Designing a Nursery Using Black and White

Hi everyone! I’m Sarah from Just The Bees Knees and I’m so glad to be back again this month sharing another mood board!  So far I’ve talked about how to add touches of Pantones color of the year Radiant Orchid into your home, as well as shared my tips on how to mix decor styles, but this month I’m taking things in a different direction and chatting about a warm and fuzzy subject near and dear to my heart: babies.

I don’t know what it is about springtime that gets me thinking about babies. And then in the mind of a designer, thoughts of babies naturally turn into thoughts of baby nurseries. Well in my mind anyways:) When I was having my babies, we went against the grain and decided not to find out if we were having a girl or boy, which meant my  decorating options were very limited. We were kind of stuck with green and yellow, which were the in style at the time.

Over the last few years, gray has dominated as a neutral and mixes well with any boy or girl colors, but lately I have been seeing a trend towards another neutral for nurseries….Black and white! At first thought, you may think black is very harsh for a newborn, but as you can see, if mixed with the right colors and textures, designing a nursery in black and white can be a great choice for your little bundle of Joy! 

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Refreshing, right?! Not harsh at all. I think this space feels lively and bright, but comforting at the same time.  If you like the idea of creating a nursery based around the colors black and white and want to give it a go, here are a fews tips to follow:

• Mix with warm wood tones.  The white pieces of furniture above come alive and feel much softer with warm wood accents. Adding in a few natural wood decor pieces, such as the woodland mobile or the dimensional wood letters really help to warm up the space as well.
• Add Texture with natural elements.  A natural Jute rug or a black and white cowhide really add texture and softness to the space. Woven baskets or light fixtures are also great options to break up a strong black and white palette.
• Accent with warm metals. Gold and brass accents are all the rage right now and compliment the black and white theme so well! They add warmth as well as a touch of glamour to the space.
• Balance with a hint of an accent color. I used orange in the mood board above to demonstrate a gender neutral option, but so many gender specific colors go so well with black and white! Try pink for a girl, or lime green for a boy! You can add small doses of color through artwork, throw pillows, area rugs, decorative pieces, you name it!
• Go easy on the black. We obviously don’t want your baby’s room to have a goth vibe (unless thats your thing) so take it easy on the black and don’t paint the entire room with midnight walls. However, one black accent wall (maybe even a chalkboard wall?!) would look great as long as the rest of the room screamed white and bright! It’s all about balance, and that doesn’t always mean 50-50. A little bit of black can go a long way.

I hoped you enjoyed my tips, and they are not limited to just the nursery either! Follow the same guidelines to add black and white to your decor in any room in your home. Take a look at this round-up of inspiring black and white interiors.

I’d also love it if you visited my blog to see how I changed my sons gender neutral green and yellow nursery into a fun and modern big boy room, or even to check out some more inspiring mood boards in my gallery.

Thanks again to Cassity and the Remodelaholic team for having me again today! I look forward to sharing more mood boards with you in the future!

xo, Sarah

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Looking for more nursery inspiration?

Remodelaholic’s Favorite Nurseries

Grey and White Striped Nursery

Green, Navy, and White Nursery

Nursery with Hand-Painted Wall Mural