Sometimes people design a nursery around a favorite cartoon. Others choose a favorite color as a central theme. You’ve chosen a piece of furniture to plan around. Whether it’s your father’s crib from when he was a baby or the crib you slept in or a piece you saw in the store that you loved, you’re trying to create a nursery around a dark-colored crib, and you need help. That’s where these Dark Crib Nursery Ideas come in!
1) Leather
If you have a dark brown crib, leather decorations would go well and add a rich and natural appearance to the nursery. You can add leather decorations like the pouf footrest in this nursery to a modern nursery, but they’d also look good in an old-fashioned or masculine room. Clean-cut leather decorations and furniture work better in modern settings while almost any leather can look good in a retro or vintage space. You can also combine vintage and modern and use leather decor to bring the gap.
2) Dark Furniture With Light Surroundings
Just because your crib is dark-colored doesn’t mean the rest of the room has to be. In fact, you can make the crib feel even more like a centerpiece if you surround it with much lighter decorations like the ones in this nursery. You can see how the dark crib stands out against the light blues while the vibrant reds make the crib and dresser pop. This is a great option for a less vibrant colored crib or one with such a dark color that it seems to pull light in from around it.
3) Neutral Colors
Sometimes, if you choose a lot of bright colors, they won’t go well with the crib and it’ll stand out in a bad way instead of a good one. If you’re running into a problem where nothing colorful seems to look good with your crib, you might need to step back and choose more neutral options. With neutral colors like the ones in this nursery, you can create an almost monotone look, and the dark crib will stand out since it’s the darkest shade of that same color in the room.
4) Espresso
If you know that you want a dark crib and haven’t figured out the rest, then the key is to get the right crib. Every color has a different level of ease when it comes to working with it, and each color will create a different tone for your room. For a cheerful and vibrant atmosphere, a espresso crib like this is probably your best option because it’s a warm color despite how dark it is. It should go well with other warm colors like yellow, red, and orange to create a fun, happy, and energetic room.
5) Dark Green
If you want to create a more old-fashioned or natural and woodsy look, dark green is a good choice, though not necessarily for the crib. You can see in this nursery how the dark green complements the darker crib color and creates a forest-like or jungle-like crib. This would be an excellent backdrop for a jungle-, dinosaur-, or hunting-themed nursery. You can add decals of dinosaurs or, if you’re using a vintage crib, get other dark, slightly ornate furniture like the crib in this nursery picture.
6) Curvy Shape
If you’re looking to buy a dark crib, dark-colored cribs are ideal for a fancier nursery since they give a more regal impression than most. You can get a curvy crib like this that looks fancier than a boxy counterpart might, making everything look fancier without getting ornately carved decorations that could be a bit over-the-top. This is a nice choice if you want something lush that’s not old-fashioned, too, since the survey look would go well in a modern nursery.
7) Gray
You’ll have to decide on a good background, and you might have found that standard white walls look too bland with your crib in front of them. Instead of covering them with decals and decorations, you can paint them a color that’ll look good with a dark crib and enhance its rich colors. A dark charcoal gray like the one in this nursery would be ideal since it makes the room feel dark and cozy, adding a more luxurious impression and making the room more conducive to sleep.
8) Bears and Deer
If you have a dark brown crib, you’ll need to find crib sheets that look good with that color, and most lighter shades just won’t seem right. A light or medium brown, on the other hand, can create the perfect look since they’re the same color but just a different shade. The lighter version of the same color will lighten the area and create some contrast with the crib. We chose these medium light brown sheets because they have bears and deer on them that’ll lend a natural look to the space.
9) Matching Crib and Sign
Parents and guardians love to put their babies’ names up on the walls to make a room feel like it belongs to them and to give the space personality while they’re getting to know their newborn. The crib typically feels like the centerpiece of a nursery, so if you want your baby’s name to stand out, the best place to put it’s over the crib. In that case, a sign like this one made from dark wood is ideal because you can choose a stain that matches the crib, creating a connection between the two objects.
10) White
Sometimes, contrast is a good thing. It makes objects stand out and adds interest to a room that needs to be stimulating for your baby’s mind. Your baby needs to sleep here, sure, but their mind is also developing here, so a contrast like a dark crib and white furniture is ideal. The white won’t be too bright or intense and make it hard to sleep, but the way a dark crib looks in an otherwise all-white nursery like this one is lovely and interesting.
11) Buffalo Plaid
Buffalo plaid is commonly used in hunting-themed or other rural woodland-style nurseries, and it’d go well with a dark crib. The plaid has dark colors like black and red so that it’ll blend in with the crib somewhat, but the red is still intense enough to stand out against the furniture. A dark crib looks good in a nature-themed room, so you could create a hunting-themed nursery with a dark crib and a buffalo plaid bedding set like this one.
12) Mountains
Many nature themes go well with a dark crib, partly because most dark-colored cribs are made from wood and stained a dark brown or another color. One option is a mountain-themed nursery since mountains are typically depicted in dark colors. In fact, they can be a wonderful way to lighten the room if you want to since you can show a mountain with dark colors that match your crib, but a light sky that brightens the space. This effect is amplified if you put your primary pieces above the crib as this family did.
13) Frosted Trees
If you don’t want the entire space to feel dark and gloomy, then you might want to choose a theme and decor that bridges the gap between a lighter color, probably white, and the dark color of your crib. One way to do that’s with a woodland look since the dark crib will match the trees and you can add white or light colors. For example, frosted trees like the ones on these sheets have elements of both dark and light so that they match a dark crib but lighten the area overall.
14) Purple
While it’s true that most dark cribs are brown, there are many other color choices. You can paint the crib to fit any theme you want, and simply include lighter versions of that color. For example, you could paint a deep purple crib with an almost-black color, then get a purple butterfly bedding set like this. Even if the crib color has only a hint of purple, the sheets will bring it out and look good with it, creating beauty and contrast simultaneously.
15) Burlap
Dark cribs can go in a modern or vintage nursery, but if you’re using a family heirloom, you might already have decided on a vintage theme. For a vintage or country theme, burlap decorations would be a great way to complement the crib since burlap is often used in country settings and used to be more popular once upon a time. Since a lot of dark cribs are brown, a light brown color like an old burlap sack or these burlap pennants would go well with almost any shade.
16) Tropical Leaves
This idea may seem a bit out-of-the-box, but these tropical leaves could look wonderful in a nursery with a dark crib. Picture a rainforest with deep brown trees and vibrant green leaves hanging from them. These crib sheets with tropical leaves would create that impression in a dark brown crib, setting the stage for a jungle nursery, tropical nursery, or even a dinosaur theme since dinosaurs are usually shown in a jungle setting. The green sheets will also look good against dark brown.
17) Blue
Cool colors like blue are good for nurseries because they’re soothing, unlike warm colors that tend to be more energetic and hype people up. For a nursery, you’ll want at least some calming elements to make it easier for your baby to sleep, but you’ll need a little bit of stimulating color for the daytime, too. Since a dark crib is likely to be a soothing presence, you can use vibrant blues like the curtain tassels and wall mural in this nursery to create the perfect combination of soothing colors and stimulating intensity.
18) Nautical
Nautical decorations look good with dark wood furniture, in particular, so they’d be a great choice for your nursery with a dark crib. You can get dark ship’s wheel decorations and porthole decals, along with worn-looking trunks and other nautical decorations. For the crib itself, you can use blue sheets like these since blue is soothing and the whales and ocean waves will complement a nautical theme. Even without a full nautical theme, these sheets would help add some soothing color and patterns that look good with a dark crib.
19) Brown and White
Since most dark cribs are brown, you’re probably looking for a nursery design that looks good with a brown crib. A brown and white theme like the one in this nursery is a neat way to make the crib blend in as part of the decor while adding just a bit of contrast and pattern. The white will break up the brown and keep it from being too dark while the dark brown will match your crib and help make the room feel cozier and more grounded.
20) Pink
Believe it or not, pink can look amazing with dark colors. Bright pink can create a striking and stimulating contrast to dark colors, but a light or pastel pink like this actually mixes well with many dark browns. Something like these floral pastel pink sheets would make the crib feel like a small flower garden in your baby’s room. This would be a restful and lovely aesthetic for both you and your child, though it probably works best if you’re having a baby girl. Try a similar blue or green for a boy’s room.
21) Forest Mobile
If your dark crib is brown, it’d make a wonderful base for a forest theme, but you don’t have to go with a thematic room. You can just get a couple of forest decorations to add a bit of a natural look to the room. For example, this mobile has a brown stem that attaches to the crib, making it look like a tree that’s grown out of the wood of the crib. Then, the top is made from a leaf and depicts forest animals frolicking around it, making it a lovely woodland decoration that fits a dark crib well.
What else could we have included? Everyone has a different perspective and reason for centering a nursery around a crib, and we’d love to hear yours! Please let us know in the comments below.
