Neutral vs bright colours

[CountingSheep27]

Hello lovely ladies
Any advice for a new time mum on whether you and your baby preferred neutral or brightly coloured toys / clothes / room decor etc? So many things are in neutral shades these days and I wonder whether bright colours provide more stimulation for the baby instead?

Personally I’ve gone for all neutral tones, I really hate overly colourful decor/clothes etc. Although from a stimulation point of view yes, it would be better. I’m getting the black/white sensory cards/muslins for this reason.

If I was decorating my bedroom, I'd go for the light, earthy tones, but I do find the taste for really neutral, pared-back toys and nurseries to be a bit... sad. Children and babies are drawn to bright/contrasting colours and textures!

My toddler's bedroom is a mix - neutral walls but with a bright print on the curtains and bright pictures, garlands etc. Feels like the right balance between tasteful and child friendly!

And I personally wouldn't bother buying all the insta-worthy wooden montessori toys. In my experience, a relative will show up with a bit of noisy, brightly coloured plastic and the lovingly curated (and ludicrously expensive) wooden stacking rings/baby gym/building blocks will be left to gather dust!

Definitely the bright colourful stuff! I love the look of more neutral colours but babies and toddlers love colour and noise ime but I keep decor pretty neutral

I had Instagram-inspired ideas about getting only wooden toys, natural colours and so on, and then she came along and it didn’t take me long to realise she was really into a bright, colourful, often plastic toys.

When they’re very tiny you want some high contrast black and white stuff of course, because their eyes aren’t very good. I think we had one little black and white toy with a bell, a black and white mobile for her carrycot and a black and white fabric book.

She’s 19 months now and particularly loves her Playmobil 123.

I’ve read neutral bedroom decor

Sorry, that should have said “I’ve read neutral bedroom decor can be more relaxing for them, but never seemed to make a blind bit of difference for my awful sleeper.”

A mixture. When they're babies they just make dobwith whatever you give them, they will show their preferences as they grow.

I'm going for pastels and brights. I hate this trend for neutral, it's so dull and lacking in any sort of personality. I'm really disappointed with a lot of baby clothes, they're so grey!

I much prefer bright stuff.

I don't think the babies really mind either way Go for whatever you like!

There's some evidence that sensory learning is supported by contact with natural materials such as wood, so neutrals if linked to natural materials can support learning. Very small babies just see black and white, so strong contrast as some posters have mentioned is excellent. Young children then form strong affiliations to colour, so learning what colours they like and choosing these can encourage development.

My daughter's room is painted neutral with one wall in orange with a tree painted on it, and bright coloured animal stencils everywhere, log seats, lots of natural (unpainted) wood, neutral carpet...