How To Decorate a Nursery: Teddy Bear Theme
For many folks, few objects represent childhood like the classic teddy bear. Share your nostalgia for plush faux fur and shoe-button eyes with your child by decorating your nursery with a teddy bear theme. That doesn't mean whipping out your credit card for every nursery item plastered with bears. Moderation lets you highlight a handful of carefully selected teddy bear elements and results in a nursery you won't long to change before your child starts to crawl. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Paint, medium sheen
- Paintbrushes and rollers
- Crib
- Changing table
- Rocking chair
- Armoire or chest
- Mural paint
- Small paintbrushes
- Crib linens
- Curtains
- Bear illustrations, stills or photos
- Frames with mats
- Lamps
- Throws and pillows
- Story books
- Teddy bears
- Wall shelf, window cornice or display cabinet
Instructions
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Narrow your focus to a specific type of teddy bear. Consider traditional Steiff-style bears, whimsical bears from children's story book illustrations or animated cartoon bears from television or movies. Explore modern, stylized bears handcrafted from felt or recycled materials.
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Paint the nursery with medium-sheen paint, which is easier to clean than flat. Let your bear type inspire the color. Choose classic white, buttery cream or a soft pastel for a nursery inspired by classic or sweetly illustrated teddy bears. Go brighter, if you like, for nurseries decorated around modern or cartoon-like bears.
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Purchase nursery furniture -- a crib, changing table, rocking chair and perhaps a storage chest or armoire -- that suits your home and your teddy bear style. Choose from a wide range of furniture styles for classic and whimsical bears, anything from formal dark woods to painted cottage styles. Funky handcrafted bears mesh well with modern or vintage furniture. Use casual furniture -- traditional or contemporary -- with cartoon-inspired teddy bears.
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Paint or commission a mini-mural on the inset door panels of an armoire, or on just the drawers of your storage chest or changing table. Use colors and images inspired by your bear type. Don't worry about ruining the furniture; you can sand and stain or repaint the piece when your baby gets too old for teddy bears.
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Look for washable bed linens and curtains. Mimic the bed and window looks shown in your inspiration illustrations or animations, if they're depicted, to recreate your inspiration bear's environment. Choose colors, fabrics and details appropriate for your nursery furniture style otherwise.
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Disassemble a children's book for the illustrations, or collect stills of bear animations. Mat and frame them, and then hang them all together in one large arrangement. Frame antique-looking photographs, like in sepia, for nurseries inspired by classic teddy bears. Ask felt and recycled bear artists if you can photograph their creations, or ask for permission to print the photos they have online.
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Add decorative and functional accessories to the nursery -- lamps, throws, accent pillows and story books, for example. Keep them room appropriate and mostly non-themed, but add one or two teddy bear touches. Try a lamp with a teddy bear base, or tuck a bear appliqued throw pillow in the rocking chair.
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Display a collection of real teddy bears to finish your teddy bear themed nursery. Place them in a row on a wall-mounted shelf or wooden window cornice painted to match the room's trim. Tuck any pricey antique teddy bear collections behind the doors of a glass-fronted display case.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
