just add art! 4 tips for adding custom artwork to your little ones space

As an artist who specializes in custom paintings for nurseries and children's spaces, of course I believe that including custom artwork is important in making a room one of a kind! Whether the nursery décor is inspired by a piece of artwork or artwork acts as the finishing touch; adding a painting will make the room feel special and be unique - just like the little one who will sleep and play and grow in that space.

When discussing custom options with my customers, I find that similar questions are often asked when choosing what to include in a custom painting for their child. So I decided to put together my top 4 tips for adding custom artwork to your child's nursery.

#1 THINK AHEAD

When thinking about the nursery design, there may be temptation to put together the room including design elements that speak directly to 'baby' for obvious reasons. But that tiny newborn will soon become a playful toddler with budding interests and favourites before your eyes!

So when planning to order a custom piece of artwork to complete the nursery walls - you may want to consider how the art will live in the space you are creating for your child to sleep, play and most importantly, grow in! So think ahead (just a little bit) to the future when choosing a design, something that will stimulate a young babies vision yet still spark the imagination of an active toddler.

#2 HAVE FUN!

Getting the opportunity to choose or collaborate on a one of a kind art piece created especially for your child is a fun experience! Think playful, think colourful and enjoy the process! I like to give my customers the option to see sketches of ideas prior to the paintings creation, so that the mystery of a custom order is a little bit easier to visualize.

Because you can go so many ways when going custom it can definitely be overwhelming unless you have a specific vision already in mind. Otherwise, you will likely want something that is playful, cute, colourful, fun, interesting and personalized.

To help narrow down your choices, you may want to be inspired by one of the following 5 design concepts:

Playful Inspiration - conjure up childhood memories by including the image of a vintage toy such as a tricycle or a game such as hopscotch 

Nature Scenes - a perfect combo is the simplicity and beauty of nature paired with cute animals

Learning Concepts - add a graphic alphabet, pictorial alphabet, numbers to count, a map design and so on

Favorite Things - share mom/dads favourite things that you hope will be baby`s as well such as a travel destination, sport, activity, music group and so on

Expressive Patterns - bold, brushstrokes of abstract colour and texture or a bold, graphic pattern can be fun and unexpected

Another thing to consider is if you want their name or any other text included in the painting. Other text options such as birth date, quote, lyric, word etc. can add to the personalization of the design. This is a personal choice as text can easily be added into the painting as a feature or in a more subtle way.

#3 INJECT COLOUR

I am always inspired by the variety and sophistication of current nursery colour schemes! By viewing spaces on Apartment Therapy and Project Nursery you can see all the awesome colour combos happening right alongside beautiful neutral rooms. 

I find that the easiest way to develop a colour scheme is to choose your main colour, combine with a neutral and add in an accent colour. Some of my favourite current colour combos (yes, I really like charcoal grey right now!) are:

Charcoal Grey with White + a Sunny Yellow

 

Or Charcoal Grey with White + a Pop of Pink

 

 

Chocolate Brown with Parchment + a Grey Blue

 

Or Chocolate Brown with Parchment + an Apple Green

 

 

Navy with Yellow + a Charcoal Grey 

 

 

Or Navy with Parchment + a Pop of Pink

 

 

If you are working with a set colour scheme for your nursery, then that will lead into the artwork. But if you have a more open colour palette, I would encourage you to be bold and inject colour! Think back to your colour wheel - to see what works well together if you are stuck.

Take visual inspiration from these sites, magazines, or fashion even through the colours in that favourite newborn sleeper. With my customers I mostly select the colours to be part of the design yet am always open to suggestions from my customers too. 

 

#4 JUST ADD ART!

I can relate that with a new (or 2nd etc.) baby comes a budget for all the upcoming expenses; car seats, cribs, bedding, etc. so sometimes art to decorate the walls comes last on the list. Yet after putting all the time and effort into making an inviting space to welcome baby, art can be a personal touch and stimulating accent to the nursery. 

I believe that everyone should have the chance to add art to their little ones rooms - I strive to maintain an accessible price point and size options to suit through my readymade and custom order paintings.

A smaller framed painting in a gallery wall display with a family photo, baby`s footprints and a wooden initial can have a similar impact to a large canvas or a series of smaller paintings as the rooms focal point. I believe that the imagery and colours of the painting are what will add to the special feeling of the space more so than the size sometimes.

So add art to your budget - or better yet, considering registering for the gift of a custom painting for your baby shower, it will last longer than a cute onesie and will receive the same number of "oohs and aahs" from the baby shower guests! Contact me to find out details on how to register for a custom painting for your little one.

I hope that my tips have been helpful if you are putting together a nursery space or toddler space or even a big boy or girls room and looking to add custom art. For me it is so fun to put together design concepts and I would love to hear about your nursery spaces if you would like to share.

Need more inspiration? Check out my Nursery Décor Concept posts where I put together décor schemes based on my original paintings for little ones!

Interested in placing a order for a custom painting? I'd love to hear from you - email me at any time and check out my site & shop!