apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi Kelli. I am an interior designer of children's rooms and nurseries. I like your poster.It is large and somewhat "in your face" but if the poster is there from the start, I think your baby will not be scared.If you introduced the poster when the child is a toddler, I would say it could be scarey because it is new to him/her. For most of what might scare children, it is the parents' own anxieties that prompt these questions.Relax, enjoy the room and your baby.

Hi folks! I would say probably not. At first your little one probably won't notice and by the time they do it will be something they're used to. What is that a restaurant order bar you're using to old pictures? because... awesome.

Bah! foolish typing fingers. I meant " is that a restaurant order bar you're using to HOLD pictures? because... awesome"

Actually, I think a newborn would find that picture visually stimulating to look at. A toddler may find it a bit scary, but not if it's been in his/her room since birth. Cool nursery! I love the crib.

High contrast and big eyes, baby will probably LOVE it. My toddler would too because it is a kitty! Relax, its great.

Not scary at all. My daughter would love it.

i dont think its scary at all! i think its pretty cute actually.

the room looks great!

wow! That's awesome. It is big, but it's colorful. I think that especially if it's there at the start, it will be fine. My son LOVES to look at blue and red - they always catch his attention first. I'm sure it will be fine.

Wait, is this a nursery that is part of a bigger room? Tour, please!

Since birth, I had an amazing toy box (made by my dad) that was a circus car with a tiger in it (friendly face with similar eyes) and one day out of the blue, that thing became the scariest thing ever and I had to cover it with a blanket at night. I mean SCARY.

I'd vote no on the poster. But then again, I fully intend to use my circus tiger toy box for my kids. I'll just keep a blanket handy or take it out of the room when they reach the nightmare-prone years. I turned out okay I guess!

I think you are fine. It provides nice contrast for early on and since it is both a kitty and smiling I think a toddler would like it.

Nice space.

wow! that nursery is amazing! can we get a house tour?!

My kid waves "hi" and smiles at the skeleton in our vintage Grateful Dead poster so I say go for it!

It's a fabulous poster, and I think a baby would be fascinated and stimulated by it.

As someone else said, it is high contrast, with big eyes, and done in primary colors. A baby should love it. It's possible that a slightly older child might find it scary, but if it had been in his or her room (or in the house) all along, it will be familiar. The kitty is smiling, too, and not in a scary or creepy way. I think it's a wonderful poster and your baby will be lucky to have such a cool thing in his or her nursery.

Personally, I find clowns to be really scary and some people insist that they're the best thing for kids ever. As a child I wondered how grotesque their unmadeup faces were if they were that ugly with all the makeup on.

fabulous little nook!

i would say no on it being scary as well, but depending on your baby's temperament, you may want to face your baby away from the poster when it's time to sleep. like everyone else said, the contrasting colors and big eyes are a big draw, but can get overstimulating for a newborn after a while.

my firstborn was never able to nap because his crib sheets had really bright cars/trucks on it. he'd stare at it too long!

Wow! I wish that had been my nursery. Such a great use of space! :)

Totally love it! Love it! Love it!!! Wish it were mine! And I love that you actually need no other decor - it's enough!!!

That is totally the coolest poster ever and I want it.

I don't think it'll be too scary at all. I agree that a baby will find it stimulating and it looks very friendly. GREAT nursery!

I think baby would be more afraid of the 1945 vintage atomic bomb teetering on top of that bookcase.

tout chez!

Hang it up! If you don't put it in your baby's room, I'll gladly come right over and take it and hang it up at my house. That poster ROCKS. Bright and bold do not equal scary. Your baby's lucky to have such hip parents and such timeless decorations.

It's very cute and not scary at all; I would say go for it!

I think you need to hang it up on the wall to make sure it doesn't fall over, but otherwise I don't think it would scare the baby.

Hey, all, thanks for your input! We'll keep the poster where it is, and see how things go. The picture rails are from schooloutfitters.com. I've taken to referring to the nursery as the "half-nursery," because it is half a room, as someone pointed out. The other half is my husband's office--we're both freelancers who work from home (we'll also have to see how that goes after baby comes!). The "bomb" atop the bookshelf is a big Lombok basket to which someone (not us) affixed a bunch of a betal-nut containers or some such. Thanks again--and wish us luck!

Nah, don't worry about it. Babies are too young to be scared of stuff and he'll be used to it as he grows. If it does scare him at some point down the road, he'll tell you.

So, I know you already decided and everything, and I agree with your decision. My two cents: if, in time, your child becomes scared by the smiley kitty, he or she will certainly let you know and you can deal with it then. I think this goes in the category that a lot of things do when you're a first time parent: there are so many "what-if's"! I remember thumbing through a "one step ahead" catalog when I was pregnant with my first and freaking out because there were safety accoutrements for Everything! Toilet lid, doorknob, stove knob, foam cushioning for every sharp corner, gates for every kind of door...it was totally overwhelming to think there were so many hazards lurking absolutely everywhere. I felt I would never be able to prepare for all the possible deaths awaiting my kid. And then when he came early and we didn't even have a crib yet, and it was less than ideal in nearly every sense of the word, and then when it turned out that none of it truly mattered, we could breathe a huge sigh of relief. I know you weren't necessarily looking for philosophical reassurance, but you can't prevent every bad thing from happening, and you can't predict all the good, unexpected things either. It's kind of funny (and understandable) to be neurotic first-time parents, but I think you'll enjoy it a whole lot more if you let yourselves relax and believe you can do it.

An infant, especially a newbie, will not be scared of that poster; however, a toddler *could* be. Or might never be.

The only thing you can count on as a parent is that all children are different. Some do this, some do that. Some are like this, some are like that. Your child will be unique. Can't predict what yours will do just because someone on the Internet told you their kids didn't do this or that, weren't affected.

I second the call for a nursery tour, is that linen fabric on the facing edge of the bookcase/room divider?

You will never know what will set off your child. What you think will is totally fine and some innocuous thing (to you) is a deal breaker.

I guess I would ask where you live, is it earthquake country? I would rethink having the frame within striking distance to the crib.

Wow You have a ton of comments. My husband has head mounts all over our house, black hog, turkey, deer, fox and more. Our son loves them. I decorate our hog and our son has gazed at it since birth. Your poaster is a happy cat, our hog has teeth and is hairy like other people have said if your baby grows up with it I think your alright. Think of the Croc Hunter and Bindey the wild child she isnt scared of the things I am.

What adriennep said: "let yourselves relax and believe you can do it." ;) I'm pretty sure that once you're parents you won't be giving this another thought.

its a great print and the bright colors will definitely be stimulating. we, personally, steered away from having really vivid and bright things within our kid's line of sight (from the crib or sleep space) when they were a baby as stimulating is the LAST THING we wanted at sleepy times.

just a friendly suggestion.

looks fabulous and totally not scary.

I don't think you can predict what is/isn't scary. I remember being terrified of a piece of embroidery my aunt made for my room - it was one of those sunbonnet girls holding some flowers, but as far as I was concerned, it might as well be Dracula holding an axe.

what a great little snooze center :) and a fantastic cat print.

As a former early childhood educator, I'd wouldn't be worried so much that the print is scary but more overstimulating. It's a fantastic piece. If you intend your nursery to be primarily a restful place, I'd say move it to an area of the house where your little one will spend most of its waking/playing hours.

I love it when kid-related (read "fun" and whimsical") items appear throughout the house proclaiming the child's prominent place in the home. That said, I, like others, would love to see a house tour as well!

Of course, all children are different. Wait and see how your baby reacts, then make a move.

I'm looking for her decision...where is it? I don't know what you decide...but I know my kids (2 and 5 would love it). It's the kid of picture that my two year olf would always point to and say "meow, meow" and my five year old would give it a funny name (like sparkleworks). Congrats on the upcoming arrival!

http://www.carinagardner.com

You never know what your kid will or won't grow to like. Mine was temporarily freaked out by Barbar and a rabbit clock with eyes that moved. Now she loves Barbar. Still hates that clock though.

And pshaw on the "overstimulation" concerns. The truth of the matter is, a newborn baby can't see the hand in front of his face. He'll grow into the room and if you need to make changes down the road you will. Parents have enough to worry about and nursery art should be pretty low on the list.

Whatever you choose, congrats on the new baby - what a beautiful room he's going to get to come home to!

"The truth of the matter is, a newborn baby can't see the hand in front of his face."

That's simply not true.

Newborns can focus on things up to 30cm away perfectly clearly. This means they can definitely see not just a hand in front of their face, but also your face when you hold them or put your face near theirs to talk to them.

A newborn won't be able to see a poster on the other side of the room, but they can definitely see things close to them.

What is the paint color? A peachy cream? I like it a lot and am looking for something like that.