Colors for a boy for a crib and dresser

[soontobemommy]

Hey all,
I just found out am having a boy and had really pretty much looked at more girly stuff for furniture until now. Was curious if white is too girly for a boy's crib and dresser? I want something that will look good for years dresser wise - an investment. Crib obviously will use for another child or not but won't get a convertible most likely.

Was thining maybe cherry and not white for a boy but some of those nursery pix in mags and on the net show the boys stuff in white and it's cute but want to make the right choice.

would love opinions, suggestions, etc.
Lauren

[mysweetboy]

We have white furniture in our DS's nursery and it definitely doesn't look girly. I think what mainly determines that are paint colors and bedding. We just purchased new furniture for him (a convertible crib since he won't be ready for a bed and matching dresser) and will use the white furniture for our baby girl's nursery. I always wanted white furniture in my baby's nursery and am glad I stuck w/that choice.

Good luck!
Lori
mommy to Charlie, 5/04
and a sweet baby girl due 10/05!

[amp]

We also have white furniture for the nursery. We didn't know if DS was a boy or a girl at the time, but felt white was appropriate. I've never regretted it. However, all of the furniture in his room, will be moved for the baby. The dresser is also the changing table, so when DS gets his big boy bed and furniture, a new dresser and bookcase are part of that. The white stuff will all move with the baby. The dresser can later be painted once the baby is no longer the baby, as can the bookshelf, so I think they are fine long term, no matter the sex of the baby.

It's really about what you like. Cherry looks nice too.

[soontobemommy]

thanks for the input- thing is let's say I just have ONE child, I am 39 and not sure I want to have another (will see how this one goes- LOL!), if I did get white I am not sure that a boy will like a white dresser and "white big boy bed" as he gets older and I would really like to get furniture that will last (minus crib) versus something I can't use in a few years. I love white for a baby but just want to be smart with my spending of course. Then I sit and think what if I did cherry and do have another and it's a girl and then I have this cherry crib and have to get her matching dresser - ugh...(I think too much!)

Lauren

[mysweetboy]

I totally understand where you're coming from. When we bought our furniture, we knew that it would grow up w/someone, and we didn't know that we would ever have a girl. I found a few pics of boys' rooms w/white furniture from Land of Nod (links below). So it can work, just comes down to paint colors and bedding. Also throwing in a piece of furniture in a different color will mix it up (you can paint a piece like Andrea suggested). Just depends on what you like!

[link:www.landofnod.com/landofnod/roomset.asp?area%5Fname=Rooms&roomset%5Fname=Room%5FSet%5FField%5Fof%5FDreams&category%5Fname=Rooms%5FBoys|Room #1]

[link:www.landofnod.com/landofnod/roomset.asp?area%5Fname=Rooms&roomset%5Fname=Room%5FSet%5FMap&category%5Fname=Rooms%5FBoys|Room #2]

[link:www.landofnod.com/landofnod/roomset.asp?area%5Fname=Rooms&roomset%5Fname=Room%5FSet%5FTicking&category%5Fname=Rooms%5FBoys|Room #3]

Congratulations and good luck w/whatever you decide to do!

Lori
mommy to Charlie, 5/04
and a sweet baby girl due 10/05!

[dianna]

We bought maple instead of white - but my first choice was white. My husband was able to convince me to go with the maple since we bought a convertible crib, and white wouldn't make a good little boy bed.

So...my 2 cents is - go with white if you are just using it for baby time. But if you want to go convertible and use it as they get older, then go with a wood color. GL!

[amp]

If I was only having one child and the child I bought the stuff for was going to be using the dresser and/or bed (convertible) for years, I would go with a different color than white. I loved white in a nursery, for a boy or a girl, as I said above. But I hesitate to put white in my DS's room now, and we'll be going with oak or cherry. If there's a possibility that you will have 1 child, and want to keep using the furniture past the nursery stage, go ahead and go w/ cherry, which is easily usable in a girl or a boy room.

ETA: I just looked at Lori's links and love, love, love the white pieces mixed w/ blue or red and boyish decor! I take back what I said above, if you are willing to paint pieces or add very boyish stuff!

[soontobemommy]

Thanks guys- the Land of Nod stuff is sooo cute - I actually am looking at some of their bedding (however their sheets don't have elastic all around so would get other sheets). These pix actually gave me a great idea with mixing colors. I will probably do Cherry for his furniture and then if I have another baby and it's a girl we'll use the cherry crib and do antique white (which I wanted to do for a girl) for her dresser, etc. and then when she outgrows crib we will do a cute little bed in brass or something. That way I can use the crib 2x if I need to and can get a big boy bed in cherry or even white as those pix show. We just really want to get a good dresser to start with - something he can use for years and is an investment why color is important to me. I guess you can mix things and I need to be creative as I do in my master bedroom. We have a beautiful cherry set - sleigh bed, dresser and my husband's night table but my night table is an actual antique and it's off white and we have an off white (in a completely different color) lingerie chest that was my grandma's too and the whole thing works really nice together.

Thanks again guys! I think I'll go with cherry for baby boy and mix it up if I have another baby if she's a girl.
Lauren

[lmariana]

I have white for my boy's room now and plan on buying white again for the next boy's room. I think it mostly depends on the bedding you get and how you decorate the room that gives it that "boy" or "girl" feel. For example, in the new nursery, we're painting the walls cocoa brown, using white furniture and wall accents, and robin's egg blue as an accent color. I'm attaching a swatch of the bedding we're using.

I think the room will have a very clean and modern feel, and not girly at all. It's all about how you decorate!

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mom to Gabe, 8/03
www.heinzandmariana.com

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[soontobemommy]

Yeah I see what you mean- I guess I'll go look at colors and figure it out. I just can't get over a huge white dresser for a boy for some reason...I want a large one to use as changing table too (wide) however guy who helped us at furniture store said if it's a boy I should get a tall dresser and a girl a wide one (which means I would need a changing table with a boy) as he had 2 boys and they like the tall, whereas girls like the wide to put things on? I am so not good at figuring this out. I had it all figured out If I had a girl but now that it's a boy am just lost on how to decorate (am a girly girl and never had any brothers or anything).

BTW, your swatch is gorgeous - may I ask where you got bedding? I love those colors!

Thank you!
Lauren

[lmariana]

I read an article a long time ago with designer Laurie Smith (from Trading Spaces) and she talked about how she designed her son's nursery. She said with any room, she always starts with a fabric she loves and goes from there. So she found the fabric she liked and designed this awesome little boys room around it.

I found the bedding at www.dwellshop.com, in the Dwell Baby section. They also carry it at Babystyle.com.

I couldn't find ANY boy prints I liked in the stores, they all seemed too babyish or too country or too frilly for my tastes. I also liked the Koi and Panda collection from Sozousa.com.

Just start with a bedding set you love and then build the room around that! If maple looks best, go with maple; if it's cherry, go with cherry. And don't be afraid to use real colors on the walls! Babies love contrast, so strong colors are good.

As far as dressers go, all we've bought for our son now (22 months old) is a crib and a dresser/changing table combo. Baby clothes is small, it doesn't need a lot of space! Whenever he outgrows a size, I just pack it up and move it to storage, and we've never run out of space. I would just buy a regular size dresser that you can use a changing pad on and see how that works out for you. You can always add more pieces later as the need arises or they go on sale. :) You can also make extra storage space under the crib, add organizers inside the closet, baskets on bookshelves, coat racks...whatever.

Have fun with it!

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mom to Gabe, 8/03
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[CiderLogan]

I love the styles at Dwell and Sozo - but they didn't have the colors (periwinkle/lavender and light green) I am looking for (and I'm looking for twin sized stuff now) - so I was wondering if you found any other cool stores like those to suggest?

Thanks!
Jenny
Mom of Julia, 8/03

[lmariana]

I haven't found too many other fun sites, but Lori told me about javisdavis.com. Their "Playtime" and "Fashion Frogs" are in your color palette. You can also order you own fabric and have her make the bedding for you!

http://www.javisdavis.com/3_collections/forgirls.html

Mariana
Owner of HappyDayBaby
Mom to Gabe, 8/03
www.heinzandmariana.com

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[CiderLogan]

...for replying, and so quickly!

Jenny
Mom of Julia, 8/03

[soontobemommy]

Wow,I think I found my dream bedding! That Jarvis Davis is just my style. I love the Cotton Toile and the Over Moon. It's more what I've been looking for - nothing too "charactery" or typical but more of a unique, even vintage feel. Really beautiful! Thanks again for all your help!
Lauren

[KBecks]

And I like it because I can re-use if we have a girl later.
His room and accessories are blue, and it looks fine.