Create a nursery scheme your little one will love, from their early days to toddler years and beyond. Baby boy nursery ideas are no longer constricted by notions of traditional blue colour schemes only. We live in a day and age when any colour and pattern goes – meaning there’s even more choice, which can make decorating decision all the harder to choose.

We have looked for imaginative ways to decorate nursery ideas for baby boys, to inspire your decorating journey.

Baby boy nursery ideas

Colour is a key design aspect when preparing a nursery for your new arrival. Different colours can have differing effects on the feel of the space, and therefore can affect how content baby feels in the surroundings.

‘When designing a child’s bedroom, keep things simple’ advises Arlene McIntyre MD at Ventura Design ‘Go for timeless colours – blues, greys or neutrals – which will enable you to be more playful with soft furnishings and artwork, whilst ensuring the room won’t have to be repainted as the child grows.’

1. Captivate with a bold wall mural

Image credit: Ventura Design

‘Wall murals are a clever way of bringing the room to life’ enthuses Arlene McIntyre MD at Ventura Design. ‘One-wall murals create a welcome focal point to the space. Capturing the child’s imagination or celebrating their passions. ‘

A statement wall mural, whether you opt for a papered design or feel brave enough to do a DIY job, is a brilliant way of injecting fun into the decor, firing up young imaginations. Theme the rest of the room around your chosen design, so in this case the safari vibes are enhanced by the menagerie of stuffed toy animals.

2. Make a nursery colourful and characterful

Image credit: Future PLC/ Lizzie Orme

Decorate a little one’s room with a riot of colour to enliven their senses and make the small room feel uplifted and vibrant. Add a feature wall of accent colour, one which is echoed throughout your chosen wallpaper design. Here the punchy turquoise wall reflects the bold colours in the playful zoo print wallpaper on the opposite wall.

Choosing a wallpaper with characters is both educational and fun, surrounding them with familiar faces.

3. Create a timeless appeal with white and grey

Image credit: Future PLC/ Colin Poole

A neutral colour scheme will always be a winning choice, for boys or girls, because it won’t date quickly. This colour combo is super easy to live with and easy to add accents of colour to, if and when the mood takes you.

A white and grey nursery idea is best executed with white walls and furniture choices to act as the more dominate colour, with grey being picked up through the carpet and soft furnishings.

4. Give baby a view by wallpapering the ceiling

Image credit: Future PLC/ David Giles

Look to decorate the ceiling to give your little one a view as they lay on their back in a cot or on the changing mat. The ceiling, also known as the fifth wall, is so often forgotten when it comes to decorating – given a simple splash of white paint and that’s it. But as this fine example shows, it’s a great way to have fun with a bedroom wallpaper idea. it’s especially great for a nursery idea because babies spend so much time on their backs, with only the ceiling as a view.

Use a decorative wallpaper to create a real point of interest, for their eyes to focus on as they develop. As they grow you can evolve the decor by changing the colour on the walls, keeping the ceiling paper.

5. Add wooden touches for warmth

Image credit: Future PLC/ Colin Poole

If you’re looking to add subtle tones to a white nursery idea without having to add an accent colour look to wooden furniture to do the job. Natural wooden finishes help to add warmth to the look without the need for adding colour. This fine example shows how a wooden cot and wall shelving made in wood can instantly inject interest to an all white room. This beautifully styled scheme is ideal for a gender neutral nursery idea.

6. Pair a sophisticated colour combination

Image credit: Future PLC/ Simon Whitmore

Create a more grown up scheme for your little one by picking warm neutrals form a more sophisticated colour palette. This light taupe colour on the walls and the built-in furniture creates a timeless appeal, one that feels familiar to a more formal neutral living room idea. To enhance the decor choose richer shades for furniture choices, such as mahogany and walnut to echo a more classic scheme. Adopt this darker wooden tone for floors  to create a cohesive look that doesn’t jar.

As this is a nursery, albeit a grown up one inject a fun and fabulous wallpaper such as this Fox design by Scion. The ground colour on the wallpaper design matches the scheme perfectly, to make it feel well polished.

7. Mix and match pattern and colour

Image credit: Future PLC/ Simon Whitmore

Break up a safe white base with an injection of pattern on one wall and through soft furnishings. Add hints of colour with painted furniture to add another dimension to the overall colour scheme. Keeping the main baby furniture pieces in white, such as the cot means it’s easier to sell on once you need to upgrade to a toddler baby.

8. Make more of a monochrome scheme

Image credit: Future PLC/ Colin Poole

Stick to a minimal colour palette to make a subtle yet stylish statement, using it well to make the most of the space. Here a monochrome colour scheme is jazzed up by the introduction of a light grey and a zesty yellow. Because the look is muted and simple it doesn’t feel too far removed from a monochrome palette, but the grey goes a long way to make it feel less stark than brilliant white – perfect to soften the look for a baby’s room.

The strong yellow accent adds vibrancy and fun to perk up the overall feel of the room. White furniture choices provide a timeless appeal that works well with a muted backdrop.

9. Zone the room

Image credit: Future PLC

Give your little one a clear indication on how to use the room, once they are big enough to navigate for themselves. Paint a feature wall at half height to draw attention to the bed to create a sleep zone, keeping the paint line at their level makes it more beneficial for them to feel inclusive within the room. Place toy storage ideas in one area and create a study/learning area with a small desk and bookshelves to create zones for learning, resting and playing.

10. Stencil the walls to create a landscape

Image credit: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

Make your nursery idea feel fun and creative with simple paint ideas, from landscape murals to geometric patterns and zig zags. Choose uplifting colours to inject a statement contrast. To achieve this DIY and decorating idea skilfully use masking tape to get precision lines, no matter the pattern you’re looking to create.

11. Create a blank canvas with all-white

Image credit: Future PLC/ James French

From the best white paint on the walls and simple white furniture to all-white bedding, create a gender neutral look with this timeless colour scheme. The blank canvas needn’t feel clinical, add touches of black to punctuate the blank white canvas to give the look a monochrome edge. Keep the flooring light to match the paired-back scheme, but avoid anything too unpractical. A white-washed grey is perfect to strike the right balance of practical but pretty.

12. Stick to blue

Image credit: Future PLC/ Dan Duchars

Don’t shy away from using blue for your little boy’s room if you love the colour. Mix different shades of blue to add depth to the tonal look. Use a punchier shade for a feature wall, adding lighter tones throughout – adding a patterned wallpaper to have fun with the colour.  Stick to punch white furniture choices to make the blue stand out.

13. Seek plentiful storage

Image credit: Future PLC

Ensure their room has enough storage, to make the most of the space – which more often than not is a smaller room. ‘With any kids room, plentiful storage is paramount’ Alice explains.

‘To give as much room for running around and being creative, opt for built-in shelving, under-bed baskets or classic toy boxes to allow for all toys, books and other objects to be played with and stored with ease.’

The post Baby boy nursery ideas – decorating inspiration to delight little ones appeared first on Ideal Home.

After enduring an exceptionally wet summer, which has brought damp and flooding to many homes, you may be noticing peeling paint on your walls. Peeling paint is most common in bathrooms, but very humid conditions may contribute to peeling in other areas of your home, including conservatories and even bedrooms.

Peeling paint is one of the most common paint problems found in UK homes and is becoming more so. In fact, according to recent data*, online searches for peeling paint have increased by an astonishing 675 per cent over the past year – a testament to how changing weather patterns are affecting our homes. It is usually easily prevented or fixed, although in some cases it may indicate that something’s awry with your home’s plumbing. Use these expert tips to identify the source of the problems and decide on an appropriate course of action.

Identify the reason for the peeling

First of all, if you’ve notice peeling paint in your home, you should ‘figure out what the source of the problem is’, says Adam Leech, Owner of Showers Direct. If the problem is in your bathroom, or anywhere near a radiator, ‘there could be water damage’. Obviously, this will also be the reason if your home has suffered flooding.

Image credit: Aliaksei Shaviakou / Alamy Stock Photo

If water damage and leaks have been ruled out, ‘you may be using paint that doesn’t adhere well to surfaces’, or the paint job wasn’t well done. Adam’s top tip is to ‘use the best quality paint you can afford and always use a primer before painting. Let paint dry completely before painting another coat, and keep the surfaces as dry as possible.’

Sometimes a bad paint job conceals worse sins, especially in older homes; this may include ‘plaster peeling off or cracked walls’, in which case these will need to be fixed before repainting.

Touching up peeling paint

Don’t delay touching up any paint that’s already peeling, Adam advises. Start by scraping off ‘as much loose paint as you can with a putty knife. Be sure to scrape along the side and top of the peeling paint because it will often come off in an uneven pattern.’ Next, ‘sand down any rough areas until the surface is smooth and free of any remaining loose paint. Once you’ve done this, you can apply another coat of paint using a brush or roller.’

Image credit: Milton Cogheil / Alamy Stock Photo

If the peeling is accompanied by flaking off the wall, ‘use an abrasive scouring pad or an old toothbrush with baby powder to remove loose paint.’ Fixing isolated areas of peeling paint is not difficult – but if you have multiple areas, then most likely you’ll need to strip off the paint and redo the whole wall to prevent further peeling.

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Looking for the best sofa beds available? We’re here to help with our round-up of the most stylish and comfortable sleeper sofas.

Whether you’re searching for a spacious corner sofa bed that is comfortable enough for everyday use in the living room, a compact sleeper sofa to squeeze into the home office, or the most affordable option for conjuring up extra sleeping space in a guest bedroom or children’s playroom; we’ve narrowed down the options to help you find the best of the bunch.

What is the most comfortable sofa bed?

Before choosing the best sofa bed for you, it’s worth considering the two main types:

Fold-out:

A foam fold-out – where the sofa itself unfolds to become the sleeping surface – is usually the most affordable sofa bed option and generally takes up the least space. However, these designs can be very low to the ground and quite firm to sleep on. So although they’ll be fine for sprightly guests who are just staying for a night or two, they may not be the best option for elderly relatives or longer visits.

Pull-out:

A pull-out sofa bed generally features a raised bed base that pulls out from under the sofa cushions, leaving the back and arms of the sofa in place. This means the sleeping surface is higher from the ground – more like a traditional bed – but does mean the sofa bed is likely to take up more room. The mattress frame of a pull-out sleeper sofa can be a simple metal mesh or a sprung or wooden-slatted base for more comfort. It’s also important to be aware that there can be a big difference in mattress types and thicknesses between pull-out beds.

Darlings of Chelsea Waverley sofa bed

How to choose from the best sofa beds

So, what to consider when searching for the most comfortable option?

Sofa size

It may sound obvious, but it’s important to consider how much seating space your sofa bed needs to offer. If it’s not going to be your main living room sofa then you can get away with a more compact version – maybe even one of the best chair beds if you only need to sleep a single guest at a time – but if the sofa bed needs to seat the entire household on a daily basis then investing in a chaise sleeper sofa, or one of the best corner sofa beds on our list is probably a decision you’re not going to regret.

It’s also vital to ensure your sofa bed is going to fit comfortably into the room where you want to use it. Find expert tips from Heal’s and Habitat in our guide to getting sofa measurements right.

Mattress size

It’s also important to check the mattress measurements. Many sofa beds are marketed as doubles, and although they will fit two people, they can sometimes be a snug sleeping experience. So if you regularly have more than one guest staying at a time – and they stay for a good length of time in one go – they will thank you for opting for the roomiest sofa bed your budget allows.

Sofa comfort

If a sofa bed is going to get everyday use as your main seating, then, of course, it’s important it’s comfortable to sit on. As a rule, most sofa beds are going to feel a little firmer to sit on than the best sofas you can buy due to their hidden mechanisms. But, there are ways to increase comfort. The cheapest sofa beds are generally made of solid foam which is likely to provide the firmest sitting experience. If budget allows, then look for options that offer a sprung or webbed seating base, plus feather-wrapped cushions for extra comfort.

Mattress comfort

As with the sitting experience, a foam fold-out is likely to provide the firmest sleeping surface. A pull-out sofa bed can come with a range of different mattress types, including more affordable foam, and more comfortable – although generally higher priced – pocket-sprung or memory foam mattresses. It’s also well worth checking the mattress depth; a 6cm mattress is likely to be less comfortable than a deeper 10cm mattress.

Related: Want more space-saving tricks? Check out our small living room ideas and handy storage solutions for smaller spaces.

The best sofa beds of 2021

The post Best sofa beds 2021: the most stylish sleeper sofas around appeared first on Ideal Home.

The bath bouquet is the latest TikTok trend we’ve seen cropping up on our timelines. People are hanging eucalyptus in the shower to give their bathrooms a spa-like feel.

Not only does it add a little greenery – never a bad thing – but the steam from your morning shower helps to release the essential oils in the leaves. Here’s why this bathroom trend is one worth trying.

Image credit: Getty

Eucalyptus in the shower

The essential oils in eucalyptus can help to relieve congestion, ideal for autumn and winter when we’re more likely to feel bunged up with coughs and colds. Eucalyptus oil has also been reported to help in reducing pain, swelling, and inflammation.

A study has shown that inhaling air infused with eucalyptus oil can significantly lower your blood pressure, too. As long as you find the smell pleasant, it definitely earns its place in your bathroom.

But, before you try it, it’s worth noting that the scent won’t be super strong. Don’t expect to be knocked out by the smell.

Image credit: Getty

From our own experience, it’s best to roll a wine bottle over a bunch of fresh eucalyptus a few times to help release the oils. Then, tie it under the showerhead and it will make the bathroom smell of eucalyptus each time you bathe.

If you’re blessed with a small bathroom or shower room, you might find the scent is stronger. The smell will last for a couple of weeks depending on your household’s shower schedules.

Eucalyptus in the shower is a fairly cheap bathroom idea that will add a touch of luxury to your space, and brings an extra calming spa vibe to your shower. Aside from its essential oils, some eucalyptus is a great way to add texture to your bathroom.

Image credit: Future

‘But this isn’t the only plant we should be using in our “bath bouquets,”’ comments Dominic Lees-Bell from bathroom company Drench. ‘Rosemary, peppermint, lavender, and lemongrass are four more alternatives with fantastic health benefits.’

Although you might only use lemongrass for cooking, it’s said to help with various digestive problems. It also contains an oil called citronella, which repels spiders – ideal for this time of year as more creepy crawlies enter our homes.

Will you be trying some eucalyptus in your shower?

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