A child’s room is a space where they can truly express themselves, share their personality, and have their interests come to life around them. For some parents it can be stressful trying to style a room that a child will feel at home in, but that also doesn’t feel like walking into a neon, toy-strewn, messy eye sore that just feels like a mark on the rest of a home designed to your taste.
I want to inspire you with a collection of kids’ rooms I’ve designed that not only make the kids happy but make you happy too!
- Have fun with wallpaper!
If you want a look for the kids’ rooms that reflect them in their present and their future, wallpaper is your best friend. Whether you go bold like with this skateboarder mural or more subtle with the nautical themes blue print paper, this is a refreshing way of making a kids space feel fun but sophisticated as well.
You can get so creative with all the funky designs that reflect the kids’ interests, without having to choose an outlandish wall color that a kid will grow out of in a couple years. You can use your grown-up superpower of foresight to choose the wallpaper you know can be styled up as the kid grows, like with this strong tiger print that can one day become a statement wall that can be styled up with brass or gold fixtures – for now, it makes a your animal lover kid want to roar with excitement every time they wake up in the morning!
Another great example of choosing a wallpaper that reflects a kids’ interests but can also feel transitional for later years is this beautiful multicolor print. If your kid is a huge fan of pink (who isn’t a fan of pink?), it’s would feel like the obvious choice as the main color in their room’s color palette. This wallpaper does a great job of complimenting that color palette without feeling overpowering, which will make it more likely to stay for along time even after all the interchangeable pink in the room has moved out. You might even consider moving into the room yourself!
- Display Interests Like Art
Kids have a way of obsessing over a single thing and making it their entire life. Naturally, they want to be surrounded by that interest, whether it’s animals, or batman, sports, history, or blueprints of WW2 airplanes or ships (kids love a niche!). Surround your kids with what they love tastefully! Instead of getting a poster and plastering it to the wall, consider getting knickknacks that reflect what they love.
Here’s a great example of displaying interests on a gallery shelf. The bat man idol alongside city and car figures that are representative of Gotham implies batman believer without feeling cluttered, and the foam fingers scream basketball fanatic! tells you two things about this kid’s interest already, in a way that feels collected and tasteful. In fact, really looking at this shot, you’ll notice a whole bunch of small details that speak to the eccentric occupant of this room, which was my goal!
Here you’ll see a different format come into play. The pictures on the wall speak to that sport fanatic again, but the artsy cartoon style will speak to you too. The subtle nod to superheroes is still there, with the red, blue, and white print cushions that imply a love for Captain America – again with the little details! Also, who doesn’t love a gumball machine?
In contrast, we see the little nook in this lovely pink room next to our sports/superhero lover, which feels a lot more minimal but doesn’t take away from a kid’s obsessions! The owl plushies and cute bird ballet dancer print speaks to the amateur bird watcher, still in keeping with that pink theme. The books on the side next to a comfy neutral chair also provides a cozy little corner for a bookworm to curl up and read. Not only speaking to a kid’s interests but catering to them too!
- Hide Your Mess
If you’re worried about clutter forming in these display spaces, fear not. There’s a solution to the dreaded whirlwind of mess that kids tend to create in the blink of an eye, making it easier for them to clean up and you to take a deep breath!
You might have noticed that in these rooms, you see a lot of chests being used as bedside tables, or display surfaces. This is absolutely on purpose, because they have a dual purpose – storage! Make it easy to hide toys away by getting chests that are easy to throw things into, then style them with cute little knickknacks to make them something nice to look at too.
The best advice I can give is to get your kid involved with what they want for their room and find that balance where you will both be happy with the end result. This is your opportunity to reclaim your own childish spirit and envision what you would have wanted for your room as a kid, without sacrificing a space that will get run over by the real childish spirit in the house. Who knows? You might end up getting inspired for your own room’s design!