A Dash of Baby Nursery Pizzazz

These days, baby nurseries are a far cry from the choices our mothers had. Back then, the technology of ultrasounds was non-existent, so most nurseries consisted of white or yellow walls until the birth, simple wooden furniture and an assortment of gender-neutral stuffed animals.

Times have definitely changed. Remember the baby nursery Martin Short's character Franck created at the end of the 1995 comedy Father of the Bride Part II? While it came across as a little outlandish by taking up an additional wing of the house, it's not uncommon nowadays for new parents to put that much time, thought and money into the living space for the newest member of the family.

Now, expectant moms have an almost overwhelming color palette and selection of decor items from which to choose, and some interior designers make a living out of designing baby nurseries alone.

Marcella McCormick, a San Francisco, Calif., mother of two and founder of www.marcellamccormick.com, actually makes her living by painting custom murals for families, many of which are baby nurseries. "When I'm painting a mural, it feels so right for me," McCormick says. "I feel as if I'm doing what I'm meant to do."

Brandi Batchelor from Wallace, N.C., enjoys decorating and is expecting her second child. She didn't find out the gender with her son ahead of time, and doesn't plan to do so with this baby either. "With Jakob, I decided on a neutral nursery," Batchelor says. "We painted the walls a light periwinkle blue and had a bedding set with a variety of colors, including sage green. We bought unfinished furniture and stained it a dark cherry."

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