Nursery Theme Ideas: Which Newborn Print Fits the Room

Most nurseries get a theme before they get a print. The room gets painted, someone buys a mobile with elephants on it, and by the time the baby is home the wall already has a direction. A birth details print either sits with that or argues with it. Five of our newborn designs tend to get passed over next to the safari and woodland versions even though they suit a lot of rooms better. Here is what each one is for, with the real prices.

Start with the room, not the print

The easiest way to choose is to look at the two or three things already on the wall and count the colours. If the room is soft and neutral, a design with a lot of contrast will jump out at you every time you walk in. If the room is bold, a pale print will vanish. All five designs below take the same four pieces of information (the baby's name, the date and time of birth, the birth weight, and where the baby was born) and lay them out differently, so you are choosing a look rather than a different product.

Prices are the same across the five. An email PDF you print yourself is £8. An A5 print on its own is £10, or £15 framed. A4 is £14 on its own, £19 framed in black or white, £20 in grey, and a couple of pounds more with a mount. A3 is £17 on its own and £28 to £31 framed depending on the frame colour and whether you add a mount.

1. Pastel safari, for the soft neutral room

Safari is the most requested nursery theme we print, and the pastel version is the one to order if the room is already gentle. The animals are there but the palette is muted, so it sits on a cream or sage wall without shouting. It is the design we would suggest if you have not settled on a colour scheme yet, or if the print is a gift and you have no idea what the room looks like. The pastel safari birth details print works particularly well framed in white at A4, because the frame disappears and the layout does the work.

2. Air transport, for the room with something to point at

Planes, hot air balloons and clouds, which makes this the one that keeps working after the newborn stage. A birth details print is bought for the parents, but the child eventually stands in front of it, and this design gives them something to look at rather than a block of text about a day they cannot remember. It suits a room with a blue or grey wall and it hangs well next to bunting or a mobile. The air transport design is also a good pick for a shared room where an older sibling is already into vehicles.

3. Seagull sailor, for anywhere near water

We are in Hessle, so we have a soft spot for this one. The seagull sailor design leans coastal and nautical rather than themed-nursery, which means it carries into a hallway or a landing once the cot has gone. If the family lives near the Humber, the coast, or just likes a boat, this is the design to send. The seagull sailor print also reads as gender neutral, which makes it a safe choice for a gift bought before anyone knows the name.

4. Blue, when you want the details to lead

Not every nursery print needs animals on it. The blue design is the plainest of the five, with the name set large and the birth details underneath, and very little else competing. Parents who have gone for a minimal room, or who already have a lot on the walls, usually end up here. It is also the one that looks most at home outside the nursery, so if a grandparent wants a copy for their own hallway, the blue design is the one to order twice.

5. Pink, the same idea in the other direction

The pink design is the mirror of the blue one, same restrained layout, warmer palette. It works better than people expect against a grey or white wall, because the pink stays soft rather than turning the whole corner of the room pink. Framed in grey at A4 it is one of the tidier things we send out. If the room has a dusty rose or blush in it already, this is the design that matches without having to guess a shade.

What we need from you, and what the proof shows

Every one of these takes the same details: the baby's name, the date and time of birth, the birth weight, and where the baby was born. You type them into the personalisation box when you order. We lay them into the design, then send you a proof before anything goes near the printer. That is where you check the spelling of a middle name, or decide whether you want the time written as 06:42 or twenty to seven in the morning. Nothing gets printed until you have looked at it and said yes.

Sizes, frames and the acrylic front

All five come as an email PDF, a print on its own, or framed, in A5, A4 or A3, with an optional mount. The frames are solid wood, made in the UK, in black, white or grey. One thing worth knowing for a nursery specifically: the front of our frames is 1.2mm acrylic, not glass. If it ever comes off a wall near a cot or gets knocked by a toddler, it will not break into pieces. A5 or A4 framed suits most nursery walls. A3 is better over a chest of drawers, or in a hallway where you want people to stop and read it. There is more on how they are put together on our frames page.

The honest bit

Because every one of these is made with a particular baby's details on it, they are non-returnable for a change of mind. That is the reason we proof every order first. Read the proof properly, and if something is wrong on it, tell us before we print. Much easier conversation than the one after.

Where to start

All five sit in our Baby and Newborn collection, alongside the safari, woodland, dinosaur and rabbit designs and the 3D prints that take a photo. If you want the full explanation of how a birth details print works rather than which theme to pick, we wrote that up in our guide to newborn birth details prints. For a christening or naming day the wording is different, and that is covered in our christening gifts guide. The wider Baby collection and Children's prints are worth a look once the nursery stage is done. Every one is made to order by us, Lee and Sam, in our Hessle studio.