Designing for Children
One of my favorite spaces to design in a client’s home is for their children! Whether it is their playroom or their bedroom, I can let my imagination and creativity go wild. Designing for children can be so fun and adventurous, and the creative liberty I can take in these rooms makes designing them so enjoyable. I’ve done many kids rooms over the years, from baby nurseries to teenager rooms…and they’ve all turned out so cute! I’ll share my kids room portfolio pics throughout this post. Which is your favorite and why?
Things to Keep In Mind When Designing for Children
It’s important to keep in mind that children grow and change at rapid speeds. Design not only for their NOW, but for their future needs as well. Create a space that they can grow into without it feeling too “babyish” for a school-aged child. What they really love now, they may no longer love in five years!
It is also important to keep in mind that your child needs to love the space when it is complete. Let them have input on both the colors and the themes, if there needs to be one. Present them with a low number of options of pre-selected paint swatches, furniture photos, and art. Not enough to overwhelm them, but all ideas which could be used interchangeably so that the child selects their own colors and art. This really makes the child feel as if he or she is a part of the design process.
With kids’ rooms, the budget can be fairly low. A lot of fun kids décor can be found retail at Hobby Lobby or Target. The furniture they will outgrow someday so it’s acceptable to put lower cost furnishings in their spaces. The largest chunk of the budget can be spent on fun paint ideas for the wall, or draperies, or bedding, art and accessories.
It is also important to keep in mind that children tend to make messes. Provide storage solutions for their toys and hobbies. Make sure their bedding is washable. Have any upholstered items in kids’ spaces pre-treated with stain resistant product like Fiber Seal. Don’t decorate with many breakables! But generally speaking, if done well and right, then the kids’ spaces could last several years until they’re a little more grown and ready for a new room design. That’s the beauty of decorating for kids….it doesn’t HAVE to last a lifetime! So stick with the less expensive stuff, and give them the freedom to really use their space to its’ fullest!
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