When new parents are in the fortunate position of being able to chose a color to paint the nursery, we often don't consider white to be in the running. But why? Have we been oppressed by too many white rental walls that we aren't allowed to paint? Is bland builder's white nothing but a blank canvas? Is it just too boring to pick up white paint chips when faced with the rainbow of options at the paint store? But just look at this group of white nurseries! If these don't change your mind about white, nothing will.
The really notable thing about this collection of white nurseries is how different each one is. White can go modern or vintage, masculine or glam, minimal or soft and cozy. It's the perfect backdrop for any combination of wood tones, textiles, and accessories. White is so classic and so versatile! And we know you'll say that white shows everything and is impossible to keep clean, but I can tell you from personal experience that crayons, dirty hands, juice, and boogers show on aqua, grey, chartreuse, yellow, and mocha walls. If anything, the darker the paint color, the more likely it is to rub off or discolor when cleaned. So tell us, is white an option you'd consider?
Top Row:
Emma's Eclectic Handmade Home
Indigo's Hyggelig Nook
Polly's Happy Place
Ava's Colorful, Handmade Haven
Madeleine's Surprise Makeover
Bottom Row:
Ashley and Family Welcome a Girl
Sebastian's White Nursery
Penelope and Sabine's Shared "Sweet"
Ava's Bohemian Bedroom
Oliver's Crafty Crib
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We're just finishing off our nursery, and I decided to go with white walls for our little girl. We brought colour in with the bedding, curtains, dresser, area rug and little details.
not daring at all! its the perfect neutral pallet! I love white walls when before I use to think they were boring.
All it took was painting the walls in one room a bright color (turquoise) for me to realize it is overrated! It looks good in pictures, but it actually stresses me out a little to be so surrounded with saturated color! We found a shade of creamy white we really like, and we're pretty much using it throughout our house with color coming in from accessories - baby's room included!
Walls don't really get that dirty (nothing a little Magic Eraser can't erase). Things like bedding, rugs, sofas...now THOSE get dirty with kids!
Maybe I have been warped by years of living in rentals but I dig white walls. Not shocking-bright-white but a creamy soft white. I like that I can change up bedding, art work, pillows, etc without having to worry about clashing with my walls.
I like white walls, too but I think the pictures that were used in this post have a lot of high end furnishings that won't normally be surrounding the white walls of an average family. Any color wall would look good with the right designer furniture, wallpaper and rug.
I don't know that I would call white walls "daring." But I do think they are a good choice. I prefer warmer whites over cooler whites although pale gray can be very nice in pictures. I just think that warmer whites reflect sun better and make me happier.
I definitely noticed that while I chafed inside "renter's white" flat white walls in apartments, once I bought my own house I found myself wanting white walls anyway. My kids' rooms and the bathrooms are painted a variety of pale blues, but otherwise every room is white (Behr Cottage White and Behr Vanilla Custard). It makes everything feel brighter and lighter. But accessories are definitely needed. And flat paint (found in every apartment I've rented) is no good with kids.
We went with white walls for our little girl’s nursery after I fell in love with some of the nurseries you have shown here (Ashley & family welcome a girl, Polly’s happy place) and one more that I can recall (Everett?), as well as an all-white cover of a west elm catalog! I think it takes a much more calculated approach to accessories (I’m still changing things on the daily), but has such amazing potential.
Our nursery doesn't have any windows so we went with all bright white walls to reflect lots of light. We even painted existing wood built-ins white and I love it - it's bright and airy and cheerful, not too neutral or boring.
our nursery walls are sherwin williams "steamed milk". i had been checking out nursery design books from the library and read one on color, which suggested that white leads to calm and creativity - the two qualities i most want to help my children have! we have lots of color from different fabrics, their cloth diaper covers which hang up in between uses, and art made and collected.
I hate to sound overzealous on safety, but I couldn't help but notice teamblock's comment that their nursery doesn't have any windows. In remodeling and new construction, it would be impossible to have a room without windows and pass code inspections. Egress is required and the size of the windows is based on the size of the room. This is primarily for fire safety. Perhaps it is really a closet...but if not, please consider whether or not there would be access in the event of a fire.
We chose white for our 8-month old baby boy's nursery and kept the decor modern with white/birch furniture. We added color with a combination of new and vintage artwork. We also didn't go with a specific color theme. It's modern, colorful without being overwhelming, and perfect for a girl or boy.
Oh, and we don't have designer furniture, all our furniture in the nursery are IKEA with the exception of the crib and the rocker.
Ah, yes. We were renters, then we reveled in the freedom of color choice, then we chafed at being unable to have green curtains because they didn't go with our peach walls. Six years later, we love the freedom white walls give us to make extravagant gestures with color in every other choice. Lesson learned.
The final white room has been one of my biggest inspirations since first seeing it. I did a round up of how to achieve this room's look here: http://sciencefictionaffliction.blogspot.com/2011/10/building-room.html