Just like our rooms, especially our bedrooms, reflect our personalities, our favorite colors and the things we love, kids bedrooms should reflect their interests and likes, too. Kids bedrooms can be much more than a place to sleep, do homework or play with their toys. They can be a special spot in the house that’s all their own.
While looking through magazines and catalogs can give you ideas, often the room themes displayed in them are more about selling sets of sheets that match curtains that match throw rugs, than really letting your child be an individual. Kids bedrooms can be decorated in items that all related to a movie or TV character, but very often no matter how much a child likes a character, a movie, a book or a television show, the child will have his or her own ideas about how to decorate a room.
When decorating smaller kids bedrooms, you might be tempted to fill it with things you love. You can still enjoy the décor when you let the child have some input. Even little kids know things they don’t like when they see them, and things they like, as well. If your heart’s set on a Pooh-themed room but your child just wants flowers and clouds, you can easily combine such things to make it a space you’ll both enjoy.
For slightly older children, giving them a choice in their bedroom décor can give them more confidence and help them enjoy their room even more. Let your child choose the colors for the color scheme, to start with. Make sure these colors are shades that the child can live with for a while. If you use wallpaper rather than paint, be sure that you choose wallpaper that can transition from a more child-like theme to an older child’s room unless you’re prepared to replace it.
To avoid choosing wallpaper or large items that are hard to replace with characters on them. Dora the Explorer wallpaper will have to be replaced sooner than you expect. If you stick to a wallpaper, paint and large furniture items in kids bedrooms that can fit in with any theme, then you can change the look of the room much more easily and inexpensively.
If your child must have a character like Dora in her room, go with a neutral wallpaper, and Dora sheets or even curtains. If Speed Racer is a favorite, go for racing sheets and a race car lamp than can be easily replaced. When the child outgrows these characters and interests, changing sheets, lamps, accessories, even curtains is inexpensive compared to changing cutesy wallpaper or furniture.
Give your child a place to put up new interests, like posters, photos and drawn or colored pictures. Plenty of storage is essential, including shelves to keep things tidy off the floor. If your child has plenty of places to put things away, the room will be easier to keep clean, which will make both of you happy.
