Making Your Nursery the Ultimate Baby Pad

SAMANTHA Cameron may have been unprepared for a surprise, early birth in Cornwall, but she left nothing to chance when it came to her new daughter's nursery.

It was one of the first tasks completed in the renovation of No.11 Downing Street, which the Camerons are making their home, as it's more spacious than No.10.

With a degree in fine art, Samantha has an eye for detail and is likely to have followed her natural taste for understated, minimalist rooms, the strongest trend in rooms for VIBs - Very Important Babies.

"The look for today is one of timeless simplicity," says Lucinda Croft, owner of Dragons of Walton Street, the company which created nurseries for Princes William and Harry.

"There's a complete move away from bright, primary colours and instead rooms are decorated in natural, neutral tones, often with painted wooden furniture."

But even design fashionistas aren't hard-hearted enough to deny a new arrival those special touches.

"They're personalising with unique details to ensure the room is totally individual and special to their baby," says Croft.

"We recently created fluffy 3D clouds for the walls of one room, and gingerbread men for another," "We've noticed mothers tend to indulge themselves a little more with the decor of a daughter's nursery than with a son's.

"It seems mothers feel freer with a girl to create a fantasy room that perhaps they dreamt of when they were little."

Making your nursery the ultimate baby pad - no matter what your budget - is easy if you follow the experts' tips.