Children's
Bedroom Tips

Parents of young children often tell me how tricky
they find it to decorate their kids bedrooms in a
style the child will love but won't break the bank!

As adults it's often difficult to put ourselves in our toddler & preteens shoes
and think back to our own childhood and what we liked, was important to us
and brought us joy. This month I'm offering some tips on how to give your
children the room of their dreams that also works for you and your budget.

I'm a self-confessed neat freak so managing clutter via storage is always high on my list of room scheme priorities.

For children's rooms it's essential to have enough storage solutions so your youngster's have the space they need to enjoy it and makes tidying and organizing it easy for them and you! So prior to starting your decorating project, assess how much 'stuff' they've got and make a list of the furniture and storage you'll need to house it all to make the room practical e.g. wardrobe, shelves, boxes, baskets, cabinets, chest of drawers etc…

Once the essential storage list has been drawn-up it's time to involve your children by having a fun brainstorming session.

Encourage them to share their ideas and tell you about their favourite colours, characters, patterns, fabrics, hobbies, heroes and items they own. You can make this list together on a large piece of paper, adding pictures from magazines and catalogues of things they like. Eventually you'll have created a type of mood board together which gives you directional information on the style and theme they'd like.

Colour plays a huge role in setting the scene and providing the backdrop for a theme to come alive in a child's bedroom.

Wall, floor and window treatments are the 3 main areas to get right. So think carefully about the paint colour, wallpaper, curtains and carpet because these are the easiest, biggest and cheapest ways to have an impact on a room's look and feel. Then you just need to add some key themed items to make the rooms theme come alive.

Try to incorporate as many elements into the room as you can that encourage 'play', are interactive, stimulating, sensorial and customisable.

Consider interactive wallpapers that allow your children to move, swap and add elements, heat/touch sensitive wallpaper that change colour or reveal patterns, themed play rugs, modular furniture they can change into different formations and functions, a small 'den' area and a wall area to showcase projects, hobbies and achievements.