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Expert Q&A

	By Nancy Phillips LeRoy Interior Designer Allied Member ASID

My wife is in the hospital, pregnant with triplets. It is up to me to design and create our babies' nursery. I was thinking of buying a white crib for the girl and honey olored cribs for the boys, since we have hard wood floors. I was thinking of using partial paint and partial wallpaper, maybe with Looney Toons designs. Can you help?

First of all let me say, WOW!

Begin with your wallpaper selection. After you have chosen that, decide which color from the wallpaper design you wish to "pull" for the walls above the "chair rail" height. When you have selected the color for the walls, get some expert help from the paint store on choosing the exact color (paint is the most difficult thing to select in this design). If there is not an exact color from their selections, have them do a custom color for you. Always test paint with a quart of paint in the room before investing in several gallons of paint and the time to apply it.

Next, decide what you want on the floor. Your hardwood floors can be beautiful with an area rug or you may decide to have wall to wall carpet installed. This decision is a matter of personal choice. In either case, decide if you want to use a neutral color or again "pull" a color from the wallpaper. In regard to the cribs, rooms look the best when they are in harmony. I would choose matching cribs to help create that harmony. Either the white or honey color is fine - a matter of personal choice - but matching will be better than mixing.

Finally, choose your window treatments. First decide what you want for privacy and light control - blind, cellular shade or verticle blind. If the budget allows, I recommend a cellular shade with the top down/bottom up feature and possible with a dark out backing. Decide what type of decorative fabric you want to use and the style of decorative treatment. There might be a fabric that coordinated with your wallpaper that could be made into a simple valance.

In any case, try to relax and enjoy the project. Remember, to choose what you like and think of the various parts of the project as building blocks. Follow the order I have given you and if you have any problems or questions along the way, please get in touch with me.

Most of all, good luck with the arrival of your children.

Nancy Phillips LeRoy

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