If you choose not to know the sex of your child, it is one of the most exciting aspects of having a baby. It does, however, prove rather a problem when choosing how to decorate the nursery. My brief here by mother-to-be, Emily, was for a pretty look but nothing twee – something with a bit of oomph. The room is in the attic so lots of sloping walls, which I wanted to make a feature of. And, luckily, a large sash window. Natural sunlight is wonderfully uplifting for a new, exhausted mother but it would need to be blacked out for daytime sleeps and at night-time.

My starting point was to choose a toile de jouy wallpaper. I opted for a gold-coloured toile de jouy pattern against an off-white background. This particular design is great as it depicts children at play. It is called Ballon de Gonesse from Turnell & Gigon and costs £35.20 per roll (there are lots of other colour ways available). The matching fabric is £47 per metre.

The beautiful crochet chandelier is from B-Sweden and gives out a soft defusing light. It costs £522. The cot and changing table are both by Dutch designer Piet-Hein Eek who is well known for his fun designs in recycled wood. The cot is £860 and the changing table £923. The heavy linen fabric for the black-out lined and interlined curtains is called Toile de Lin by Dominique Kieffer and is quite expensive at £103.60 per metre. However, Peter Jones stocks similar linens at a fraction of the cost.

To keep the room bright and clean-looking the floorboards are painted with a shiny floor paint, Himalayan White from Fired Earth. The fluffy rug is from Top Floor and is a linen and wool mix called Sense (£535.50 per square metre). The soft lambswool stripey blanket, £42.50, is by The Natural Mat Co and cuddly lamb by Sigikid (30 Euros).

An elegant looking nursing chair is hard to find but when I stumbled upon (and sat down in!) the Lamino chair from SCP, I knew I was onto something good - it has a sheepskin-type fabric cover which is removable: £680 for the chair and £350 for the matching footstool. And lastly, the wooden box is from Shaker (£56.95).

Everything is available to order through Sequoia Interior Design. Juliette Nieuwland at 020 7228 7951/07957 414693 or juliette@sequoiadesign.net

Turnell & Gigon
Harbour Design Centre
Lots Rd SW10
tel 020 8971 1711

B-Sweden
www.bsweden.com

The Natural Mat Co
99 Talbot Rd W11
tel 020 7985 0474
www.naturalmat.com

Abbott & Boyd
Harbour Design Centre
Tel 020 7351 9985

Piet-Hein Eek Design
www.pietheineek.nl

Top Floor UK Ltd
Lots Rd SW10
Tel 020 7795 3333

Fired Earth
www.firedearth.com

SCP
135-139
Curtain Rd EC2A
Tel 020 7739 1869
www.scp.co.uk

Sigikid at Selfridges
and www.sigikid.de

Shaker
www.shaker.co.uk

Stokke
for stockists, call 01753 655873

Simon Horn
Tel 020 7731 1279
www.simonhorn.com

Pedlars
Tel 01330 850400
www.pedlars.co.uk

Peter Jones
Tel 020 7730 3434

John Lewis
Brent Cross - 020 8202 6535
Oxford St - 020 7629 7711

Chic Shack
Tel 020 8785 7777
www.chicshack.net

Blooming Marvellous
Tel 0870 751 8977
www.bloomingmarvellous.co.uk

Lion Witch Wardrobe
Tel 020 8318 2070
www.lionwitchwardrobe.co.uk