The nursery series / 11
Small nursery ideas: the crib wall and the closet nook
In a small nursery, paper one narrow wall: the wall behind the crib or the back of a closet nook. Choose a small repeat (Stars, Scandinavian floral nursery, Bunny nursery) or a light ground (Clouds, Neutral Nursery Cloud, Neutral rainbow), and Moon and bunny nursery for a nook. A 7-foot crib wall on an 8-foot ceiling takes three 108-inch panels, $360 for our kids' designs; a 4-foot nook takes two, $240. Order a $15 sample of each finalist first.
1. Pick one wall: crib wall or nook.
A small nursery rarely has a long, empty wall. It has a crib wall between a window and a door, a closet, and not much else. That makes the choice simpler: paper one short wall and keep everything else plain.
- The crib wall. Usually the one clear wall in the room, and the one you see from the doorway. In a small room it is often 6 to 8 feet wide.
- A closet nook. With the doors off, the back wall of a closet makes a small, contained accent wall for a changing station or a reading chair.
- Not every wall. Four papered walls in a small room close it in; one wall gives it a focus.
All of the designs below come from our kids’ collections.
2. Small repeats for a small room.
In a small nursery you stand close to every wall. A small, even repeat reads as texture at that distance, where a large motif can feel crowded.
- Stars: small gray stars scattered evenly across white. The quietest pattern for a crib wall you see up close.
- Scandinavian floral nursery: small black line-drawn flowers and stems spaced across white, with plenty of white between them.
- Bunny nursery: black-and-white woodland rabbits with small botanical motifs, for a little more to look at from the changing table.
3. Light grounds for a tight room.
A small nursery often has one small window. Light grounds keep the papered wall from turning dark at the end of the day.
- Clouds: rounded white clouds on a soft gray ground, for a cool room or white furniture.
- Neutral Nursery Cloud: watercolor clouds in warm beige and olive tones, for a room with wood furniture.
- Neutral rainbow: quiet beige rainbows with small hearts and clouds, on a light ground.
4. The closet nook.
A closet nook is the smallest wall in the house to paper, and the one where a pattern can be a little more playful, because it is framed by the opening.
- Moon and bunny nursery: rabbits resting on crescent moons with stars, in soft gray and white. It suits a nook set up for the bedtime feed.
- Measure inside the opening. Measure the back wall’s width and height inside the closet, not the doorway. Closets often have a lower header or a shelf line, and the panel height follows the wall you are covering.
- Clear it first. Take out the rod and shelf, or plan to paper only the wall below the shelf.
For which wall to choose in a larger room, see our nursery accent wall guide; for measuring and timing before baby arrives, the nursery wallpaper guide.
5. Panel math for narrow walls.
Every kids’ design comes in 30-inch-wide panels in nine heights, priced $90 to $180 per panel. Divide the wall width by 30 and round up for the panel count. Add 4 inches to the wall height for trim and alignment, then choose the shortest panel height that covers it. On a narrow wall, one inch can change the count: a 60-inch wall takes 2 panels, a 61-inch wall takes 3.
| Wall | Panels across | Panel height | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closet nook, 4 ft wide, 8 ft high (48 × 96 in) | 48 ÷ 30 = 1.6, so 2 | 108 in | 2 × $120 = $240 |
| Closet nook under a low header, 4 ft wide, 80 in high (48 × 80 in) | 48 ÷ 30 = 1.6, so 2 | 84 in | 2 × $110 = $220 |
| Narrow wall, 5 ft wide, 8 ft high (60 × 96 in) | 60 ÷ 30 = 2 | 108 in | 2 × $120 = $240 |
| Narrow wall, 5 ft 1 in wide, 8 ft high (61 × 96 in) | 61 ÷ 30 = 2.03, so 3 | 108 in | 3 × $120 = $360 |
| Crib wall, 7 ft wide, 8 ft high (84 × 96 in) | 84 ÷ 30 = 2.8, so 3 | 108 in | 3 × $120 = $360 |
Prices are before tax, with free US shipping. The nursery wallpaper calculator does the same math for your own walls; add the crib wall and the nook as two walls to see the total.
6. Start with a $15 sample.
In a small room you see the wall from a few feet away, so scale matters as much as color. Before you order panels, order a sample of each finalist from our samples page, or straight from a design: Stars sample, Scandinavian floral nursery sample, Neutral Nursery Cloud sample or Moon and bunny nursery sample. Each is $15 with free US shipping.
- Tape the samples on the crib wall or inside the nook, where the panels will go.
- Look at them from the crib, the changing table and the doorway, the distances you will see the wall from.
- Check them in the evening: a small window means less daylight, and the lamp sets the color.
Ordering your wall after the sample? Use code SAMPLE15 for $15 off orders of $300 or more (one use per customer).
Questions
What wallpaper works in a small nursery?
A small, even repeat on a light ground. Stars, Scandinavian floral nursery and Bunny nursery read as texture from a few feet away, and Clouds, Neutral Nursery Cloud and Neutral rainbow keep the walls light. Paper one wall, usually the crib wall, and leave the rest plain.
Can I put a nursery in a closet nook?
Yes. A closet with its doors removed can hold a changing station or a small reading corner, and papering the back wall of the nook turns it into a small accent wall. Measure inside the opening: a 4-foot nook takes two 30-inch panels.
How many panels does a narrow nursery wall take?
Divide the wall width in inches by 30 and round up. A 4- or 5-foot wall takes 2 panels, a 7-foot crib wall takes 3. On an 8-foot ceiling those are 108-inch panels at $120 each for our kids' designs: $240 for two, $360 for three.