Thanks to society’s definition of “girly”, finding out you were having a baby girl, probably meant visions of flowers, glitter and princess crowns came to your mind.  Though your baby girl may be coming into a world where that’s the norm, you get to decide what their lives will look like in the beginning and what their norms will be.

Marketers understand that colors can be responsible not only for affecting our mood, but also influencing our behavior, stimulating our brains and even sometimes affecting our health.  Prolonged exposure to certain colors can help you sleep better, enhance your memory and improve academic performance.

Take a moment to consider how you want your baby to think and feel, regardless of their gender, and design their room with that in mind.  

Cool Colors

Cool colors soothe us.  We see them in the sky, in the trees, in the water - they surround us when we’re feeling most calm.  Painting a baby’s room in cool colors can translate that same calming feeling to them.  When used correctly, these colors can help a room feel open and relaxing - perfect for a little one entering the world.

Though blue is typically assigned to baby boys, there are several benefits of being in a blue environment for all types of people.  If you want your child to be more likely to avoid tantrums, get lots of sleep and feel at ease, setting them up in a blue room would be wise.

Another color associated with serenity, green symbolizes the natural world around us.  Like blue, it is also a calming color.  Green helps us focus while subtly promoting health and wellbeing.

Warm Colors

Warm colors bring out the extrovert in us.  They make us happy, symbolize boldness and bravery and help us to feel energized and optimistic.  Because a baby’s room is a place for naps and bedtime, you’ll want to be sure to pair your warm colors with cool colors as well.

Red, often associated with love, keeps us on our toes.  It raises our awareness of our surroundings, but it also contributes to negative moods and behaviors such as anger or tantrums.  If you’re thinking of painting your baby’s room red, be sure to keep moderation at the forefront of your mind.

The color of happiness, yellow helps us to stay positive and motivated throughout life.  Depending on which shade you use, the consequences of painting the room yellow can be positive or negative.  A more subtle shade can help with brain development while brighter shades can be responsible for feelings of frustration making for a very fussy little one.

Neutral Colors

Neutral colors can help balance out the effects of both warm and cool colors.  If you like the idea of incorporating red into your baby’s room, but don’t want them to be angry or aggressive, try balancing it out with a primary focus on different shades of grays with just a hint of red.  If you like the idea of painting your baby’s room a bright green but don’t want the fussiness caused by yellow to show up in their behavior, try balancing it out with white or brown.

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Girls and pink don’t have to be synonymous.  Just because you’re having a baby girl doesn’t mean your baby’s life has to be covered in colors by the names of “fuschia” and “salmon”.  You’re already considering several other factors into your baby’s future environment, so take the psychological effects of color seriously as well.