The important factors to consider while designing a nursery or a children’s room

Shonali Mahajan founded Studio Woodhouse, her Mumbai-based interior and architectural design firm in 2014, designing residential homes in Mumbai and Pune and second homes in Alibaug, Conoor and Goa. This year she launched a new specialised segment to her studio that she literally (non-ironically) calls her newest baby - Little Nugget, a design service meant especially for kids’ rooms and nurseries. “This sort of happened very naturally. Friends would come to me to help them design just one room or a child’s space within their homes, but I wasn’t sure about taking that on. But when we for the first time turned a room around for a little baby, and then the baby came home, it was all really endearing and heart-warming. I think we liked that aspect of the work we do. The clients are really excited, especially when it’s the first born,” smiles Shonali.

We sat down with the designer in her studio and got her to tell us everything that goes behind designing a little one’s room:

Furniture essentials for a nursery
“You need a changing table that is also a chest of drawers, a cot that has storage underneath, a day bed for the mother, a rocking chair and wardrobe.”

Perfect lighting for the space
“I also learned this recently on the job. It is really important to have different different types of lighting in a baby’s room and for different tasks. In addition to spotlights on the ceiling, add background lighting for when the baby is sleeping so that you have a soft glow and it calms the baby down. Dimmable lighting is important and remember to add one light above the changing table. In the bathroom having lighting with motion sensors helps because when you have the baby in your arms it just makes life easier for the mother or nanny.” 
 

Biggest trends in styling nurseries
“Gender neutral design is trendy right now. To make a gender-neutral nursery, you can focus on elements like the wallpaper, soft upholstery, and the colours. I would avoid anything too floral and instead go with stripes, a tropical theme, a jungle or forest. For the curtains you could have something that the child will use even when they get older, such as sheers in green or blue. You can have another layer of the main curtains in black and white polka dots, pinstripe or something abstract. Add rugs for another pop of colour. My other favourite thing to do is colour blocking. For example, you can have a grey, yellow and white nursery.” 

Planning the space for a growing child
“One of the main concerns for young parents with tight budgets is that they don’t want to do up the space again when the child is over the age of 3 or 4. The room should grow and evolve with the child so we just don’t go as per what the plan is today, but plan five years ahead. In terms of your soft upholstery and curtains, it’s not such a big deal because you will change them. From an interior design standpoint, things like adding plug points, creating a space for a desk, a growing wardrobe etc is important. Recently we designed a nursery keeping in mind that the couple would have another kid, so we planned for two beds, a desk, two wardrobes, etc. And even things like the day bed, the cot, chaining table, were all planned so that with a few minor tweaks or modifications - like adding legs or some nice handles - they could easily be used later. The other important thing is the bathroom - at first the mother and the nanny are accessing it, but when the child grows, they have to use it themselves. So, what we do for vanities, for example, we add a little drawer which when pulled out can be used as a stool to access the basin and it blends into the décor at the same time.”