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Good Questions: What Color for Nursery Walls?

paintq012109.jpgChris sent us a good question: I’d like to get working on our nursery this weekend, but am stalled on paint color. We’re going for a vintage meets modern vibe. The room is small (about 8’ x 9’) and gets a lot of light all through the day (it’s got two windows and is on the southeast corner of the house). The room has white 4” crown moulding and 3” base trimboard all around (leaving it white because I hate painted trim), and golden oak floors....

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Here’s what we’ve got for the baby’s room so far (clockwise from top left: mobile, blanket, crib, curtain and changing table – please excuse my use of ms paint for the curtains and the changing table – don’t have photos of them handy).

’m torn between keeping it a vanilla color (It’s about the same color as the background of the curtains right now), or going with an olive or spinach green or deep chocolate brown, but I’m open to more ideas…

Please let Chris know what color you'd suggest for the nursery in the comments below.

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Comments (14)

The light green in the deer blanket looks fresh and lovely! I also like the green in the mobile. But then, I am a bit partial to green. A peachy color would also be really nice with all the tones in the stuff you already have, and with the white trim.

I'm assuming the yellow in the curtain you drew is probably not the exact shade of the real curtain. A light yellow could work in the room as well, perhaps the shade of the yellow beads in the mobile. Or match the curtain's yellow leaf.

I would probably do the light green if it were my house, but a beige peach color could look great and very vintage.

posted by standupstapler on January 21st 2009 at 1:57pm
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I bet that vanilla color will actually look great.

posted by standupstapler on January 21st 2009 at 1:57pm
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I like the idea of the olive green or even a light mocha color.

posted by kpag on January 21st 2009 at 1:58pm
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I think a nice peachy-orange could work really nicely. The crib might fade away with a vanilla background. You could always do one wall peachy and the rest green, or vice versa...

posted by HPez on January 21st 2009 at 2:29pm
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I would consider leaving the vanilla and doing an accent wall in the chocolate. The way I picture the room, I would paint the wall with the windows the brown so you would still get a lot of reflected light in the room off the vanilla walls and the brown wouldn't be too "heavy" if it is offset by the contrasting trim (I'm assuming there is white trim on the windows?) and curtains.

You've chosen fun things to work with!

posted by eskkimmo on January 21st 2009 at 2:30pm
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I agree about the crib fading away. I think an accent wall would be great behind the crib!

posted by goodLife{eats} on January 21st 2009 at 2:43pm
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I think yellow, to make the room seem bright and cheerful. I am always stuck on paint color. I just bring a swatch of fabric to Sherwin Williams, where a wonderful woman helps me find the right shade of paint. She paints it on a card, dries it, so I can decide if I really like it. They have low VOC paints now, which is awesome. Get a sample from wherever you go to try if you're not sure. The more items you can bring with you the better: bedding, mobile, etc.

I love the white crib. Am trying to decide if I should paint mine white (it's an older crib, same style, in dark walnut). The white seems so much fresher.

Good luck!

posted by housefulloffur on January 21st 2009 at 3:09pm
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I'm going pale for a pale robin's egg blue-one that has a hint more green to it.

All your other accessories are precious-that's one lucky baby!!

posted by lilajane on January 21st 2009 at 3:39pm
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Our son's room matches your description of the layout almost completely, and his room is painted a deep chocolate brown. It's WONDERFUL! Everyone who comes over marvels about how great his room looks; it doesn't feel too dark at all. One note: it does have white wainscoting, so that probably helps.

posted by mincemeat on January 21st 2009 at 6:09pm
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Thanks all! There are some awesome suggestions here. I'm going to discuss them with my husband and see what we turn up.

I'll send a picture of the completed project. It will be great to have it done and ready for our little one! :)

Thanks especially to housefulloffur for reminding me that SW has those low VOC paints now. That's definitely the way to go!

Painting the crib definitely updates the look, but if I'd been able to find one in a nice dark walnut, I might have taken it. I love the look of the dark wood with a well-loved handmade quilt thrown over it.

posted by mediocrates on January 21st 2009 at 6:10pm
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Speaking of low VOC paint, Lowe's carries Olympic paint which is zero VOC and low odor. It's inexpensive and I really liked it.

posted by sevan76 on January 21st 2009 at 11:05pm
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Thanks, Chris, for the encouragement to keep the crib dark. It's being used only once a week by my visiting granddaughter, so I was torn about how much time to put into it. She's already 8 mos. old, so I know the time we'll use it is very short. I like dark wood also, but the other bed in the room is white iron. Don't know how to blend these two.

posted by housefulloffur on January 22nd 2009 at 9:25pm
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We look forward to seeing your finished room!

posted by housefulloffur on January 22nd 2009 at 9:26pm
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I would pick a light milk chocolate color or a pale creamy orange-like a creamsicle.

posted by sprinkledpink on January 23rd 2009 at 6:01pm
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