Tips to Decorate Your Kid’s Room
Combine practicality and aesthetics to make your child’s room vibrant and comfortable, but safe as well!
Kids today like to have their own rooms. And in most apartments, children’s rooms serve multiple purposes. In addition to a crib or bed, they often include computers, an area for reading or playing video games, storage and much more. Here are some tips to maximize the utility of a kid’s room
- When thinking about buying furniture, think about potential for multipurpose uses as your child grows. For example, a shelf that can hold toys now and books later, a bench with storage under the seat can keep a toddler’s toys, a young child’s books or a teenager’s schoolbooks. The same bench can be placed at the foot of the bed as a footboard, and be used as seating in a reading corner.
- Select furniture that you could function in multiple ways in different rooms in your house. This is especially applicable to bookcases, slide-out bins, wire baskets, stacking crates, and similar modular storage pieces. For young children, you could select a unit that can be positioned horizontally, so it’s low, stable and reachable, and then stand it vertically as the child grows older. A daybed with a trundle underneath gives children ample room to play.
- If children are expected to put things away, everything must have a place where it belongs. Labeling those places is often a helpful way for children to remember where things go.
- Avoid large toy boxes, as they become a junk heap of lost and broken items. Bookcases, plastic bins, and cardboard boxes work well.
- Clothing hooks and shelves may need to be relocated so children can grasp them, allowing them to take care of their own clothing.
- It is sensible to have furniture, toys, books, and clothes accessible to children as it makes them feel more secure. Position drawers at a height they can reach and that glide open and close easily, without sticking; a low table with chairs for coloring, puzzles, or snacks; a toy bin on wheels that they can roll around for easy clean-up and low shelving or storage units for books.
Try these storage solutions to help keep clutter out:- Shelving is a speedy and uncomplicated 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 are an alternative option
- Cupboards should contain ample shelving and racks for clothing and shoes.
- Encourage the reading habit in your child. Set aside a calm and comfortable space that will tempt them to do this. If you have the space for a comfy chair, that would be ideal. If not, a couple of over-stuffed floor cushions would do.
- The most important factor when designing spaces for children should be safety. Children require safe places to explore and learn.
- In a young child’s room, get rid of furniture that could overturn easily if climbed, pushed or pulled.
- Avoid placing furniture near windows to keep children from climbing onto a windowsill or falling out a window.
- Keep electrical cords from lamps and radios out of children’s reach.
- Pass up furniture with sharp edges; rounded edges are much safer.
- At a minimum you will need a bed, desk, lamp, and side table for your child’s room. Make sure that the furniture you choose for decorating children’s rooms is durable, since it must withstand years of wear and tear. Use slipcovers whenever possible. They are removable, washable, and will extend the life of your furniture.
- Finally, color plays an important role – bright colors create a positive, sunny atmosphere in the room. Go in for furniture in vivid colors, or paint the walls in bright colors, have furniture painted with cartoon characters or paint them onto the walls.
