What’s more charming for your outdoor or garden-themed nursery than a white picket fence? Liz decorated her daughter Schuyler’s nursery with fluffy clouds, butterflies, ladybug rugs, and a colorful hot air balloon. She used pieces of vertical blinds to create the illusion of a picket fence.  She drew the design on each slat and cut them out with regular scissors. Then, she nailed the horizontal pieces to the wall in just a couple of places and used double-stick cushion tape to fasten the pickets to the horizontal rails.

Over the Top Murals

The nursery is the only room in your house that you can get away with going overboard, says Carson’s mom, Kerry.  A friend painted the spectacular three-wall mural, complete with rolling green plains, cowboys on horseback, and wild stallions. “It envelops you as you walk in the room.”  Make sure to map out exactly where all the furniture goes before you begin painting. You don’t want to accidentally cover up any of the gorgeous images!

Vintage Romance

Who said a baby’s room can’t be elegant? Amelia’s room is painted neutral tan with a soft pink ceiling. Her mom, Jennifer, accessorized with her favorite finds from antique stores, and grandma sewed the toile curtains that surround the white balloon shades.  It’s perfectly pulled together with a pink-and-white polka-dot organza dust ruffle for the crib and a matching chain sleeve for the chandelier.

Timeless Stripes

Julia wanted a nursery that her son could grow into and wouldn’t appear too babyish when he got older. Her desire for timeless decor prompted her to paint Harrison’s nursery in pale blue and cream stripes, with contrasting dark brown furniture. In order to get those stripes just perfect, Julia says you need to plan it all out in advance. First, they measured from the floor to the section of the wall where we wanted to put the chair rail and drew a line in pencil. They painted below the line brown and above the line cream. Then they measured 10 inches apart and drew the lines in pencil using a vertical laser level. After taping up each section with paint tape, they painted every other stripe light blue. She suggests removed the tape before the paint dries too much, to prevent the paint from peeling. She would also carry around a paint swatch, so she could match other items, like bedding, while out shopping.

Reuse and Recycle

Kim and her husband wanted to stray away from the traditional, feminine room, and keep it feeling up-to-date.  They created an elegant, modern nursery for baby Maya, with the chandelier wall decal as the focal point.  The best part of all is that it doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful, Kim says. Many of the items in the room are made up of repurposed furniture or home-made items. An old Philadelphia library desk now hold Maya’s stuffed animals, an old TV stand became the changing table, and they put to use a second-hand bookcase that came from Dad’s family.

Silhouettes and Painted Designs

Lori and family live in a log house, and she wanted to keep the rustic feeling. Her favorite element in Noah’s room is the tree, which she painted freehand, adding little birds on the branches to give it that extra touch.  You don’t have to be artistic to do it too! If the thought of painting freehand intimidates you, find an image from a book or magazine and project it onto the wall.  Sketch a design, or trace an image you find on to a piece of paper, and get a transparency made at a copy shop. Use an overhead projector to display it on the wall you wish to paint, moving it farther or closer to get it the right size. Trace your design using a pencil, then paint inside the lines. You can do this by renting a projector that hooks up to your laptop.

All of the photos and decorating tips in this article are from Parents.com. Click here to see even more Real-Life Nurseries at Parents.com!

A baby memory album will help you collect and save memories of your pregnancy – the moment you found out you were pregnant, the first time you heard your baby’s heartbeat, that mysterious ultrasound photo. You’ll be able to cherish it forever and share it with your child. The best part about making a digital book is that you don’t have to be artistic. Anyone can create a beautiful baby memory book these days! Choose your preferred book-making application; below are some options to look into:

Free Systems that allow large quantities of text and many pages

• iMemoryBook Baby Memory Books – Online bookmaking that lets your collaborate with family and friends to create your baby memory book.

• SharedBook Collaborative online memory book system.

Photo Books – (photos with captions)

• PhotoWorks – Online Photo Book application.

• SnapJot Online Collaborative Photo book making application.

• MyPublisher Download photo book software.

• Shutterfly Create Photo Gifts online

Professional Software ($600+)

• Adobe inDesign Page layout and design software for creative professionals

• Quark Makers of design, page layout, publishing, enterprise workflow, personalization, and content management software.

Now it’s time to get started! Here are some tips on how to go about it:

1. Keep a camera and film on hand at all times.
2. Put together your baby memory book as the pregnancy progresses, or assemble your different stories in a notebook and make it all at once.
3. Collect memorabilia. Include things like photos of mom taken every two weeks (stand next to the same object for comparison). Save tags from maternity clothes and pressed flowers from the night baby was conceived and scan them into your book.
4. Don’t forget to include an account of how mom told dad she was pregnant, a photo of parents assembling the crib, and photos of when you were decorating the nursery.
5. Document food cravings. Tell funny stories about midnight runs for those cravings.
6. Document expanding sizes, new developments and changing name choices.
7. Make a family tree.
8. Tape interviews with family members for ideas about what will change, what the baby will be like and what their hopes are for the future. If you are using a collaborative memory book system (e.g. iMemoryBook, Snapjot), invite them by email to come and add their insights (If your system of choice doesn’t have collaboration, just have them each write on a page).
9. Be sure that both mom and dad write a special section full of their individual hopes and dreams for the new baby.
10. Don’t forget to include space for sonogram photos, hospital photos and items, and birth pictures.