Decorating Childrens Rooms: Making Them
Child-Friendly
As you might expect, decorating childrens rooms is a bit different than decorating adult bedrooms.
While adults spread their living activities among several rooms in the home, children will try to jam nearly all of their activities into one room.
To children, a bedroom is a place to play games, read, listen to music, wrestle, display or hide prized possessions, or just to be alone sometimes.
However, decorating your child's is a great opportunity for you to show off your playful side, do some family bonding, and allow your children to be creative. Use the ideas for decorating children's rooms (and the video) below to help plan your decorating project. But, please keep one thing in mind.
Strategy # 1 For Decorating Children's Rooms - Talk To Them
Talk to your child or children and find out what activities they enjoy. What brings them the most comfort? What's their favorite color? What's unique about their personality that you can build a theme around?
Whatever their interests are, find a way to work them into the new décor…
This will make your child feel comfortable, safe and happy. For example, I have a friend whose son loves jungle animals, therefore choosing an African theme for his room was easy.
Her daughter is very spiritual and has a favorite stuffed Beanie Baby toy named Halo. These two elements led to the idea of decorating her daughter's room in cherubs and soft white clouds.
Strategy # 2 For Decorating Childrens Rooms - Let Them Help
Give your child a say! Allow them (with a little guidance) to choose colors, pick decorative pillows, decide how they want to display their collectibles, and so on….
Their room should be fun, yet timeless. Consider their age and keep in mind that today's child will be tomorrows teenager. The décor should be flexible enough to allow your child to grow and accommodate their changing tastes and needs.
As an example, replacing the comforter and decorative pillows to reflect the room's new theme are two quick ways to avoid having to completely redo the room every couple of years.
If you are decorating for an infant or toddler, be sure to read this information on
Childrens Bedding: Saftey Tips.
Strategy # 3 Make It Multi-Functional
As I mentioned, children use their room for many activities besides sleeping. Here are some specific areas that you should consider designing to make the room multi-functional:
- A play area. Play areas for younger children may include an arts & crafts center. Most children love to draw and color, so set aside a comfortable space for working on crafts.
You may also want to consider hanging a chalkboard which can be used for drawing or it can be a great teaching aid for you.
- A reading area. Most children love to read. Provide a quiet and comfortable space that will entice them to do this. If you have the space for a comfy chair, perfect. If not, an over-stuffed floor pillow or two should do the job. Also remember that good lighting is essential for this activity.
If you could use some advice on
what to look for before buying a Child Rug, click here.
- Space to entertain friends. This becomes more important as children get older. They'll want to spend time in their room with their friends. Depending on their age, a small entertainment center, that includes a radio, CD Player, perhaps a TV and VCR may be appropriate.
As an example, my friend's daughter loves music. She has a small CD Player that allows her to spend quiet time listening to music or dancing and singing-along with her little brother. But for your own sanity, you may want to include headphones.
- A display area. Children love pictures. So dedicate a wall (or use a corkboard) to display your child's favorite photographs and artwork. Pictures of family and friends will add to the comfort of the room.
In addition, chronological pictures of the child as they grow are interesting and will add familiarity and warmth. Children are very proud of their artwork…display it with pride!
You should also dedicate space or shelving for displaying collectibles, trophies, and other personal items.
Strategy # 4 Storage Solutions
Keeping your child's room organized will be one of your greatest challenges. Try these storage solutions to help keep clutter out:
- Shelving is a quick and easy way to store items. Built-in shelving is more decorative, but there are plenty of free-standing shelving options
- Large decorative wicker baskets for toys, books, socks, etc.
- Plastic (see-through) storage containers would work well
- Closets should contain plenty of shelving and racks for clothing and shoes. Make sure that children's clothing are within their reach.
Keep the window treatments simple and follow these guidelines:
- Avoid long (to the ground) draperies, especially in young children's rooms. Shades, blinds, valances, cornice boxes and shorter curtains would be better choices.
- Ensure that hardware on the blinds or window treatments are safe guarded, especially in babies' rooms.
- Use a lining on curtains for privacy and light control. (Especially for those early risers who automatically wake up with the sun.)
- Fabric should be versatile and simple. Patterns should be repeated in other items in the room such as decorative pillows, matching lamps, and artwork
When decorating children's rooms you should include both task lighting and soothing lighting. If they do homework in their room, good lighting is essential. A reading lamp is a must for the reading area and the bedside table.
For quieter times, install a dimmer switch or three-way lamp to provide soft lighting.
A nightlight is also important for children who are not quite comfortable with the dark and for safety reasons (so they can see where they are going if they wake in the middle of the night).
Strategy #7 Fabrics
It will be easier to co-ordinate the room if you limit the color choices and keep your fabrics simple. This will also allow you to make changes easily as the child grows. After all they are children and will get bored quickly!
When they do get bored, purchase new decorative pillows and linen. Let your children help you pick them out. They'll be happy and you'll avoid having to redo the entire room.
Strategy # 8 Wall Coverings
Use a wall covering (paint or wallpaper) to add splashes of color, texture, and excitement to your child's bedroom walls. Paint a cherub border with a soft cloud ceiling or wallpaper an African Safari theme on a wall. Allow your child to join in. They'll love helping and will have a sense of pride and accomplishment when the project is done.
If your child has sticky fingers, make sure the walls are washable. If paint is your wall covering of choice, go with a semi-gloss or gloss finish.
For really cool decorative painting ideas that you can apply to children's rooms or any room, for that matter, I recommend that you investigate using rubber stamping on your walls. Check out the eBook, Creative Stamping for Walls & Furniture.
In addition, offers hundreds of wallpaper design and border ideas. You'll find Disney characters, athletes in action, animal prints, beanie babies, and tons more.
Strategy # 9 Childrens Bedroom Furniture
At a minimum you will need a bed, desk, lamp, and side table for your child's room, especially for teenagers.
Your bed options include:
- Standard full or queen size bed
- Bunk bed
- Loft bed
- Small sleigh bed
- Trundle bed (great if a friend sleeps over)
Strategy # 10 For Decorating Childrens Rooms - Have Fun!
Children are great at sponge painting, stenciling, and crafts. They will appreciate and enjoy the room more if they participate.
So remember to make this a home interior decorating project that will be fun for you both!!!!!
If you'd like more ideas for decorating childrens rooms, check out our sister web site Kids Rooms and Crafts.com You'll find lots of fun ideas for decorating childrens rooms including themes, painting tips, easy-to-make decorative crafts and more!
I have also created a page of themes for decorating children's rooms here on Home Decorating Made Easy. Click on this link if you could use a little inspiration…
Decorating Kids Rooms: Themes And Ideas.
Finally, check out this video that provides some great tips on how to create a room that your child can grow in.
Decorating Childrens Rooms - Video
Don't you love how the designer decorated the room? I like how the furniture can serve one purpose while a child is a toddler and then be used for other purposes, even into their teen years.
I hope you enjoyed these tips on decorating childrens rooms. Click here for more great ideas to help you with your
home decorating!