A baby's room ought to be the happiest place in the house -- not only for the little one who sleeps and plays there, but also for the parents. It needn't be drenched in duckies or amusement-park hues to be whimsical and kidlike. By using paint and fabric in cheerful solids, you will create a simple, serene environment that's nonetheless fanciful.

Best of all, you'll create a bedroom with staying power. Chances are, the walls, floor, and most of the furnishings will still be appropriate even when your child is sauntering off to second grade.

Blue Balance
The wood floor is a gentle blue-green. Once the baby starts crawling, you could add texture as well as functionality with an off-white sheepskin rug or shaggy mustard-colored one.

Cute Contrasts
Start with warm white walls, and then paint two major surfaces with fresh, bright colors. Complementary choices, like the orange and blue here, don't have to be loud; if one of them is intense, pair it with a softer shade. A mobile painted darker blue helps spread color around the space.

Sunny and Soothing
A single color will have depth if you layer it in many tones. In this nursery, a sleek crib has bedding in pear yellow, an unconventional hue for a baby's room that helps keep the palette interesting. Pale, banana-color linen is stretched over Homasote and stapled in back for a bulletin board that will accommodate a child's changing interests. The fabric window shade is the brightest, purest yellow in the room (to make it, remove the vinyl from a store-bought shade, and staple on book cloth; use glue or tape to add a channel at bottom for a dowel). For economical storage, unfinished cabinets, which we painted yolk yellow, were installed at kid level and topped with a length of wood painted white. The natural wood of the floors and mobile are also part of the color scheme.