Creating a Dream Room for Your Child

The most basic of all design principles – form should follow function – is as applicable to a child’s room as it is to any room in your home.  How the room will be used dictates the decorating components used in the room.  However, children’s rooms pose a unique challenge:  while you will be largely responsible for the designing and decorating, it is the child who will actually use the room.  Some parents fall into the trap of designing the dream room they themselves wish they had as a child, rather than creating the room their own children really want.

Children of all ages use their rooms for three basic purposes:  to sleep, to play, and to study.  Although the nature of their play changes over time, the need to have their own private space in which to do it does not.  As a general rule, the more you can involve your child in the planning of his or her own space, the better.

For older children this poses no problem as they are generally happy to be involved, until the actual work begins and many have a way of disappearing at that time!  But even very young children can be involved in selecting a bed and play components and even the wall coverings.

The problem you face with all children’s rooms is simple:  they grow and their tastes change.  The bed that looks like a fire engine works fine today but will need to be replaced in time.  Some will look for a basic bed and work with the fire engine theme with wall coverings and play accessories.  At a minimum, it is possible to find theme beds where the design is located in the headboard and footboard so you won’t have to replace the entire bed when the time comes.

Many designers recommend wallpaper for children’s rooms because of the availability of a seemingly limitless supply of color patterns and characters.  But the same problem exists here.  The child who loves rainbows and bunny rabbits today will outgrow that taste in no time.

If you have worked with wallpaper before you will know that it requires more effort and more skill to apply and remove than does paint.  In addition, it is more susceptible to damage from active children.  Many savvy parents have discovered chalkboard paint, available at major paint outlets.   The section of the wall painted with this finish becomes an easel on which your child can satisfy his or her creative urge to draw just about anything; and then remove and redraw when their mood changes.

Paint finishes have another major advantage beyond being easier to both apply and to change.  Once your paint job is finished, make sure you save some paint and the finish can be touched up when needed.

As far as the advantage wallpaper has when it comes to shapes and characters look into the wonderful world of stencils.  There are an equally limitless supply of stencils, allowing you to paint characters and shapes of all sizes on your walls and when the time comes, it’s a simpler matter to repaint and add the shapes and sizes that now attract your older child.