The Woodlands’ cutest newborn nurseries!

All the inspo you’ll need to design a peaceful, beautiful space for baby 

If you’re expecting a baby and looking for some adorable nursery inspiration, this is the post for you! As a newborn photographer, I make it a point to always photograph baby’s rooms during an in-home newborn session. After all, parents pour so much time and love into putting together the perfect space for a little one… and it’s not always a room you think to photograph! Not only do these detail shots help round out a newborn photo gallery, but they’re also important memories you’ll treasure for years to come.

As a newborn photographer, there are a couple trends I see over and over in newborn nurseries:

• neutral color schemes keep the focus on artwork and decor around the room
• most mamas favor light, bright rooms with lots of thoughtful, meaningful accents
• parents of girls opt for white furniture most often, while boy parents often go with gray or espresso

Take a peek at three gorgeous nurseries that three mamas in The Woodlands, Tx created for their babies.

Teddy’s woodland creature themed room with tons of personal touches

Teddy is the third baby in his family and he has two of the sweetest older sisters. His mama was overjoyed to finally decorate a room for a baby boy!

My two favorite things about the nursery Amanda decorated for Teddy were the sweet woodland creatures over his changing table, and the meaningful touches she included around the room.

The woodland creatures prints come unframed in a set of six. These watercolor cuties are so beautifully detailed and precious. In fact, after I shot Amanda’s session, I happened to be searching on Amazon for a simple decor for my youngest daughter’s room. I came across these same prints – but with the most adorable flower crown on each animal! For about $25 + a set of six white wooden frames, the empty space above her new big girl bed was taken!

So, whether you’re expecting a boy or a girl, these sweet animals can fit in with your nursery too! You’ll note that Amanda’s are in darker wooden frames, so they also go with practically any color scheme too. (For reference, my daughter’s room is painted a super light baby blue and I purchased white frames.)

The other aspect of Teddy’s nursery that I adore is all of the special touches his mama added. His name and initials are visible in his room, along with family pictures, a maternity photo of Amanda and a wooden tree stump signed by family and friends. Amanda included a few woodlands animal figurines around the room, as well as well-loved books on his bookshelves. These little touches add so much to a nursery and makes it feel much more homey and comfortable.

All too often I photograph baby’s rooms that feel cold and impersonal – there isn’t enough on the walls and the room feels incomplete. Teddy’s room is the exact opposite – it’s overflowing with love and warmth.

Stumped for how to decorate and can’t find anything you like at Hobby Lobby? The nursery is the perfect place for a series of maternity and family portraits! That’s exactly how I decorated our third nursery. I had prints framed of my older girls during each of their newborn phases, along with various family portraits. This is the perfect decor solution if you’re expecting a subsequent baby and going for a gender-neutral theme.

Tillie’s neutral color palette 

Most of the nurseries I see these days are painted a neutral shade and parents add interest through pops of color around the room. That’s part of why I loved Tillie’s nursery – it was bright and welcoming, and also very soothing at the same time.

Because her crib, dresser and chair are a soft gray, Tillie’s mama had endless color options for wall art, bedding and accessories around the room. The gallery wall above her dresser is so well done, including baby girl’s initials on the wall and four canvases/wooden art.

When you’re designing your baby’s nursery, you probably aren’t thinking ahead to the transition to a big kid room – but it doesn’t hurt to keep that in mind! When Tillie either outgrows the crib or she is getting ready to welcome a sibling, her room will be easy to transform into a space for a little girl. Megan can keep the gallery wall as is, add in new pieces or even start all over with something brand new.

Additionally, the lighter colored cribs are definitely my recommendation – and I learned this through personal experience! Espresso cribs are beautiful, but they can very quickly weigh down a room unless it’s painted a lighter color. We purchased an espresso crib for our girls and I so wished I would have gone with gray or white. The dark cribs can just seem so bulky and heavy-looking, depending on the wall and floor colors, and how you decorate.

Merritt’s adorably accented room

Merritt’s sweet, bright room still brings a smile to my face. I’ll admit, the fresh flowers pictured above were from the family’s living room, but I couldn’t resist their cheerfulness for this post!

Proud parents Liisa and Warren are originally from Canada and the blanket and stuffed animal in the chair in Merritt’s room held special significance to the family. Apparently these items are only available in Canada, so they were a must-have for this Texas baby!

You’ll spot more woodland creatures on Merritt’s walls – it’s such an adorable theme for boys or girls!

Like the two other nurseries featured here, these mamas opted to use a dresser as a changing table, which is the best option for so many reasons.

First, my husband and I felt the dressers we looked at were a little taller, which saved my back (and my husband’s) from us having to hunch so far over when changing diapers. This is especially welcome if you have an epidural – the back pain that can follow is no joke!

Thinking about your newborn session? Don’t miss this guide to newborn photos for mamas-to-be!

Second, it’s easy to secure the changing pad to the back of the dresser, and you won’t have a wasted piece of furniture in a couple years when it’s time to potty train.

Third, we found that the dressers we looked at were of a higher quality than the average changing table, which seemed (and sometimes even looked) to be more cheaply made.

The white furniture, gray chair and soft pink curtains are traditional, lovely choices for a sweet pea like Merritt!

What doesn’t work well in nurseries

Here are a few things you might avoid when planning your nursery:

• Painting the walls yellow! This is a super nit-picky piece of advice, but I’m not a fan of yellow rooms because of how they photograph. You’re left with yellow tones on everything – faces, furniture, etc. If it’s a super light shade, you’re probably ok. Just turn off the light and raise the blinds when taking photos – it will ensure more natural-looking skin tones without the extra yellow color cast!
• If you’re considering a super dark color for the walls, consider brightening things up with wainscoting. This way only a portion of the room is super dark, and the contrast with white wainscoting is dramatic and beautiful. 
• Super matchy-matchy furniture. Not everything has to be exactly the same shade. If you purchase a white crib and dresser, consider a birch  or light gray colored bookcase. It will bring some visual interest to the room. 
• Bare walls. Here’s a quick trip for filling a space when you can’t find a photo or print you like: buy a couple of cheap canvases at Hobby Lobby and cover them with fabric. There are endless options for colors, prints and textures. Buy enough to cover the canvas and staple to the back. Easy and inexpensive!