Consider the following decorating elements to avoid having to redecorate in a year or two:

1. A Pleasing Color Scheme
This should be your first consideration when decorating a baby nursery. Pale yellows, lilacs, or cream colors are a good foundation and will be suitable for both boys and girls, infants and toddlers.

If you are determined to go with pinks and blues, you can make the look more flexible by keeping the colors pale, and then adding accent colors in bright primary colors.

You can find a large assortment of stick-on borders that are easy to remove and change as your baby grows. Look at borders with blues, yellows, lavender, and sage or grass greens. Then pick up the border colors in your baby linens, lamps, curtains, mobiles, and dressers.

You can paint an existing dresser in one of the border colors, and then easily repaint it when your child decides he or she has a favorite color. You can also decorate dresses with stickers or hand paint designs on the wood.

2. A Sturdy Rocking Chair
If you are decorating a baby nursery, you absolutely must include a rocking chair. You will find this item to be a sanity saver as your baby finally falls asleep in your arms. And you may even drift off yourself if the rocker is sufficiently comfy.

Either make or buy soft, deep seat cushions and pillows for your back in one of the colors on the walls' border. Try a print fabric with an accent color for the seat cushion, and blue or lavender solid fabrics for the back rest pillows.

3. A High Quality Crib
In decorating a baby nursery, the most crucial element is the crib. Do not cut corners in terms of your budget on this piece. The crib must be of the best quality you can afford and certifiably safe for infants.

Cribs come in a multitude of styles, colors, and materials. Remember that you don't have to match the rest of your furniture to your crib. You can still have a clean white crib with a pale pine or oak dresser. Mix up plastics and woods, patterns and solid to design the most flexible plan for decorating a baby nursery.

4. Assorted Linens
Use your baby linens to change the look of the room when decorating a baby nursery. Sew or buy a number of washable duvets so you can change them often and wash them easily. Stock up on some plain white fitted crib sheets for those times when you know you'll be tossing them out. It's better than throwing away a beautiful patterned sheet that matches a number of elements in the nursery.

These are the fundamentals to get you started on decorating a baby nursery. After you have your color scheme and basic furnishings, you can move on to the fun, incredibly cute design elements available for decorating baby nurseries.

Michael Holland is the creator of the Web sites http://www.kids-rooms-and-crafts.com and http://www.home-decorating-made-easy.com. His sites offer lots of FREE decorating tips and ideas for decorating your home.