Colour is a very subjective topic, depending entirely on personal taste and prefence. However there are some pointers which it may be useful to take into account when planning your nursery decor. It is widely thought that babies do not recognise colour in the same way as adults, in the first weeks and months of life. Early vision is geared towards recognising faces, and contrast between light and dark. Therefore, very graphic, black and white patterns are probably going to be the most interesting for your baby at first.

It will not be necessary to base your whole decorating scheme around this knowledge, however, especially if baby will be sleeping in your room in the early weeks. You can simply use a few black and white toys, or high contrast cot bedding such as chocolate dots from Dwell studio, to provide visual interest at first. Your baby will increasingly be stimulated by bright colours and patterns as he grows. The nursery needs to be an environment in which he feels comfortable and interested for a number of years, unless you plan to redecorate to accomodate every stage of his development!

You might like to paint the nursery in a neutral colour such as lemon, cream or pale aqua, and use wall decals to create a removable decorative panel for your baby to look at. This is a cost-effective way of providing ongoing interest for baby, which can be quickly and cheaply updated as baby develops. You could be on-trend and use wallpaper panels for a feature wall, which can also be changed without great expense. Wallpaper borders are a more traditional decorative feature which can be used to good effect, and are relatively easy to remove and replace.

A good starting point when planning your nursery scheme is the furniture pieces that you will be including. Do you need to incorporate existing pieces? Plan the more expensive items first, it is cheaper and easier to buy paint or fresh bedding to co-ordinate with your furniture than to try to match up furniture to existing decor. Once you have chosen your furniture pieces, look at curtains and bedding. Use the accent colours in your textiles to choose your paint, it is easier to find a variety of paint shades than to find fabrics to match your walls. You can easily take a swatch of fabric or a quilt or curtain to the DIY store and have paint mixed to co-ordinate.

The nursery, or your bedroom if baby will be sleeping with you initially, will also need to be restful so that baby can sleep easily without being over-stimulated at nap time. You might want to invest in some cot drapes so that baby can be cocooned and screened from more visually stimulating parts of the room at sleep time. If baby is to sleep in a Moses basket at first, the hood of this will provide the same effect. To create a dim environment during the day or for lighter summer evenings, a blackout blind is a good investment. An alternative is to use blackout linings which can be hooked on to the back of your curtains.

Finishing touches will help to pull a scheme together. Dont forget the floor, whilst it is probably better to have a plain carpet, a good quality rug will provide a soft play area for baby. A non-slip underlay is recommended for rugs used on wooden floors. You might like to dress the room with bookends, a mirror or clock, and wall art to help build your theme. If you don't know the sex of your baby and want to prepare the nursery in advance, designs such as jungle, farm or abstract contemporary are good neutral themes. Lighting is also important. You will need good light for performing tasks such as cleaning and changing baby, but more subdued lighting for night-time. A dimmer switch is a good investment, but remember that some low energy bulbs or spotlights cannot be used with a dimmer. Side lights or wall lights can also be used when lower light levels are required. Small nightlights can provide just enough light to check on baby in the night and can sooth a fractious baby.