Parents often say, “It goes by so quickly!”  This was hard for me to comprehend, especially the first few months of being a new mother.  Looking back, time does goes by so fast.  Before you know it, your sweet newborn baby is a toddler and it’s time to update the nursery bedding. Here are some helpful hints to guide you:

Start by thinking about the overall look.  Do you like modern or classic, sweet or eclectic? Browse catalogs, magazines and websites that specialize in home décor to help you define your preferences. Take a moment to think about your child’s emerging personality and how it can play into the child’s room décor.

Fairies, Sports, and other Children’s Room Themes

As your child begins to walk and talk, you begin to see personality traits. Use this as a starting point for the bedding theme.  For instance, if your child loves the wonder of flowers and fairytales, the Fairyland Bedding Quilt is embroidered with details of butterflies, snails, and flower fairy friends, in white and pink and green cotton sateen.  For children who love to score, the Vintage Sports collection has a multi-colored sheet set with a retro inspired, striped quilt and chambray embroidered children’s duvet cover.  The playbook pillow is right out of a coach’s playbook, and the soccer pillow and baseball pillow are winners too!

Adventure bedding is perfect for every child who doesn’t want to go to sleep for fear of missing out! Incredibly detailed, hand appliquéd and embroidered patches show a canoe ride through the Amazon, a safari through Serengeti, and even a trip to the moon – with pillows to match!

Other nursery bedding themes to consider for your child are cars and trucks, dinosaurs, flowers, multicultural such as Chinese or Indian motifs, nautical scenes, dolls and dress-up, animals, and whimsical patterns from butterflies to robots.

Choosing Room Colors

You can ease into the transition and keep the child’s room in pastel colors like pink, light blue, or yellow to match the bedding theme. The kids bedding can be bright and fun or more neutral. A rule of thumb that I like to follow: if the child’s room furniture is light-colored, you can go with a bright, light or neutral paint on the wall.  If the child’s room furniture is dark wood, pick a bright color for the walls, child’s bedding, and child’s room décor and accessories.

Bed and Furnishings

Often you can keep the room dresser or armoire from the nursery, and choose a twin or full-size bed size depending upon the space and budget.  Add a brightly colored vintage chair or colorful cushions to create excitement. The best way to update your Glider is to mix and match novelty pillows.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the process of creating your child’s room theme.  Creating a loving, personal space for your child to sleep in and that will create fond memories for both of you.