DECORATING ADVICE : Nursery That Will Suit Baby--Boy or Girl
Question: I am decorating a nursery for our first baby. The willow-green carpeting is fairly new and will not be replaced. The window is dressed with a winter-white sheer and a short drapery of willow-green and white nubby fabric on a pale-gray rod.
The walls are winter-white, and the closet and bedroom door are stained provincial fruitwood, as are all the doors. I need to paint the walls, because we’re going to purchase a white crib.
My favorite colors are blue, rose, raspberry, hunter green and burgundy. The room should suit either a boy or a girl. Would peach or yellow work best? The walls are slightly textured, so I don’t want to paper them. However, I could use a border or stencil design. I would like the room to be appropriate for the baby as he or she gets older. Is this possible?
Kathleen Borges
Answer: I have never looked at colors as being “masculine” or “feminine,” though I realize others do. Paint the walls in your nursery a pretty golden yellow. Then cover the trim with a white semi-gloss enamel. Consider painting the drapery rod bright with a fire-engine red lacquer. For your crib quilt, you might find something in bright red, blue and green on a soft willow-green background.
Q: A 16-foot wall in my kitchen is papered with the white sample enclosed. The cabinets are made of fruitwood. My adjoining breakfast room is painted (I’ve enclosed a sample), and the ceiling border in that room is matching paper with a blue background. I have three windows in the breakfast room, and there are two windows above the sink in the kitchen. I wanted to trim them with green and white striped balloon valances and white on white draperies tied with the green-striped material. Would the green striped valance be out of place beside the blue border?
Dolores Lopez
A: For your window draperies, I would suggest soft-aqua fabric hung on white rods with white rings. Trim the drapery with some white and pale pink braid. If you want a valance, make one of a narrow aqua, pink and white stripe.
Q: I’ve just returned from Spain, Portugal and France. What decorating element do these places have in common with America?
Bette Richards
A: There are many, certainly, but one of the most striking materials each of these countries employs in its designs is wrought iron.
For a bedroom with cool elegance, try a black scroll-style wrought-iron headboard. Dress the bed with bright red and white striped pillowcases and a comforter of bright red, white and charcoal. For the pull-up bedroom chair, try a wrought-iron chair covered in a rich charcoal silk. Gray with black is a very chic look; it also captures the Spanish and Mediterranean mood. Next, for contrast, add a sandstone base table with a glass top, accented with a wrought-iron bedside lamp and some Spanish art and architecture books. Complete the Spanish look with a brightly colored shawl, perhaps of black with rose embroidery work. An alternative to the shawl would be a mohair throw of bright red.
The wrought-iron look is very popular these days. You can find metal-framed coffee tables and dining tables all over the market. Surfaces come in glass, wood, marble and faux marble.
“Contrast” is a key word in today’s decorating, and you’ll find many of your neighbors mixing wood with steel, or glass with brass, or glass with synthetics. Today’s homes are never solely one period. As the borders of the world’s countries open up, it becomes even easier to adopt and borrow various facets of each culture. So when planning that new bedroom, kitchen, bath or living room, remember: The time has come to mix.
