Gender Neutral Nursery Inspiration for Baby #2

To be honest, I am almost in disbelief that I’m even writing this post. In so many ways, it still doesn’t seem real that we are planning to welcome our second child(!!!!)! I mean, I am CLEARLY fully aware that I’m pregnant (this kid LOVES to move!)… but it’s just going by SO fast that I’m letting the weeks slip by before my eyes.

I’m a little over 23 weeks along now and, I realize that with the holidays FAST approaching, it’s going to be JANUARY before we know it and BOOM, I’ll have about one to two months (depending on when baby decides to show up) to plan and prepare and decorate a nursery! So, I’m trying to think ahead and do everything I can NOW to start thinking about what we are going to need and what we want to do.

Just like when we were pregnant with Lilly, we aren’t finding out the gender of this baby before he/she is born. We had SO MUCH FUN planning Lilly’s nursery and it is still, to this day, one of my favorite home projects we ever undertook. I miss that old nursery so much!

So, since we are waiting to find out the gender, we are tasked with decorating another gender neutral nursery! YAY! I actually LOVE planning this out and love the challenge of trying to come up with a color scheme and a theme that isn’t too cliche, incorporates things we like, and can easily be adapted to be more “boyish” or “girlish” once baby does arrive.

I have always been a HUGE fan of Pottery Barn Kids. I LOVE their classic furniture and decor items that are adorable, timeless, and REALLY well made. I STILL have some old decor and furniture from them that have lasted me well over a decade and look almost brand new.

I teamed up with Pottery Barn Kids to start planning our second “gender neutral” nursery and get some inspiration going. Obviously we haven’t even purchased anything yet or even picked out paint samples… but we gotta start somewhere, right? Right.

First, we begin with a COLOR SCHEME! This part is so fun because it helps shape the look and feel whole room.

For Lilly’s nursery, we stuck with greens, grays, yellows, oranges, and a little blue. For this baby’s nursery, I’d love to go with some neutral pastels with pops of navy to break it up. Right now, I absolutely LOVE the look of navy with mint, coral, and a golden yellow!

I also will FULLY admit that there’s a large chance I could wake up tomorrow and totally change my mind on all of this… but the time is NOW and not two weeks before the baby arrives. Right? Right. Right.

Next, we’re talking FURNITURE!! 

1: Emerson Crib in Navy | 2: Emerson Changing Table in Navy | 3: Comfort Swivel Rocker in Navy

When I was looking around the Pottery Barn Kids site, I fell in love with the Emerson Crib and Changing Table in Navy! I would have NEVER thought to do NAVY furniture, but the more I look at it, the more I love it.

We are NOT planning on transitioning Lilly out of her crib for awhile (she loves her crib so much and frankly, I’m perfectly fine with keeping her in it as long as humanly possible! haha!). So, needless to say, we will need to get a second crib for baby #2.

And then, of course we need a good rocker. I’ve spent hours. and hours. and hours. and hours. AND HOURS in Lilly’s rocker / glider in her room and I know how quickly that chair can get uncomfortable. At the time, I wasn’t really thinking and just got a glider I thought would work, rather than considering the LARGE amount of time I’d be spending in it. Therefore, quite frankly, a good rocker or glider is something I’m willing to spend a little extra money on knowing how much use (and abuse!) and wear and tear it’s going to get. Mamas, am I right?! I absolutely love this Comfort Swivel Rocker in Navy. It’s gorgeous and looks SO comfortable!

Next, let’s talk BEDDING!

1: Rowan Organic Nursery Bedding (sold out right now, but LOVE this Navy set!) | 2: Rowan Organic Nursery Quilt | 3: Rowan Organic Decorative Sham (similar) | 4: Rowan Organic Crib Fitted Sheet (in stock and on major sale!)

This is always hard for me because I feel like GOOD, quality, and CUTE gender neutral bedding can be so difficult to find. I love the Rowan Organic collection from PBK – most of it is out of stock right now, but it gives me a good starting point to think about what I like! I also LOVE their Linen Nursery in Navy Bedding Set. It’s “technically” categorized as boy bedding, but who said navy bedding has to be for only a boy? 🙂

Also, this adorable chevron dot fitted sheet is so cute and on MAJOR sale, I may stock up on two or three of these… because let’s be honest… you gotta change baby’s sheets A LOT.

Something to consider is adding pieces like the sham and pillows and quilts down the road. To help protect against SIDS, we don’t put anything in baby’s crib for at least the first 6-9 months… even up to a year. Lilly obviously sleeps with ALL THE THINGS now (you can barely find her in her crib amongst all her blankets and pillows and friends)… so a cute quilt and pillow are good “down the line” nursery additions.

BUT, that’s not to say you can’t put those quilts and pillows on the rocker / glider! 🙂

Then you’ve got the “extras” every nursery needs…

Chevron Dot Boppy Slipcover | Alphabet Round Corkboard in Navy

I used a Boppy pillow with Lilly for AT LEAST a year. I loved that thing! I really used it up until she was just too big for it. I used it for nursing, propping her up, snuggling, reading, etc. Our Boppy pillow was one of my most-used baby items. I’d love to get an adorable, custom slipcover for it that even matches the nursery! How cute are these?!?!?!

And to go along with the navy feel of the room, I absolutely love this Alphabet Round Corkboard in Navy. Perfect for pinning notes and pictures for baby to make the room feel more personal and homey.

Lastly (but not leastly :)) a reading nook…

1: Jenni Kayne Decorative Feather Pillow | 2: 6 Inch Deep Collector’s Shelves| 3: Anywhere Chair

We read to Lilly DAILY and have done so since she was born. And now, Lilly LOVES to read (she adores reading to her baby dolls and stuffed animals) and so I know she is going to LOVE to read to her new baby brother or sister. I’d love to incorporate a fun little reading nook in the nursery for us (mommy and daddy), grandparents, or Lilly to read to the baby. And, of course, for when baby gets older… a place to go to read that is his / her own.

Lilly has an Anywhere Chair in her playroom that she loves and it’s one of those pieces that is great for kids to grow with!

So what do you think? Do you like the nursery inspiration so far? For those of you who have multiple kids, did you do anything differently when planning for your second nursery? What things did you do the same? Have any of you done a gender neutral nursery? What ideas do you have? Anything I should consider?

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Thank you to Pottery Barn Kids for sponsoring this nursery inspiration post! All opinions and thoughts are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the advertisers that help support me and my family! 🙂