Baby nursery décor can be extremely overwhelming, especially for new parents. There are many different decorations, furniture items, bedding, wall art, etc. for you to think about. Therefore to help you narrow down your decisions, it's a good idea to focus on a theme. Keep in mind, a theme doesn't need to be based on a cartoon, teddy bears, clowns, or animals; it can be based on something as simple as a color or be entirely eclectic.

Even though a theme isn't necessary for your baby's nursery, it can be helpful when it comes to focusing and organizing your decorating ideas. With that in mind, the following is a step-by-step method of how you can focus your baby nursery décor plan by using a theme.

Step 1 – Select a theme. Picking a theme is about focusing on one element and using this element throughout all of the items you use to decorate the nursery. Examples of a theme include, but are certainly not limited to:

• Classic cartoon - I.E. “Mickey Mouse”, “Winnie the Pooh”, “Peter Rabbit”, etc.

• Magical creatures – I.E. fairies, dragons, elves, etc. - any characters that can be found in fairytales and nursery rhymes.

• Animals and Bugs – I.E. farm animals, marine animals, birds, lady bugs, bumblebees, caterpillars, butterflies, etc.

• Teddy bears

• Clowns

• Balloons

• Flowers

• Sports

• Geometrical shapes

• Color

• Etc.

The list of themes can go on and on. Thus, it's a good idea to pick something you like and want your child to respond to. Find out how many different décor items are available to your theme by doing both an in store and online search.

Step 2 – Focus your theme. Once you've decided on your baby nursery décor theme, it's time to focus your theme and give it shape. For instance, if lady bugs are the chosen theme, brainstorm about the many ways you can incorporate lady bugs into the room. This doesn't only mean taking the actual bug into consideration, but also its other characteristics such as its color. If you wish to focus only on red lady bugs with black spots, than the color red and black spots should be a common part of the theme.

Step 3 – Furnish your theme. After your theme is focused, you need to turn your attention to furniture, and furniture placement. You need to decide what furniture is needed, and then set it up in the room to achieve the best and most convenient and unobstructed layout. Start with the essential pieces (I.E. crib, dresser, and change table), and if you still have enough room, you can then add more furniture such as a rocking chair, end table, etc.

Since most of the baby nursery décor accessories will be the focal point of your theme, it's a good idea to keep furniture looking simple. Matching wood or white colored furniture goes with just about every theme.

Step 4 – Color your theme. Once you know where the furniture will go, the next step is your walls. You may choose to wallpaper in your theme, or paint the walls. When painting your walls, regardless of your theme, it's a good idea to choose a light color to create an open and gentle feeling. Good colors include a warm shade of white, light yellow, green, pink or blue. Paint the wall a solid color and then add a thematic wallpaper boarder at the top or middle of the room. If you don't want a boarder, consider painting a few characters from your theme on the wall with the assistance of a stencil, paint your own design free-hand, or put up a wall mural. Just make sure any designs, artwork, or murals are placed on the wall that will not be blocked by furniture.

Step 5 – Finish your theme. When the walls are taken care of, and the furniture has been moved in, finish off your theme with accessories. This includes wall art, stuffed toys, lamps, music box, baby mobile, area rug, nightlight, bedding, quilt, window treatments, etc. Using a farm animal theme as an example, you can obtain a musical mobile that features different animals, a cat lamp, a bumper with ducks, a cow throw rug, a dog nightlight, sheep bedding, piggy bank, wall art of a barn and farm animals, and so on.

No matter the theme you decide for your baby nursery décor, make sure you don't leave your decorating for the last minute. You don't want to be putting together the nursery two months or less before your little one arrives.