Do you like surprises? No, do you really like surprises? These parents apparently do because they waited to find out whether their child was a boy or a girl. But that didn't stop them from putting together inspiring nurseries that would work for either outcome. If you're expecting "baby X" or interested in gender-neutral nurseries, take a look...










I LOVE the beige room with all of the owls! We did opt to find out the gender (we're having a boy) and even knowing that, I'm still struggling with putting together the room. Thanks for the ideas!
view TheModernMom's profile
not knowing the sex of our baby was my favorite part of the pregnancy! the speculation was so much fun and it made the birth that much more amazing. here are two links with photos of our nursery.
kate
ps. we had a boy
http://www.jetkatdesign.com/blog/2009/5/17/our-nursery.html
http://www.jetkatdesign.com/blog/2009/9/1/helpful-plants.html
view JetKatDesign's profile
those cute shelves seem to have precariously perched books upon them...is it really ok to place shelves with loose objects above a crib?
view sassypiggy's profile
We wanted our nursery to transition well to future children be they boy or girl and we loved the delivery room surprise of finding that the baby I was SO sure was a boy was actually a great big, active girl. I had a very hard time putting the room together though as so many "neutral" colors really end up looking a lot more boyish than girlish. Anyone agree with me? Once you have a girl, those green and yellow onesies just don't look quite right. We ended up going with a colors similar to the last room. Teal and white and green. I know I'll still love it five years from now which is important.
view GabrielSyme's profile
It sounds crazy, but our search for "gender neutral" colors ended in a orange/cream/green combination - it started out as a soft combination of colors and we ramped it up to include bright orange & deep greens in rugs/bins, etc. once our son came along. It all began with a huge closeout bolt of some HGTV-or-TLC-something desginer's upholstery fabric at a local fabric store... and I ran w/it. Our son is now 2 and has easily grown into his new digs.
view keltrue's profile
i agree, GabrielSyme. i didn't know my child's gender and tried to go as neutral as possible but it definitely hinted at boy - which worked out for me since i had a little guy! i did have a small stash of pink hats just in case it was a girl, but we got lucky. i can imagine if he had been a she i would have sent my husband on a shopping spree before we brought the baby home! for some reason unless i see purple or pink i think boy.
in the pictures above i can only see girls in the third and fifth rooms. the rest seem boyish to me!
view quickly's profile
I have found in my quest for a gender-neutral nursery that I am actually more nervous about colors being too feminine than masculine. Similar to GabrielSyme and keltrue, I finally decided on a combination of teal/orange/lime green/white with brown accents. Mine also began from a fabric print I decided to use in the bedding. I wanted something that wasn't too "baby-ish" and hope that these colors will grow with my baby as well.
view trunb's profile
The fifth room is ours - we ended up with boys (which was of course known by the time the room was featured) but we haven't really done anything to masculinize the room at all.
And as far as the shelves go - in almost two years, nothing has fallen from them. Now the boys have crib tents on their beds, so if anything fell, it would bounce right off. :P
view pyjammy's profile
We don't have kids yet, but my husband and I have talked about what kind of decor we would like for when that time comes. I'm leaning toward chocolate, cream and rust (the same as our wedding colors!). He wants black and white (preferably with stripes).
view lifeinthefortress's profile