Designing kids bedrooms can be tricky. They just do so much in their rooms. There’s the sleeping, playing, entertaining their friends, building dens, doing homework, artwork and everything in between. Not only that, they accumulate random plastic tat all the time plus they get bigger and bigger.
There is no other room in your home that has to accommodate so many activities and store so much stuff. So actually they take really careful planning to get right. Yet they are often just thrown together in a haphazard way until suddenly one day it’s just a mass of mismatched furniture, a random colour palette, and a huge pile of soft toys.
If this sounds familiar maybe it’s time for a restyle. If you are planning to redecorate here are my top tips.
TOP TIPS FOR DESIGNING KIDS BEDROOMS
1. CALM COLOURS
It can be really tempting to go with a bright colour for kids rooms. But a zingy yellow or bright pink can send them into stimulation overdrive. Calmer colours are more conducive to sleeping and quiet time. And with all the colourful tat they’ll collect over the years it can be useful to go with a very dark or more soothing colour for the walls, to quieten all that colour down. You don’t have to be boring, it can still be really dramatic. Dark or muted tones are perfect to soothe and relax.
2. COSY CORNER
Kids love to hide and have somewhere they feel safe. So if you have the space a cosy reading nook or tepee or canopy can be the perfect spot for when they need some time out. Pile it up with cushions and rugs that provides warmth, comfort and also is great an insulating sound! If you are short of space then use a canopy over their bed to create the same effect.
3. USE RUGS
Think like a kid. They spend most of their time sitting, playing and tantruming on the floor so make it as comfy as possible. The best way to do this is with rugs. Rugs are perfect as they are much easier to replace than carpets and they can also be used to zone the room. So maybe use one rug for a reading spot and another for playing with their toys. Zoning areas in their room can bring as sense of calm to the chaos.
4. PEG RAILS
Peg rails are an absolute must for kids rooms. They are so so useful because you can just hang up stuff and get it off the floor. Run a long row of them across a wide wall or use shorter lengths, one above the other, on a narrow walls. Then hang bags and baskets from them to store larger items and use the pegs to hang school uniforms, dressing gowns and those random pieces of ribbon they insist on collecting.
5. TACKLE THE SOFT TOYS
Urgh, how many soft toys??? Kids understandably find it very difficult to let go of their soft toys, so why not create a soft toy photo album? Photograph each individual toy and create a ‘soft toy family’ photo album, digitally is fine but a printed one is much more fun! Then choose ten soft toys to keep in their room. The others should be put in bin bags and stored in the loft / airing cupboard / grandmas house, anywhere but their room. They can then browse through the album whenever they miss them and want to see them. Then maybe once every three months rotate them. That way they don’t have to get rid of them but the numbers are kept under control. The album is also a lovely keepsake for when they are twenty six and have finally purged the toys.
6. BLACKOUT
This is a pretty obvious one but it’s worth investing in blackouts for your best chance of getting some actual sleep, and if you are going curtains rather than blinds full length will be best. Made to measure are going achieve the best fit but of course they can be pricey. If you are looking for a more budget version than have a look at curtains2go and blinds2go, you do the measuring so it massively reduces the cost and the quality of them is spot on.
7. AMBIENT LIGHTING
Once you hit that magical bedtime hour you want to dim the lights to install a sense of calm. So a bedside lamp or floor lamp is ideal or at least a dimmer on your main light. You want to create that nice cosy vibe for story time and chill out before bed. So choose a lamp with a linen shade that nicely filters the light to create a warm, cosy, haze.
8. VARIED STORAGE
Because there is so much stuff you need to get really smart with your storage. A cube system that’s great for larger items is not going to be any good for books, the shelves will be too deep. So you need to combine pieces of furniture that are appropriate for different sized items. But you still want the items of furniture to all work cohesively and not randomly thrown together. The way to do this is to find furniture with common elements. It could be the finish they have in common, or that they have angled legs. As long as their is a common thread between them they will work together well.
And because children are small there is a tendency to have small furniture but I think it’s a real design crime not make full use of your wall height where there is so much stuff to store. Just because it’s out of reach doesn’t mean it’s not useful storage. High up shelves are the prefect excuse to implement toy rotation.
9. LABEL MAKER
You must get one. I’m obsessed with mine, it’s literally a game changer. Because kids have such a variety of tiny plastic toys, storage boxes are a must, but ideally you want opaque ones so you can’t see the mess inside them. This is why you need a label machine. How else are you going to beautifully label ‘my little ponies’ ‘hot wheels’ and ‘lego figures’?
10. FLEXIBLE ARTWORK DISPLAY
I’m a huge fan of framed pints in kids rooms but it’s also really important to have some kind of area where they can display things that come and go. Stuff like postcards, flags, bunting, special birthday cards, stickers, badges, plastic medals, photos, paper plates and just all the other weird, random stuff they like to collect. By having a pinboard, or something similar, you can contain all this stuff in one small space rather than it being dotted around the room looking messy. Plus they can constantly add to it or change it up, and every now and then you can try and coax some of it into the bin.
What is your biggest challenge with your kids bedrooms?
If you would like help designing your little one’s perfect room then why not get in touch? I can offer my services locally across Hampshire or remotely wherever you are. Check out the services here.
Sarah x
