apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We didn't find out the first time and we're not finding out this time. I chose a gender neutral color scheme and did very simple window treatments and didn't go crazy with art. Once the baby came I added some more gender specific accents but the room could still work either way. Here are some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35056982@N02/sets/72157615078930551/

Now we are expecting Number Two and we're not finding out again. I've chosen to go a similar route but I will just have furniture and paint. I have chosen two more gender specifc sets of bedding that will go with the color scheme I am working on but I will not purchase any art or bedding until after the baby arrives (I will just use some white sheets at first). Once the baby comes I will get bedding, art, and window treatments.

Same dilemma here.

I'm going with a light blue wall paint; even if it's not totally gender neutral, I still like it. I'm buying white furniture, and sewing bumpers and changing pads in neutral colors: light blue, light green, light yellow and very light brown.

For the decor itself, aside from a few pieces like white embroidered pillow I got from my great-grand-mother, I'm waiting to know for sure.

last year, we set-up a gender neutral nursery, even though we knew we were having a boy. (We'd like another child someday, and want to recycle... besides, I'm not a fan of everything being pink or blue for a kid. it's boring.)

We bought a white crib (babymod at walmart) with a brown wood drawer beneath, and a matching dresser/changing table. We got a flensted mobile with black fish going around a red worm ("shoal of fish"), and bought dwell for target linens (last years "circles" design, that had a white background, with primary color dots).
I'm fairly certain that Dwell for target will do a gender neutral pattern every year, since circles was its most popular pattern.

We intend to get a white expedit bookcase for toys and books soon... and we also have a bright red shag area rug.

I think it is a lot easier to decorate around the bedding, if you get that first and pull colors from there. I consider nature (bird, tree), jungle, stars, and graphic patterns (dots, circles, etc.) all to be gender neutral. I would look online at bedding available from Target, BRU, Wal-Mart, Land of Nod (or modernnursery.com if budget allows) to see the wide variety of bedding choices out there.

Here are the 2008 color contest finalists:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/kids-color-2008-news/kids-color-contest-2008-the-9-semifinalists-069531
I think Sayer's (light blue/green), Claire's (dots with blue/red), Julianna's (bright green/blue), and Avery's (bird theme) room are all gender-neutral or at least gender-flexible (what a concept).

The 2007 color contest winner, Sam's nursery, is also gender-neutral but perhaps not for the faint of heart (dark brown with bright green/blue): http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-colors-2007-entries/4-sams-chocolate-crash-pad-034377

oh, I should add that our walls are silver grey and we have hardwood floors

We did the same the first go around...didn't find out the sex.....and I chose different shades of greens, browns and creams to decorate in (instead of the standard yellow and green combo.) Reds and oranges can be very gender neutral as well and you can make things more interesting by using different shades of one color. There are a lot of modern/block-style baby bedding patterns available out there now that would be great for a boy or girl (try Dwell Studio or even check the Etsy website for more unique baby decor.)
You won't need much for the room in the first couple of months anyway (especially if the baby will be in a bassinet or next to your bed for a few weeks) so you can add final touches of toys, mobiles, wall art, etc., after the babe is born. Just stay away from pink! Blue works for girls, but somehow, pink still kind of remains "girly"! ;)

We didn't find out what we were having the first time around & even if we had I wanted a gender neutral nursery so we could use it for the next kid. I'm a HUGE Dr. Seuss fan so we did an "Oh, The Places You'll Go" themed nursery. Obviously, you can't find anything really in the stores for that theme & I wanted original stuff anyway, so my husband painted a mural in the room. White walls & mostly pastel colors in the mural. (P.S. Hubby is no artist - he used a projector & it worked fabulously.) I didn't want traditional crib bumpers or a comforter or anything, so rather than get a bedding set we got solid color sheets (green & yellow which matched the mural) & a white breathable bumper. I'm thrilled with the nursery & I'd sleep in there if I could.
You can see pictures of it here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=308626.0
Good luck with whatever you choose to do & with your new little one!

Personally I think anything color scheme but pink can be gender neutral. We did our nursery in robin's egg blue with orange and yellow as the accent colors and it looks great for a boy but I think it will work just fine for a possible future girl.

Hi! We're in the same boat. We've decided on a yellow, white and black nursery. We've painted the walls a medium-pale yellow and the furniture is all white. The bedding is black and white with yellow accents/sheets (having that made since I couldn't find what I wanted for less than $650).

We bought this mobile and we're hanging some child-friendly black and white art and photos in the room. The color scheme probably isn't for the faint of heart, but we love it!

Good luck!

A great gender neutral solution that is also very sentimental is to paper an accent wall with custom digital wallpaper. You can upload a cherished photo of a landscape from a trip or any photo that is meaningful to websites like www.duggal.com and specify the dimensions you want. You can then pull accent colors and accessories from the beautiful scene (i.e. An antiqued picture of a pyramid or ruins can be papered on one wall with netural color bedding/furniture and fun accents like a camel stuffed animal, a decorative chair/ ottoman in an ethnic print, etc).

Happy Decorating & Congratulations!

bundle design co.

the nursery we did for the boys was also gender-neutral, since we didn't find out what they were before they were born. i still love it, and to be honest, i haven't even added any gender-specific touches in the 20 months since they've been alive!

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/nursery-tour-linus-miles-and-olivers-make-room-for-three-room-050723

i was very anti green and yellow, so i went with an aqua. :)

I'm not pregnant yet but since we're trying and renovating our house we decided to create our nursery now. I painted all the walls white except one accent wall where the crib will go. The accent wall is a beautiful orange. I plan on getting a white crib and painting the rocker, from my mother-in-law, white. I figure that's pretty gender neutral and still fits with what's going on in the rest of my house. Good luck:)

Our nursery is gender neutral- baby is due 1/1. I found it pretty easy to put a gender neutral nursery together- but we had some good starting blocks.

We had a red Ikea Hemnes dresser (changing pad will go on top) and coordinating red bookcase, plus olive-y green patterned curtains from Urban Decay to start.

I painted the walls a mustard yellow, and added an Urban Decay owl lamp with a green-patterned lampshade. Plus an Inke Heiland vintage wallpaper giraffe in a 60s green and mustard-toned floral pattern.

I put a Dwell for Target cream and light brown "zebra skin" tufted rug on our hardwood floors, and a cream Ikea Poang chair and ottoman in the corner. Plus a couple of green storage containers (a felt open-top one from World Market and a brighter green lidded one from Target).

The crib sheets will be solids- cream or yellow.

The effect is totally gender neutral, but fun and vintage-y. Books stacked on shelving and 4 colorful Etsy owl prints in the room's entry all work with everything.

As a designer of nurseries since 1983, I have certainly seen the shift in creating nongender specific rooms from the earlier use of boy or girl specific. Over the years, accessories, themes, color trends, wallcoverings and fabrics have been designed to do just that...be available for both sexes. I often choose with my clients to do a vintage look of old toys, old educational findings, or an eclectic mix that keeps it fresh and open to adding along the way. The room also matures with the children, lessening the need to re-do the room. Mixes of colors, some new, some vintagey also gives a room alot longer growing time.

I love a cream/white/natural organic fibers room with bright aqua or fuchsia accents added when baby is born. Alas, that shabby chic look doesn't work in our boxy little house.

Our nursery is going to have to accommodate two someday, so I'm doing aqua walls, a chocolate brown glider, and white furniture for the boy we're expecting. It's all inspired by a jungle animal-themed rug from Anthropologie that seemed a) pretty gender neutral, and b) very colorful, giving us the option of emphasizing different colors as we wish. I'm trying to keep the accents to bright yellow, orange, and pink. I hope when we're done it's not too "boy."

We had twins in January - a girl and a boy - and were determined to be gender neutral or at least gender equitable and real cheap in our nursery.

We put in bamboo floors and painted the walls a bright green and a bright white.

We got hand-me-down and craigslist furniture and painted it all white as well, so that the cribs didn't have to match but would still go together. We did buy some custom drawer knobs on etsy that helped harmonize the pieces as well and we got a big ol' olive green tree decal on etsy while we were there.

The concept was simple, clean, green and white and it seems to work.