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Baby Room Wall Treatments
Wallpaper
Another way to jazz up nursery walls is with colorful wallpapers or borders. If you've already selected the bedding, window coverings, or trim paint, be sure to bring samples or swatches with you when you go to the wallpaper store. Bring along room measurements, too, so you can get an accurate estimate of how much paper you'll need.
Vinyl wallpaper is most durable and the easiest to clean, but it can harbor mildew in hot, humid climates with air conditioning. Coated paper is also wipeable, but be sure to ask about recommended cleaning procedures. Uncoated paper wallpaper isn't practical for a nursery or child's room. If you haven't wallpapered before and/or your walls are uneven (as they are in many older houses), you may want professional installation.
Wallpaper borders are an even simpler way to bring pattern to nursery walls. Though often applied where the walls meet the ceiling, mounting them lower on the wall provides more fun for the baby. Some parents apply the border about 30 inches from the floor, or about where a chair rail would be, and either use different colors above and below it or apply an easy-to-clean paint below and wallpaper above.
As with paints, ask store salespeople or your installation expert about using low-VOC adhesives, and allow at least a few days for the room to air out after application.
Wall accessories
Plain walls can be dressed up easily with all manner of pictures, framed photos, and cloth wall hangings (here's your chance to display the quilt or comforter that can't be used in the baby's crib). Make sure whatever you hang is secured to the wall firmly; anything hung above the crib should be extremely lightweight (consider decorative paper plates or printed fabric). Posters or fancy sheets of gift wrap laminated on pressboard give a finished, easy-to-wipe look without glass; most frame shops offer this service -- and charge less for it than for regular framing.
Nursery no-nos
While chalkboard paint and corkboard walls are great choices for older children, they're unsafe for babies. Chalk and chalk dust are too likely to be ingested, and the tacks used to attach things to cork walls are a hazard.
Another way to jazz up nursery walls is with colorful wallpapers or borders. If you've already selected the bedding, window coverings, or trim paint, be sure to bring samples or swatches with you when you go to the wallpaper store. Bring along room measurements, too, so you can get an accurate estimate of how much paper you'll need.
Vinyl wallpaper is most durable and the easiest to clean, but it can harbor mildew in hot, humid climates with air conditioning. Coated paper is also wipeable, but be sure to ask about recommended cleaning procedures. Uncoated paper wallpaper isn't practical for a nursery or child's room. If you haven't wallpapered before and/or your walls are uneven (as they are in many older houses), you may want professional installation.
Wallpaper borders are an even simpler way to bring pattern to nursery walls. Though often applied where the walls meet the ceiling, mounting them lower on the wall provides more fun for the baby. Some parents apply the border about 30 inches from the floor, or about where a chair rail would be, and either use different colors above and below it or apply an easy-to-clean paint below and wallpaper above.
As with paints, ask store salespeople or your installation expert about using low-VOC adhesives, and allow at least a few days for the room to air out after application.
Wall accessories
Plain walls can be dressed up easily with all manner of pictures, framed photos, and cloth wall hangings (here's your chance to display the quilt or comforter that can't be used in the baby's crib). Make sure whatever you hang is secured to the wall firmly; anything hung above the crib should be extremely lightweight (consider decorative paper plates or printed fabric). Posters or fancy sheets of gift wrap laminated on pressboard give a finished, easy-to-wipe look without glass; most frame shops offer this service -- and charge less for it than for regular framing.
Nursery no-nos
While chalkboard paint and corkboard walls are great choices for older children, they're unsafe for babies. Chalk and chalk dust are too likely to be ingested, and the tacks used to attach things to cork walls are a hazard.
