Christina Kittelstad is a tutor of QC Design School. She’s also an accomplished color consultant, home stager, and painter. Her work has even been featured on HGTV’s show, “House Hunters”. She’s the owner and lead color consultant for Spiral Design Color Consulting. Christina is best known for creating beautiful, functional spaces through the use of color, as well as establishing a sense of style and personality that’s as unique as each of her clients!
When color consulting, choosing a palette for the nursery may be one of the most fun and exciting spaces to put together, both for you and your clients. I personally love color consulting on nurseries and children’s spaces! It’s the perfect space to be more creative and whimsical than you otherwise might be. It also lets you take a few well thought-out design risks.
Gone are the days of choosing a color scheme for the nursery purely based on gender! While some clients do love to go all out with a super feminine or masculine design, more and more clients are moving towards choosing color palettes that are more gender-neutral. Maybe, in part, it’s due to the growing trend of expecting parents who prefer NOT to know the gender of their baby prior to birth.
These clients are looking for a fresh color scheme that’ll inspire the room’s design, while not being gender-specific. Parents want to walk into this room and feel happy, excited, prepared, and inspired! They want the color scheme to evoke a peaceful space that’s ready for their baby. It must be safe, functional, and make a statement just as powerful as the rest of the home.
If done well, gender-neutral color schemes are flexible. With a few simple styling and design adjustments from year to year, this room can even grow with the child…
#1 – Black and White
This is a foolproof color scheme. Black and white works in ANY room. It’s truly timeless! This combination is super trendy, especially these days. Pulling in bold accent colors – such as teal, lime green, sunshine yellow, and/or metallic gold – can inspire the overall design. For example, it could tie in directly with a home exhibiting a fresh farmhouse or modern theme.
In terms of décor, your clients can incorporate black and white photos and artwork. They can also add yellow-striped throw blankets (or ones of another accented color), graphic black and white printed wallpaper, and fresh white walls. That would look stunning!
#2 – Teal and Yellow
This color scheme screams: sunshine!
It’s cheerful, vibrant, and absolutely perfect for clients seeking a gender-neutral scheme. Painting bold teal walls with a bright yellow crib would make this nursery fun and playful. Your clients could even bring in soft textured rugs, crisp linens, funky mod patterns, and colorful, vintage artwork. This color scheme also looks great with touches of white, as it keeps everything fresh and bright.
#3 – Green, Orange, and Turquoise
This earthy color scheme pulls in the elements of nature, while still offering a spirited, colorful design. So what tips could you suggest to your clients for this gender-neutral nursery?
Rich accent walls, painted in rich greens: jade, emerald, forest, etc.! This will warm up the space. Then little pops of bold citrus orange and bright turquoise can be thrown in, too, to keep the vibe young and fun! Encourage your clients to go for it with bold printed sheets, fun artwork, accent color-painted bookcases, and textured baskets to finish off this scheme!
#4 – Navy Blue
This dynamic color scheme has so many possibilities! Navy blue walls offer a soothing yet modern, gender-neutral space. Adding in accent colors, such as blush pink, bold orange, gentle cream, bright white, or grassy green, will create a cheerful nursery that’s still very much restful.
This scheme also works well with plants/greenery, textured rugs, baskets, throw blankets, and wall hangings. If your clients love Boho and/or mid-century modern designs, this is a gender-neutral nursery design you can DEFINITELY throw their way!
#5 – Gray and White
Unlike some of the funkier color schemes mentioned in this list, gray and white is neutral and classic. It’s one of the most flexible color schemes, in that it can be customized and accented with almost any color, depending on your clients’ style.
Some examples of beautiful accent colors that would really make this nursery pop are:
- Dark teal
- Charcoal
- Slate blue
- Tiffany blue
- Dusty pink
- Rose gold
- Orange
Any of these would make beautiful accents that provide bursts of color. This gender-neutral scheme works for all sorts of styled spaces: rustic, farmhouse, modern, contemporary, and even traditional. It can easily be adjusted over time, as the relevant trends shift. You can even encourage your clients to get creative with patterns or stripes, or just keep it simple and serene. Either will look incredible!
#6 – Pewter and Cognac
A nursey with these colors would be so sophisticated, while still remaining down to earth and soothing. For example, it could have gorgeous, pewter green accent walls, alongside clean white walls. There could be wood tones, with touches of leather. This would create a warm, cozy nursery radiating tranquility.
This gender-neutral color scheme will work best if your clients were to incorporate lots of texture. This can be done through soft blankets, vintage patterned rugs, wall hangings, fur throw rugs, and storage baskets.
Gender-Neutral Influencers
These 6 gender-neutral nursery color schemes listed above are definitely popular right now. But the real beauty is that they can also stand the test of time! Here are a few gender-neutral design styles, themes, elements, and trends that are also currently inspiring nursery design:
As you design gender-neutral nurseries for your clients, it’s important to really listen to their needs and desires. Learn what their unique style is, and what their goals are. How do THEY want the space to feel? What design elements and colors make them feel safe, rested, and happy?
Having a baby is a huge life change! Offering your clients a beautiful and inspiring design that’s not only functional, but also fits in perfectly with the flow of their home, is key.
Learning the ins and outs of color consulting, and receiving a professional certification in color consulting, will properly prepare you for the real world in this industry. Accredited schools, such as QC Design School, will strengthen your eye for design, and give you all the skills needed to choose successful color schemes and design spaces that your clients will love for years to come!
Make 2020 the year you start on your journey towards a long, rewarding, and thriving career as a professional designer!
