The actual task of decorating a baby’s nursery is simple. It’s choosing the right style of decor from all of the available options that is the most difficult part of the process. There are hundreds of popular nursery themes that have ruled the roost for a long time and for good reason. Decorating a room using themes is easy, but some of the modern baby bedding collections have no obvious theme. What’s a mom to do? How do we decide whether to stick with themes or go with color schemes for the nursery design?
In my opinion, the best way to decide is to get personal…
For instance, is your husband a fan of NASCAR? Have you daydreamed about tucking your baby girl into a crib that’s been decorated with pink, princess bedding straight out of Cinderella? The baby’s nursery theme is probably more important to you than it is to your sleeping infant at the moment. There is no harm at all in using decorations and themes that are extensions of your own personality for the first few years and you can be assured that whatever your vision of the perfect baby theme, there are bedding collections with matching room decorations. That’s part of the appeal of this style of decorating, it’s very easy.
Perhaps color is more important to you than any given nursery theme. Carefully chosen color schemes can seamlessly blend your baby’s space with the rest of your home’s decor. Soft and subdued color combinations can be used to create a space that’s elegant and sophisticated. Bright primary colors in bedding and wall decorations give the feel of a space bouncing with laughter and fun. Do you want your nursery to be a retreat filled with peace and tranquility or would you be more at home in a carefree area designed for fun and horseplay? A beautiful white on white nursery is lovely, but do you really want to spend your child’s first few years worrying about every little stain?
As with all decorating decisions, there may be a way to get the best of both styles of decor. It’s possible to adapt nursery themes to various baby friendly color schemes. A princess nursery theme does not have to be pale pink. You can still have that princess theme room even if you prefer a cool color combination with shades of blue and green. The same goes with for lots of other themes. Lay a decorative foundation using the color scheme you like and then choose coordinating accessories in your chosen theme. You may have to paint a few decorations yourself, but that’s a small price to pay to have the best of both worlds.
 
SOME “MUST HAVES” FOR THE NURSERY:
Places to Sit, Rest, Play - Make the most of every bit of the room's space.
Stations for Baby's Needs:
Try a shelving tower as home to audio equipment: instruments, a personal DVD player, DVDs, and a video baby monitor receiver.  You can wall-mount the camera in a corner of the room. The other side of the bookshelf holds quiet-time items including books, a caddy for pacifiers, and a blanket.
A Pretty (& Practical) Color Scheme:
Walls painted in a neutral but sunny hue can be decorated with removable decals and custom artwork in the same kaleidoscopic colors as the room's fabrics. This will make room re-dos easy as baby gets older.
Fun, Funky Artwork:
Baby-safe acrylic (found in frame shops) protects the colorful framed art. Don't want to shell out for one-of-a-kind collages? Create your own by using decoupage to layer tissue paper in a design that goes with your theme.
The "Stinky Station”: 
The all-important Diaper Genie makes it less so. A soft-sided changing pad on top of the dresser-turned-changing table converts to a fun play mat for the floor.
A simple shelf above the changing table makes a smart spot for storing fragile toys, special artwork, and essential supplies such as a pacifier or tube of diaper-rash cream.
More Playful Fabrics:
Babies and toddlers love items they can grab and play with, try a pillow with securely attached pom-poms!