I've been around the block a while -- when it comes to nursery decor, that is!  I started my nursery design company nearly ten years ago and at that time, when people mentioned wanting a "green nursery," they simply wanted to decorate with the color green! 

We've learned some great information in the past ten years about our impact on the environment, and now we're finally doing more to rectify the situation.  We've learned how we can reduce our "carbon footprint" by taking steps to purchase organic products, recycled products, or products manufactured locally -- thus avoiding the use of fuels to ship goods from overseas.  There are many ways in which we can each make a difference.  While it might be impossible still to create a completely green nursery, I ask each of my clients to consider even one or two green products for their nurseries.  These baby steps taken today can lead to great progress in the future -- and a cleaner world for our children.

Our parental instinct is to protect and nurture our children.  Parents today are, and should be, very focused on safety when designing their baby's nursery.  My job as a nursery design specialist is to provide my clients with a beautiful, functional, and SAFE nursery, and finding products that possess all three of those qualities is fortunately becoming easier by the day!

When designing your nursery, consider one or more of these products below to not only create a safer nursery for your baby and the environment, but to ensure your nursery is stylish as well:

Organic Fabrics

Synthetic fabrics are often made of, or even treated with, harsh chemicals to help ensure they don't shrink or wrinkle.  We certainly want to avoid putting these chemicals against our babies' skin.  However until very recently, stylish organic fabrics were very difficult to find.  Several years ago, when I was trying to source organic fabric for a nursery bedding set that I was designing, there were very few companies even offering the fabric and my only options for color were muted shades of ivory and brown.  This was in part due to the fact that the dye process used to give fabric its color was not so environmentally friendly.  Synthetic dyes offered longer lasting color and the water-based organic dyes washed out all too quickly during laundering.  Therefore, to be truly organic, these fabrics were often left in their natural or near natural state of color.  Today, organic fabrics are beginning to sport some patterns and brighter colors.  Organic dyes are made from natural sources such as plants, wood, and nuts.  And while the color might not last as long as synthetic dyes, the slightly muted colors that remain after dozens of washings are so very pretty anyway! 

Sustainable Furniture

There are several options in nursery furniture that will leave less of a footprint on our environment.  Many online boutiques now offer a page dedicated solely to organic crib sets.  You might consider choosing one of these for your baby's nursery.  Some companies are choosing to use only green certified wood.  In a nutshell, this wood comes from forests that are responsibly logged so as to leave little impact on the wildlife and Mother Earth.  Other crib manufacturers are crafting their furniture from 100% recycled/reclaimed, formaldehyde-free MDF.  MDF is a wood composite product that is made from the otherwise unusable, wood scraps and sawdust.  Recycling at its best!  And yet other manufacturers are using iron in their cribs.  Iron is a renewable resource, and iron cribs are made to last for generations.

Low VOC Paint for the Walls

Traditional paints are made from petrochemical-based solvents with off-gas pollutants called volatile organic compounds.  These VOCs have a strong odor and may lead to long-term air quality issues and subsequent health problems over time.  As a pregnant woman, you certainly don't want to inhale such toxins and subsequently you don't want these chemicals to be present in your baby's nursery.  Many paint brands now offer a zero-VOC formula.  Most of these paints are water-based and are virtually odorless, with zero-VOC formulas that can be mixed in any color. 

Friendly Flooring

With the rising number of asthma sufferers, parents are choosing to install hardwood or similar floor surface in the nursery rather than carpeting.  Carpeting not only holds dust, mites, and other allergens, but it is often made of synthetic fibers which contain chemicals (VOCs) that have been linked to a rise in childhood asthma.  However, if you love the warmth and softness of carpeting for your baby's knees, opt for natural materials.  Natural fibers such as sisal, wool, or jute are healthier carpeting options, which eliminate most, if not all, chemicals from the manufacturing process.  Bamboo is a very popular choice in hard-surface flooring today.  It is a renewable resource, growing to the right height for harvesting in less than ten years.  It is also easy to install over a variety of surfaces, is very resilient and stylish. 

Cork is a beautiful option for your nursery flooring and is practical in so many ways.  It is naturally anti-allergenic and provides excellent insulation, making it a warmer option over traditional hardwood flooring.  Cork is also very durable and you can choose from a wide range of colors and styles to best suit your design needs.  Not only does its resiliency make it more comfortable to walk on, but it also offers high noise absorption as well.  This could be useful when you're sneaking in to check on a sleeping baby at night, as well as in later years when your little maestro brings home his first musical instrument for evening practices!

I expect to see more beautiful and economical green nursery design options over the next several years.  It is my hope that we might eventually ensure that every mother can have not only the safest nursery environment for her new baby, but also a stylish and trendy nursery as well!