25 Gorgeous Baby Girl Nurseries That Aren’t Too Sweet
A nursery designed for a baby girl used to mean pink walls and a prescriptive list of “feminine” motifs (think: flowers and princesses), but today’s girl nurseries range in style from minimal to maximalist and everything in between.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your own daughter’s nursery, you’ve come to the right place. We asked design pros and creative parents to share their girls’ nurseries with Cubby, and the rooms they’ve created show all the different ways to decorate for girls. (Note that parents are not giving up their love of pink for girls’ rooms anytime soon, but you’ll see tons of the familiar color used in fresh, modern ways!)
Blank Space
“We focus on mirroring our clients’ personalities, addressing their functional needs, and avoiding stereotypes and fleeting trends,” says New York City interior designer Ann Chapin. For this particular project, capturing her client’s daughter’s vibrant creative personality was key. Chapin imagined the white-walled room as “a fresh canvas” for the artistic toddler.
Pure Whimsy
Designer Lucy O’Brien of Tartan & Toile in Philadelphia describes this nursery as “whimsical.” It’s an apt description for a room with an elephant-shaped shelf and hot air balloons on the walls. The wonderful wallpaper is “L’Envol” by Manuel Canovas.
Major Mural
Ginger Curtis and the team at Texas-based Urbanology Designs worked with content creator Hoàng-Kim Cung, of the Color & Chic blog, and her husband, Johnny, to welcome their daughter home to this sweet room. “The couple wanted a modern nursery that would grow with their daughter; magical, but not too childish,” says Curtis. The star of the room is the wallpaper sourced from Amsterdam; it is called “Golden Age,” which is what Hoàng-Kim means in Vietnamese.
Pattern Play
Marea Clark designed this nursery for a family in Danville, California, who found out they were having twin girls. Clark brought drama to the space by hanging drapery at the head of each crib and papering the ceiling in wallpaper by Soane. Clark notes that the muted-yet-colorful palette of pinks, yellows, and a touch of green nods quietly to the girls’ gender.
Dramatic Teal and Yellow
Initially Khadija, an architect and PhD specializing in sustainable design, was hesitant about the bold color choice her husband, Bruno, chose for their daughter’s nursery: “Bruno painted one of the nursery walls in dark lagoon green, and it wasn’t easy for him to get me onboard for that! Now I like how it looks, and the room is still full of light,” she admits.
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Colorful Accessories
This nursery may have gray walls and white-washed floors, but thanks to colorful knobs and a rainbow-hued garland, it’s anything but drab. Mom Emma Paton is a fashion pro who knows how important a good accessory is.
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A Surprise on the Ceiling
“I always want to create a tranquil, serene space for the baby and anyone else that enters the room,” says Gaelle Dudley, founder of Connecticut-based GLDESIGN, of this subdued room. For Dudley, this meant a palette of whites, neutrals, and soft colors, like the pale pink and sky blue seen here. For an extra-special touch Hygge & West’s ever-popular Daydream wallpaper adorns the ceiling.
Retro-Inspired
Interior designer Jourdan Fairchild DIYed the dollhouse shelf in her youngest daughter, Dylan’s, room. “We were able to repurpose unfinished wooden shelves we’ve had for years into storage that’s perfectly fit for a new space,” says Fairchild. The retro-leaning Hygge & West wallpaper is one of many prints that Fairchild has used throughout her circa-1946 Winston-Salem home.
Traditional with a Twist
Known for her layered interiors, designer Maggie Griffin jokes, “I’m used to all things “boy” in my house, so designing this space for a precious little girl was so fun for me.” The “Zanzibar Trellis” wallpaper from Schumacher lays a neutral-colored, but boldly patterned foundation for the room. Baby girl can transition to the Serena & Lily daybed (in shell pink linen) when she outgrows the crib.
A Textured Take on Pink
A self-described maximalist, Sissy Yellen started out as a bespoke nursery designer, but now heads up a full-service design firm in the Detroit area. This “light and feminine” nursery’s walls are wallpapered with a grasscloth, which adds welcome depth and texture to the usual pink walls.
Warm Tones
An unexpected color combination of Benjamin Moore’s “Queen Anne Pink” (HC-60) paired with mustard curtain panels from CB2 enlivens this room by Bethany Adams, an interior designer based in Louisville, Kentucky. Adams rounded out the room with a mid-century-style cabinet (topped with a Peanut changing pad) and an oversized papier-mâché elephant mask from India.
Color on Color
Artist Farwa Moledina went all in on color and pattern in her daughter Sofia’s nursery. The top half of the room is papered in Lust Home’s “Let’s Make a Den” wallpaper, while the lower half is painted in Farrow and Ball’s “Sulking Room Pink.” A sky-blue ceiling paint (Lust Home’s “Elderflower”) completes the saturated scheme.
See more of this room: A Nursery’s Wallpaper Is Filled with Woodland Animals — And We Love It
Garden Fantasy
Houston-based designer Marie Flanigan may have created the ultimate garden-inspired nursery for her daughter Eve. A floral wall mural by Rebel Walls transforms the room into a secret garden.
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A Fresh Palette
When Sarah Gibson, the content creator behind Room for Tuesday, set out to help her friends with their nursery, the mom-to-be had her heart set on this peel-and-stick wallpaper from Chasing Paper. The parents wanted the nursery to feel like it was for a girl, but didn’t want to go with typical bubble-gum pink, according to Gibson. “We landed on burnt orange, mauve, desaturated blush, creamy white, and beige,” she says, noting the palette works well with the wood tone of the crib.
Artist Inspiration
“I was scrolling Pinterest for mural inspiration for my daughter’s room when I came across Martcellia Liunic’s work,” says Sarah Blumer. “Her paintings are so happy and fun, and I wanted to add some characters inspired by her work to a wall in my daughter’s room.”
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Color That Makes You Look
For twin baby girls, Think Chic Interiors, a firm based in Westchester County, New York, put a shocking shade of pink on the ceiling. “This bright pink ceiling is a reminder to always look up,” says Malka Helft, the founder of Think Chic. “Having a throughline in a room is key. In this room, it’s the use of pink that ties it all together — the window treatments, the striped play tent, and the brushstrokes on the art.
Fade to Gray
Think Chic Interiors played with unexpected ways to use pink in another nursery, pairing pink with gray. “‘Silver Chain’ by Benjamin Moore is my favorite gray because it never reads pink, purple, or green,” says Helft. “Here it brings out the beautiful gray veins in the marble wallpaper on the ceiling and is the perfect complement to the soft pinks we used throughout.
All About the Accent Wall
In this nursery by Amber Guyton, the founder of Blessed Little Bungalow, a three-dimensional accent wall painted a non-traditional take on pink creates a focal point in the room. However, Guyton points out that her first priority for any nursery is function and practicality. “Thoughtfully selected furniture with multi-purpose features maximizes space efficiency, creating a nurturing environment that evolves with the child’s needs,” she says.
Jewel Tones
Who says a girl’s room has to be pretty and pink? It took Jennifer four years to decide on a color to paint her daughter’s room, but the gorgeous dark blue was worth the wait. “Color for me feels like one of the biggest decisions you can make. I originally brought home about seven little paint pots of totally different colors for her room. But, I saw that indigo blue and knew that was the color.”
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West Coast Cool
Cue the calm: Austin-based interior designer Audrey Sheck says this Los Angeles nursery “was infused with the California-inspired aesthetic with vintage textiles, rattan accents, and pops of color to create a bright and airy space.”
Boho Baby
Kristen Fountain Wilson, the founder of Studio Louise in Atlanta, painted her daughter’s room a subdued and unexpected shade of blush (Sherwin-Williams ‘Rose Tan’). Underfoot a Moroccan-style rug picks up the pink accents, while rattan accents add an organic element. (Don’t worry — that mirror is firmly affixed to the wall!)
Darling Details
The rug was the inspiration for Melissa Warner Rothblum’s daughter’s nursery. The founder of Massucco Warner in Los Angeles says, “I didn’t imagine going quite as pink for my daughter’s nursery, but I came across this rug when I was pregnant and it was a must-have.” From there, Warner Rothblum added charcoal and lavender to balance the pink. That dollhouse is actually a custom cabinet, which keeps all the toys hidden when not in use.
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Curtain Call
Claire Staszak, the Chicago-based interior designer behind Centered By Design, went with a simple foundation in the nursery, including the subtlest shade of peach on the wall (“White Blush” by Benjamin Moore), but made a statement with drapery by textile artist Bethany Mabee. Staszak says, “Brass accents and edgy sun flushmount keep the room from being too sweet.”
Budget-Friendly Wall Panels
Chelsea Angelos, who posts on Instagram under the handle @cityloveletter, says children’s rooms are her favorite to decorate (us too!). In her daughter’s nursery, Chelsea used a peel-and-stick wallpaper to create an accent wall and then later added a few more framed panels to the other walls for a less-expensive DIY than papering the whole room — ingenious!
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Invitation for Imagination
Set designer parents made this little girl’s room into a serene and imaginative place. The house-shaped play hut can double as an extra space for a child to sleep, and the mirrors are hung at the perfect height for their daughter who was not yet 2 at the time of the shoot. Wall-to-wall sisal carpet is a relatively affordable way to cover floors.
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