How to Decorate a Nursery Without Painting

When I first started thinking about writing a blog on how to decorate a nursery without painting, I realised although I don’t have a nursery, I’m pretty well practiced at it. (Edit - I now have twin girls and a nursery! For more on this, read the Twin Nursery Ideas for Small Rooms blog.) All of the photos you see on my website, Instagram and this blog post have been taken in existing locations in my house, without being able to decorate them each time, and so I’ve often had to create something from nothing and change existing areas of my home to suit little ones. So I’m going to go through some tips on how to decorate a nursery I’ve picked up along the way and I really hope you find them useful.

You can add lots of style and personality to your nursery decor with wall art, storage and accessories. Pictured here Alphabet Print and Forest Print styled with woven basket and rainbow decorations.

There are so many reasons you might be looking at decorating your nursery without painting, especially as over the last two years our houses have often had to turn into multi-functioning spaces and as such, we can’t afford to waste an inch of room. You might have a nursery which has a little home office space in the corner, or which doubles up as a spare room when needed. If you’re renting, you might not be able to make the commitment of painting due to your landlord's restrictions. There’s also the time, cost and energy it takes to paint the room to factor in and with all this, you might decide it’s best to decorate your nursery in a way that’s flexible and easily changed in the future.

Tips for Decorating a Nursery Without Painting

Hang Wall Art

Wall art has to be the easiest and most affordable way to change the way a space feels without committing to any more permanent forms of decorating. Choosing nursery prints with colours that link or a theme can help create a cohesive look which impacts the feel of the space and makes it clear that it’s an area for little ones. Take a look at some Little Em wall art and shop by theme here for some inspiration - the woodland theme is a particular favourite! Hanging one or two pieces of wall art in my favourite wooden hanging frames is a lovely way to add a modern feel to your nursery wall decor without the worry of heavy frames falling down. Alternatively, you could opt for a gallery wall for a more full impact approach and mix and match your prints along with some photos, postcards or even framed wallpaper samples (just be sure to attach frames securely to the walls, and use perspex instead of glass or remove the glass altogether.)

You can create a cohesive mini gallery wall by selecting a range of nursery wall art with linking colours. Pictured here are the Alphabet Print, Forest Print and Puffin Print for Children with linking greens and oranges.

Style Shelves and Picture Ledges

I love styling shelves and picture ledges and you’ll see them pop up in lots of my photos. The wooden base is a lovely element to add to a Scandinavian style nursery and will complement pretty much any of the treasures you want to add. Shelves and picture ledges give you the ability to combine decorative objects, toys, books and wall art and change them whenever you feel like it or as your little one grows. Try grouping things in threes as well as leaving some negative space to allow each object to shine. As you’re decorating a nursery, be sure to have fun with your props - could those toy animals all be following each other or peaking over the top of a picture? You can find great quality picture shelves similar to the ones I use at The Futon Company.

Picture shelves are easy to switch up and change as your little one grows. The Lion Nursery Print is styled on a picture shelf here with toy animals, handmade bunting and a wooden rainbow.

Play with peg rails

Again, I love peg rails! They’re great for styling the hanging frames I often use and you can also display your little one’s cutest outfits on a hanger along with favourite toys and treasures in lovely accent colours. You can even add hanging baskets to them for some extra storage - allowing you to keep essentials like wet wipes and nappies within easy reach. You can find similar peg rails to the ones I use at Alice in Scandiland and the hanging basket was a great find at Sostrene Grene.

Peg rails are really versatile and a great way of adding extra storage to your nursery. The Vegetable Medley Children’s Print is styled on a wooden peg rail here with cute fruit and veg toys, a woven hanging storage basket and string bag.

Make your storage and other practical items decorative

A great way to decorate a nursery without painting is to choose those must-have practical items and storage items in designs which reflect your style and ensure they add a decorative element. Oy Oy Living Design and Scandiborn have some lovely decorative storage boxes, wicker baskets and fabric laundry bins in trend driven colours and natural materials, which would make beautiful features, whilst also being really practical. These containers can act as accent colours within the room which you can reflect in the wall art and soft furnishings to create a beautiful colour palette for your nursery.

Decorative storage boxes can add style and colour to your nursery without needing to paint your walls. Pictured here, the Moose Art Print for Children alongside a colourful, striped storage box from Oy Oy Living Design.

Add colour and pattern with soft furnishings

If you have curtains, bedding or cushions in your nursery then there are plenty of opportunities to add some colour and pattern without needing to reach for a paintbrush. Even when all you need is a sheet in the cot, there are some lovely patterned versions available which will add some extra interest and personality into the room - try this stylish Swedish Linens Rainbows cot sheet or this H&M acorns sheet for a more affordable alternative (I’m a sucker for a pattern and love the rainbows!). If you’re unsure of what colour palette you’d like to go for, it can be really handy to choose a favourite piece of artwork as inspiration and pick out the key colours from it in the accessories in the room.

Add a fabric wall hanging

Fabric wall hangings are a great way to add texture and tactility to your nursery wall decor without committing to painting or wallpapering. Including a fabric wall hanging in a gallery wall can really help to break up the shapes and add variety too. Take a look at the Little Em wall hangings all made with a beautiful linen union fabric and featuring serene camping scenes and cute animals - perfect for adventure and nature loving families.

The Bear in the Forest Fabric Wall Hanging adds tactility and texture to your nursery wall decor.

Choose colourful furniture or upcycle your existing furniture

You can add a colour scheme to an otherwise neutral nursery by choosing furniture in a distinct palette. Stick to one to two colours and pick these out in other accessories in the nursery to give a cohesive look. You might even choose to upcycle your existing furniture or give some second hand finds a makeover - I personally love mixing old and vintage finds with new - it adds heaps of character and there’s always a story to tell.

Don’t forget a space of your own

A comfy chair or even just a pile of cushions on the spare bed will be an essential space for night feeds or just collapsing into! You could even add a bit of sophistication with some ‘grown up’ cushions from the Emma Alviti range and create your own little sanctuary. Keeping a wash bag close by will be handy to store all of your personal essentials within easy reach - the extra large wash bag has plenty of room and a useful inside pocket too. I’d recommend the Mountainscape design in natural for a soothing injection of calm.

Extra large wash bags can be really handy for keeping your essentials close by, pictured here is the Extra Large Mountainscape Wash Bag in Natural

Go neutral

If you’re wanting to decorate your nursery without painting your existing neutral space, why not embrace the blank canvas? Adding wooden furniture and natural materials such as wicker can add a relaxing scandi feel to your nursery which will be easy to adapt and change as your little one grows. Using neutral tones will ensure your space doesn’t date and you can always add in some earthy tones or soothing greens with your accessories.

Embrace your neutral walls and add layers of natural materials along with toys and accessories in subtle acccent colours. Here, the Forest Print adds natural accents of forest green and burnt orange.

Add stylish toys as decoration

There are so many stylish toys available now and although sometimes they might not be the first ones little ones reach for, they do make beautiful decorations to add to your shelves and picture ledges. I can, however, vouch for these gorgeous bears from Barnabjorn, as my niece and nephew love theirs. Everything from Barnabjorn is beautifully handmade and all of the bears are CE tested, so they’re safe for decoration and play! Small Folk, a beautiful children’s boutique in Totnes and one of my lovely stockists, also have a whole range of stylish toys which not only look beautiful on stylish shelves, but encourage open ended play too.

Decorating a Nursery in a Rental

All of the tips above can work in rentals, but it goes without saying to pay particular attention to how you attach things to the walls. Command strips are brilliant for adding wall art and I’d also recommend Command hooks for adding the hanging frames or fabric wall hangings - I use these for my photoshoots and I can remove them when I’m finished without damaging my walls, but they provide such a handy hook for lots of accessories. Always make sure you’re using the correct strength Command strip for the weight of your frames and use perspex or remove the glass for safety.

Try Command hooks to add fabric wall hangings and other hanging accessories. The Bear in the Forest Fabric Wall Hanging is secured here with removable hooks.

Decorating a Nursery in an Apartment or Small Space

In small spaces or apartments you might need to create a nursery area in a multi-functioning room - an effective way of doing this is to ‘zone’ the space. This can be done with colour and pattern - in the form of nursery wall art, removable wallpaper, a cosy reading corner with accent cushions or even with a patterned rug below the cot. These colours and patterns will signpost the nursery area and prevent the room from looking too confusing.

When to Decorate the Nursery

When to decorate your nursery is totally up to you and only you will know when you have the time, budget and energy. Some parents prefer to get everything ready ahead of the baby's arrival, some wait until they have a gender scan and some wait until they’ve met their little one so they feel like they have an insight into their personality. What’s really important is that you enjoy the experience rather than it becoming another thing on your to do list. Creating a Pinterest board is a great way to start to gather your ideas and creating sections for things like furniture and wall art really helps give clarity - remember it doesn’t have to be Pinterest perfect though! I’d love it if you took a look at the Little Em wall art and wall hangings for some inspiration too!

I hope these tips have helped and given you some inspiration to beautifully decorate a nursery without painting. I would love to know if you put any of the tips into action, get in touch if you have.

Emma x