A child’s bedroom has to do a lot – encourage growth and imagination, inspire young minds, and be a safe haven for them.
So how can we ensure that in styling our kids room, we check off all of these criteria, and still have it look nice, presentable, and clean?
Carmen Strong is a professional home organiser and interior stylist, and founder of Little Strong Home. Ms Strong is passionate about making sure that kids’ spaces foster growth, imagination, and comfort. She provided us with her top tips for transforming your child’s bedroom into a paradise – and they are all super easy!
Do it together!
Kids’ bedrooms belong to a little person with individual interests and hopes and dreams.
“We want our kids to feel comfortable and as though they have contributed – it will give them a sense of ownership,” Ms Strong says. She also notes that there are a few ways to achieve this but
acknowledges, “…As much as we could let our kids go wild, I think often parents have an idea of what they want their kids’ rooms to look like.”
The key here is to strike a balance between what the child will want and what the parent wants.
Your child can pick a theme or colours that they enjoy – this allows the child to personalise their space but when it comes to the individual details, you have final say.
Another tip that Ms Strong noted was to create a Pinterest board with different options and sit down with your kid and see which one they liked the most. This is a great way to visualise what your
kid gravitates towards, but that Pinterest board is still curated by you (for example: no neon green walls).
Create a space that will grow with your kidChildrens’ rooms and timelessness are not necessarily synonymous. However, it isn’t impossible to create a room that will grow with your child over the years.
When it comes to furniture in your child’s room, Ms Strong recommends thinking long term. “You really want to make sure that a piece of furniture is going to be timeless and grow with the child.”
This might mean choosing furniture that can be painted easily or investing in high-quality timeless furniture that will stand the test of time.
Where you can experiment with personality and interests is primarily with soft furnishings and art. These things can be easily swapped out and altered over time to suit the person your child grows to be.
Choose storage that actually works
Effective storage solutions allow parents and kids alike to keep the space functioning. The best storage for a kid’s room is storage that is able to grow with the child.
Simple and effective storage like the Ikea Trofast storage unit can be used for toys early in life, and then books, then clothes.
“As children get older, they tend to stop using toys as much. This is when you probably look at merging existing storage into things like desks, giving them the ability to create and grow in new
ways.”
If you want to help your child know where everything goes, don’t be afraid to get friendly with a label maker – use symbols if they aren’t familiar with words yet.
A room that a child can easily manage themselves will allow them to have ownership and pride in their space.
Styling a kids room for the future
Your child’s bedroom should not only reflect your hopes and dreams for your child but also their personality.
Involve your child in the styling process, keep the future in your thoughts, and make storage a priority. In doing this you will create a bedroom that will grow with them for years to come.
Images courtesy of Carmen Strong, Little Strong Home