Gone Fishin’ Nursery

Hobbies make for great nursery themes and fishing is a particularly fun choice. With so many components to pull in, you can get creative with nets on the walls, reels as frames, or even posters of regional fish species.

39Up In The Clouds

Let your baby’s dreams take flight with a whimsical hot air balloon theme. Here, charming animals take a ride in the sky as they drift above baby’s crib.

40Golf Nursery

Four score and one nursery ago, a baby found itself sleeping in a room that looked just like the 18th hole. You know you’re going to buy them a toy putter as soon as they can stand, so why not?

41Monochromatic Nursery

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Want to keep things simple and sophisticated? Use natural textures and colors to create a cool, monochromatic space for your newborn.

42Illusions Nursery

Love magic? Find slight of hand mesmerizing? You could bring a whole magical look to a nursery with framed decks of cards, top hats, and even paint magic wands as crib posts.

43Checkered Look

Similar to color blocking, you can pair this concept with the monochromatic look and do two tones: white and black, for a checkerboard room.

44Striped Nursery

Some design concepts are timeless, like stripes. The best part is this is an easy DIY process. You can use painter’s tape to outline the nursery walls and make your own stripes, or go with wallpaper.

45Scandinavian Chic

Scandinavian design is known for its austerity. Less is more here. Rather than clutter a nursery with boatloads of stuffed animals or tchotchkes before your baby’s even been more, choose select items like a delicate lightwood rocker and simple crib.

46Texture-Heavy Space

Babies love touching and feeling interesting textures. So make your nursery a sensory experience by adding elements like a faux fur rug, seagrass carpet, and pillows made of unique textiles.

47Go Graphic

The best thing to come out of children’s decor lately are decals you can stick on and remove. Get graphic by using these giant stickers to embellish a space.

48Buttons And Bows Look

The old adage go big or go home is typically applied to sports but what about rooms? Here you can go big or bow your home with giant silk bows to dress up a baby room.

49Framed Family Portraits

Want your baby to know you’re always looking out for them? Decorate the walls with framed portraits of family members for a real life family tree.

50Map It Out

Wanderlust can start young and one way to encourage a little traveler is to dress their room in maps. A floor to ceiling map makes a great wall covering behind a crib.

However you theme your baby’s room, just decorate it with love and they’ll be as snug as a bug in a rug.

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