Nurseries are lovely to decorate. You've got months of anticipation, a small room, and permission to buy things with tiny ducks on them. It's one of my favourite rooms to work on.
The catch is that the nursery stage is short. Within a few years that room belongs to a child who has opinions, and by ten they'll have very firm ones. Some of what you hang now will be quietly taken down. But some of it can stay, and those are the pieces I'd spend a bit more thought on.
If you want the full baby-room version, I put together 20 Nursery Wall Art Prints That Turn a Baby's Room Into a Storybook. This post is about the other end: choosing prints that grow up with them.
What makes a print outgrowable
Before getting into what works, it helps to know what tends to date fast. In my experience it's three things: anything with the baby's name and birth weight on it, cartoon characters with big eyes and pastel blush cheeks, and slogans aimed at babies ("little one", "sweet dreams", that sort of thing). They're sweet, and there's nothing wrong with a couple of them. They just tend to be the first to go.
What lasts is art that would look fine in a grown-up room too, with subjects a child can still enjoy. Animals, maps, letters and plants all tick that box when they're done in the right style.
Animals drawn in a grown-up style
Children love animals at every age, so you don't need to avoid them. Just choose ones drawn the way you'd draw them for an adult: vintage illustration, ink sketches, painterly watercolour, simple monochrome.
The minimalist monochrome white lion is a good example. It's calm enough for a nursery, and a ten-year-old who's into big cats will still think it looks cool. Same with the duckling ink sketch on beige, which reads more like a page from a naturalist's notebook than a baby card.
Vintage-style rabbits have the same staying power. The rabbit in a wildflower meadow is really a landscape with a bunny in it, so it'll sit just as well in a bedroom later on, or even a hallway.
For something with more colour, I like the celestial whale in indigo blue. Deep blues age better than baby blue, and whales and stars are the kind of subject that turns into a proper interest around seven or eight.
Maps
Maps are probably my favourite long-lasting choice for a child's room. A baby likes the colours. A four-year-old likes pointing at things. An eight-year-old starts asking where Granny lives and how far it is to the place you went on holiday. And a map still looks good when they're a teenager.
The vintage UK map with landmarks is lovely for this. Little drawings of places give younger children something to find, and the vintage style keeps it from looking like a classroom chart. Hang it low enough that they can reach it with a finger once they're walking. Around 100 to 120 cm to the centre works in a child's room, rather than the usual 145 to 150 cm.
The alphabet, done well
Alphabet prints are a nursery staple, and they can look a bit primary-school. The ones that last treat the letters as part of a pattern or an illustration, so the print still works once your child can read.
The floral alphabet print is a nice example. It's actually listed as living room art, which tells you something. Each letter is wrapped in flowers and leaves, so it's useful when they're learning letters and pretty when they're not.
Botanical prints
Plants are the quiet option. They don't belong to any age, and they work with almost any colour the room ends up being painted. A botanical also gives a nursery a calm, slightly old-fashioned feel that I love.
A vintage fern print is the kind of thing that can go from above the changing table to above a desk without anyone thinking twice. If you'd like something softer for now, pair it with a celestial piece like the moon and stars print in pastel blue and cream, then swap that out later and keep the fern.
Frames that make swapping easy
This is the part that saves you money. If you plan for prints to change, you can keep the frames and just swap what's inside.
- Choose one or two standard sizes, like A4 and A3, and stick with them. Any new print in those sizes drops straight into the frames you already have.
- Look for frames that open from the back with turn clips rather than ones that need prising apart with a knife.
- Use acrylic glazing instead of glass in a child's room. It's lighter, and it won't shatter if a frame comes down.
- Pick plain frames in natural wood or white. They'll suit whatever the room becomes.
A picture ledge is worth considering too. Prints lean on a narrow shelf, so you can swap them, overlap them, or add a drawing your child did at school without putting any new holes in the wall. It also lets your child have a say in what goes up, which matters more than you'd think by about age six.
One safety point. Avoid hanging heavy frames directly above the cot. Put them on another wall, or use light acrylic frames with secure fixings, and check them now and then once there's a small person climbing on things.
Let them take over gradually
The nicest children's rooms I've seen have a few calm, lasting pieces from the nursery days plus a rotating mix of things the child picked. The lion that's been there since they were born, next to a poster of whatever they're obsessed with this year.
So buy your lasting pieces now, frame them well, and leave some space. Have a browse through the nursery prints collection with an eye on the ones you'd still be happy to see in ten years, and keep a frame or two free for whatever they ask for later.
