How to Decorate a Shared Boy & Girl Room

Our Work | May 23, 2013


This post and series is brought to you by one of my favorite places to shop for Kids, Land of Nod
My friend Lisa is living in a two bedroom house right now. Her 3 year old boy’s room was already small to begin with so she had quite the challenge ahead of her when she found out she was pregnant with a girl! Somehow she had to tackle the task of creating a space for her baby girl and her toddler boy in a small room with a small budget! 
Decorating a shared space can be very difficult. Lisa loves pink and refused to have a nursery for her baby girl without some girly elements which leads to my first tip:
1 //  Don’t be afraid to use blue and pink. 
There is no reason a room for both genders needs to be gender-nuetral. Her sons’ nightstand houses toy and book storage and it also has a blue lamp with a pink “love” sign. The key is not to make one or the other the main color but use both as accent colors. You can see Lisa used green as the main color in the room with pops of pink and blue. 
2 // Along with tip #1 tip #2 is: Incorporate girly elements with boyish elements. On her gallery wall she has a girly print and a print just for her Roman. They look great together and neither make the room feel too girly or too boyish. 
Tip 3 // is to give each child their own “space”. While I don’t think you should draw a line down the center of the room and paint one side pink and the other side blue I do think it’s nice to give each child something of their own. In Lisa’s room she made sure Roman’s bed had a more masculine feel while Norah’s crib was definitely meant for a girl. 
Don’t be afraid to use florals either! Lisa picked a great floral that had all the right colors in it for her daughter’s crib. 

She made the wood sign herself and also sewed all her own bedding and window treatments to save money. 
4 //  Incorporate lots of white. White is a great neutral balance for a room with lots of color. While this dresser may feel feminine a coat of white paint allows it to work with either a girl or a boy. 
Lisa doesn’t have a playroom so this small room has to store most of her kids toys. This fire station is loved by both of her kids and although it feels more fit for a boy Norah can easily play with her dolls in here when she gets older. 
Lisa created a room for her two kids that feels fit for a girl and also fit for a boy. She also was able to make all the changes to the room for under $500! She already had most of the furniture and what she did buy she got for free or on sale. 
I often pin spaces that will work for girls or boys to my Kid’s Spaces and Products Pinterest board. Here are some rooms I’ve pinned lately that would work for both genders. 
This room uses a lot of white to balance out the many colors that are going on. A boy or girl would feel happy in this room and I love how the parents incorporated a monogram over each bed to make the child feel like they have their own space in this shared room. 
This room also does a terrific job of giving each child their own space. The silhouettes and monograms are a great touch! 
image via The Land of Nod
No need to shy away from floral headboards as you can see from this shared space! 
image via Stephmodo
Find a fabric that has blue and pink in it and take it from there. You automatically create a space for both genders by doing that. 
This room could totally work for a girl and boy. The blue and bright orange make it feel a little more masculine but you see sweet girly touches as well. The lotus lamp, butterfly print and cute doll make you think a girl sleeps here as well! 
image via The Land of Nod
This room works well because the two sides are identical just with different colors so it remains unique but also cohesive. 
The Jenny Lind style is a classic that is sure to be around for awhile. Land of Nod now brings you the Spindle Jenny Lind bed in an array of great colors! This bed would work well for your boy or your girl! The Land of Nod also has an adorable trundle to fit snugly under your Jenny Lind bed