7 Blue Nurseries That Aren’t Pastel Everything

When you picture a blue nursery, you probably think, well, baby. As in baby blue, the color of early-morning skies and many a newborn onesie. We have nothing bad to say about the color—it’s inarguably soothing and pale enough that it can act as a neutral—but we consider it our job to introduce you to a handful of equally sweet shades in the family. As these seven spaces make clear, cornflower, robin’s-egg, and denim blue are just as worthy of your nursery walls (or moldings or floor).

The Robin’s-Egg Blue Nursery

“Sometimes I see nurseries that are very curated in terms of palette, and you feel like you can’t bring anything in that doesn’t coordinate,” explains designer Katherine Thewlis. So for her children’s space, she went floor to ceiling with a toned-down hue, Views by Clare, that was sure to complement everything from a strawberry red lamp to magenta artwork.

The Electric Blue Nursery

Just because a blue is bright doesn’t mean it’s not comforting. For Piera Gelardia, Farrow & Ball’s St. Gile’s Blue was the perfect reflection of her daughter Viva’s personality: energetic but peaceful. “We realized that we wanted her room to be a sanctuary for her to imagine and dream,” she says. 

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The Powder Blue Nursery

While this space in Dee Eke’s Long Island City apartment serves as both office and nursery, both zones share a Clare paint color and a cushion of Flor tiles. The multicolored mix underfoot gives the pastel walls a modern edge—but that wasn’t always the plan. Eke had to get creative when the single colorway she started with was discontinued.

The Denim Blue Nursery

Blue is technically the accent hue in this nursery by designer Nicole Hirsch, but in standout finishes, it has just as much impact as the graphic wallpaper. Peep the glossy moldings, painted Old Glory by Benjamin Moore, and one of the coolest gliders we’ve seen, upholstered in a textured denimlike-patchwork print.

The Limewashed Blue Nursery

Forward Interiors’s secret to a blue nursery that’s nowhere near saccharine? Introducing hits of black—you’ll spot it here on the trim, art frame, and custom stained-wood dresser—to contrast with the softness of the Bauwerk Colour walls.

The Botanical Blue Nursery

A no-fail way to choose a paint color is to pull it from another feature you’ve already decided on. In designer Laura Kern Hennessey’s case, that was the magical meadow mural she hand-painted in her son’s nursery. The slate blue on the lower half of the walls is an exact match for the leafy stems above it.

The Goodnight Moon Blue Nursery

Artist Raven Roxanne’s 1875 Charleston, South Carolina, home is awash in understated shades inspired by British brands like DeVol, with one exception: her son’s nursery. The walls are a deep cornflower, while the trim is Kermit-esque green—both from Fine Paints of Europe (E14-33 and E11-29, specifically). It’s a lot of color, but the 13-foot-tall room can handle it. “One of my friends came in and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, it looks like Goodnight Moon,’” Roxanne remembers. “I had never thought about it, but it does.”