How to Pick a Paint Color for Your Nursery

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Huggies Little Snugglers and Latina Bloggers Connect. All ideas, pictures and opinions are my own.

Many of you already know that I'm expecting my first baby and it’s a boy! Ever since we found out we started to dream about the clothing styles, toys, books and even the theme and colors that we would like in our new baby’s room.

Today there are so many different paint color choices for each style which is awesome, but I must confess that big pile of possibilities also makes me feel a bit overwhelmed and nervous. How do we make sure that we choose the perfect color for our baby's room? Where can we look for inspiration? How do we begin this exciting color hunt?

These tips may give you a better idea of how to find the perfect color for your nursery:

• Look for a theme. It may be a color palette inspired by a cartoon, a book or even a piece of art or a pattern from that new set of sheets for the crib that you just bought. From there you can start looking for similar colors that you see on that character, object or pattern. Take a photo to the paint store and look for similar colors. Choose one, two or even three to make your color palette.

Some inspiration: How to make a color palette from a picture | Colorful Kids' Room Ideas

• What kind of ambiance would you like to create in your baby’s nursery? Another way to choose colors is to look for it’s meaning and how it affects human behavior. For example, I love reading about color psychology, especially the positive effects. Some positive associations with colors are:

Red: Excitement, passion

Pink: Romanticism, illusion, femininity

Orange: Energy, enthusiasm, creativity

Yellow: Happiness, positivism

Green: Nature, freshness, stability

Blue: Intelligence, faith, calm

How do you want the baby’s nursery to feel? Relaxing, romantic or creative?

• Boy or girl? Many of us already know the sex of our baby and although it's exciting to look for the popular colors, a shade of blue if it's a boy or pink for a girl, there are other colors that look great and usually go unnoticed.

For a girl’s nursery besides pink, there are soft greens, any kind of blue, coral and purple, especially lavender.

For boys, blues, yellows, any kind of greens, orange and even brown.

• A palette of neutral colors. It is also good to think ahead and look for a color that will be with our little one not only for the first few months, but through his early childhood. Another good reason to look for a neutral color is if the baby shares a room with a sibling or may in the future. In those situations, something in the family of whites, grays and browns might be perfect.

If you feel that these colors look very sad and simple, remember that you can use as many colors as you like with accessories to make the room look happy.

Besides neutral, mint green, any shade of yellow and orange would work for both, girl or boy and are timeless.

SOME TIPS BEFORE PAINTING:

Now, you have a color in mind but still need to consider some details before buying the paint.

• A dark or light shade? Let's say you already have a color for your baby’s nursery in mind. Remember that dark and saturated colors tend to create a feeling of cozyness and make the room smaller, especially if you don’t have lots of natural lighting. If you feel attracted to a strong, dark color, consider painting just one or two walls in that tone to add depth and style to the room without saturating it.

Light colors, however, make a room look larger and are perfect for small or dimly lit rooms.

• Do not be fooled by the colors from the paint samples. Another tip is to note that the colors from the paint samples tend to look lighter on the paint sample than on the walls. If you notice, paint samples sometimes come in long strips ranging from the darkest to lightest color, well, choose a color and buy one tone lighter.
• Test. The lighting in the baby's room will make the colors change, so I strongly recommend taking paint samples to the house and looking at them at different times of the day. How does that color look in the morning? What about at night when the lights are on?
• Choose a durable paint. Look for a type of paint low in VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) that will be healthier for your baby. The semi-gloss finish can be cleaned easily, you never know what your new little one may surprise you with! and it’s my favorite for a kid’s room.

And by the way, I have great news for for all those moms who are looking for paint, furniture and other adorable things for the nursery. Huggies® diapers besides having adorable designs and care so much of our baby’s skin, especially with their new Huggies® Little Snugglers with GentleAbsorb* liner that provides a cushiony layer of protection and the incredible Natural Care wipes with aloe and vitamin E, has thought of a way to give you that paint for your baby's room! Just add Huggies® Little Snugglers and Natural Care wipes to your baby registry by clicking HERE so you can participate for a chance to make this and many other dreams come true! Think about those things you can’t add to the gift registry but you would love your baby to have.

If you would like to receive a sample of these Huggies® Little Snugglers and Huggies® Natural Care wipes ask for them here. That way you can see how wonderful they are!

Some websites allow you to apply paint colors in a virtual room to give you an idea of how they will look in your home, feel free to play for a while until you find the color combination that makes you happy. Good luck looking for paint colors! Remember to have fun and enjoy this adventure. Congrats new mommies!