The children’s bedroom is invariably the hardest room to design in a house, simply because of the fickle tastes of children. Adults can give clear, precise advice on what works and what doesn’t in their rooms (at least most of the times!), but children are prone to swing between love and dislike for things.
So the question is, how do you design a room for your child that will captivate his/her imagination (and allow plenty of room for it to grow)?
Here are some design ideas that can help you get started.
Get Inspired
The internet is a treasure trove of inspiration on design projects. Remember: you’re not the only person in the world fretting over your child’s bedroom. People, many experienced interior designers, have been there, done that. Some even post their results online for everyone to see. The easiest way to find inspiration for your child’s bedroom project is to head online and borrow from others ideas.
Here’s an example: The “Go to Your Room!” group on Flickr regularly collects inspirational pictures and design ideas from around the web. The group has over 6,381 hand curated pictures, which can be an excellent starting point for any design project for children.
It’s All About the Kids
As an adult, it’s very easy to get carried away and design rooms as per your own specifications. But it’s important to step away from time to time and remember to arrange things for your children.
For example: make sure that all cupboards, drawers, and storage closets in your child’s bedroom are designed for their height. Children won’t stay organized for long if they can’t reach their storage spaces easily.
Arrange everything in the room around your child’s interests. If he/she likes art, why not make a central ‘art area’ in the room with easy access to crayons, colouring sheets, pencils, etc.? Similarly, children interested in sports should have easy access to their favourite sports equipment.
Help Them With Their Hobbies
Adults have passions. Children have hobbies and pursuits. Hobbies are essential to developing a child’s intellectual, emotional and artistic abilities. Good thing is, children are naturally curious and will try out many things.
A parent’s responsibility is to ensure that your child’s room provides enough room and opportunities to practice his/her favourite hobbies. Does your child like collecting coins? Then make sure he has enough storage space to keep his entire collection. Does he like dabbling with craft? Then the room should have plenty of space to store his craft supplies.
Build the room around the child’s hobbies, and you’ll never be out of ideas.
Don’t be Afraid of Colour
As adults, we tend to limit our palette to a handful of colour selections. Children are not so picky. Children like playing with colours. Don’t stop at pastel shades for your child’s bedroom. Go crazy – include bright shades of pink and blue, blossoming orange and garden greens, royal purple and turquoise blue. The one thing that can make a room come alive is colour. Make sure your children’s room has plenty of it.