Decorating an Infant Room

One of the big projects for every parent that is waiting to welcome their new bundle of joy is to decorate the baby's room. This is an exciting, challenging project as parents browse the aisles of their home improvement store or baby store looking for ideas. You'll find so many cute things that you want to use.

However, as cute as the baby stuff is, your infant won't stay that way for long. In a few years, they will grow tired of the cutesy stuff and want something more "grown up." Here are a few tips for decorating the infant room to make it easier for it to grow with them without a lot of hard work in the future.

I know those teddy bears on that wallpaper are adorable and the theme from Cars would look so cute on the wall. However, putting up wallpaper is hard work. And it's even worse when you want to take it down. It's better to stick with paint and if you absolutely have to buy something cute for the wall, choose an adorable border that you can put at the top or middle of the walls.

Speaking of paint...instead of going with the traditional pink or blue or even some other bright color, why not try out a neutral instead? I know that doesn't sound very fun, but it will save you time in the future when your child wants to change the theme and colors of their room. Instead of focusing on the paint as part of the theme of the infant room, use accessories to create a design.

You have a lot to choose from when it comes to themes for your new nursery. One suggestion is to combine a great baby theme with one they will enjoy when they are older. For example, Minnie Mouse and butterflies or flowers. Even when they outgrow Disney characters, little girls usually still like flowers.

Another idea is to use cute animals for babies and adapt them to more grown-up versions when they get older. My daughter loves horses and I can use cute little ponies for her room now. When she gets older, the horses can look more realistic and grow up with her.

What if they want a complete makeover for their room when they get older? Make it easy on yourself by only using easy-to-switch-out accessories in your theme. Bedding, decorative pillows, and pictures on the wall are all easy to replace with the current theme that they love.

It won't cost you a fortune in time or money to change the room to something they love. And considering you may do it two or three times before they move out, you want to make it easy on yourself. And you won't feel like you have to make them keep a theme they no longer love for years just because you spent a lot of time and money on it.

Here are a few extra tips to make decorating your infant room for the future easier:

• Don't buy furniture with characters or designs on them that they will outgrow. Instead, use bedding to create a theme.
• Do buy wall stickers in their favorite characters or animals to put on the walls.
• Buy decorative lightplates for their room.
• Paint the closet door or bedroom door a wild color instead of the walls. It's much easier to change out when they don't like it anymore.

By planning ahead for when your baby is no longer an infant, you can make the room a place that will easily grow and change with them.