Whether you’re moving to a new home in 2023 or just want to freshen up your current abode or help a toddler transition into their own room, it pays to think about setting up beautiful bedroom spaces for the children in your life.
Kids can be fussy about their areas, though, and you don’t want to waste money on things that don’t suit them, so you must design carefully. Here are some tips to help you create an optimal bedroom for your youngster in the coming weeks or months.
Get Your Child’s Input
Start by getting input from your child. While, of course, you don’t need to follow all these instructions and wishes, especially if they’re young and fanciful, you can take on board their ideas about what colors and décor style they’d like in their bedroom. Note any particular features they’re interested in, such as bunk beds or a canopied bed, a playhouse in one corner, bean bags for reading, etc.
Having an idea of what your youngster would like should make it easier for you to decide what to put in the room and how to style it. When you try to cover their major requests, too, and make them feel heard and valued, they’re much more likely to appreciate and love the end results and enjoy spending time in their bedroom.
Set a Budget
Setting a budget is vital, too, though. If you don’t, you may easily get carried away when searching for and selecting materials, furniture, and accessories for the room. Having a budget in place can also help you to explain to your child why you may not be able to make all of their bedroom dreams come true and act as a helpful teaching experience.
Come up with a total amount you feel comfortable spending on the bedroom redesign and then allocate parts of it accordingly to various factors. For instance, there’s the purchase of fittings and fixtures, furnishings, accessories, and perhaps contractor fees for installing quality ceiling fans or reverse-cycle air conditioning, power points, Ethernet cabling, and more. You may have delivery fees, warranties and insurance to think about, and other costs to factor in.
Ensure the Space is Child-Friendly and Practical
Always think about ways to make the bedroom child-friendly and practical, too. For example, it’s generally best to steer clear of a pristine white room, as it will be hard for kids to keep clean and you don’t want to put too much pressure on them to feel like they are barely allowed to move in the room lest they mark something. The same goes for hardiness. Choose strong furniture and hard-wearing materials that will put up with a bit of wear and tear.
Remember to leave room in the bedroom for children to get out their toys, puzzles, games, and the like and spread things out to play. If all the space is filled, they’ll migrate to another part of the home, and you’d likely prefer they keep their mess to their bedroom as much as possible!
Kids also need plenty of storage space to store all their gear, including a closet and drawers for their clothing and perhaps a bookcase or two, storage baskets, netting for toys on the wall, and so on. If you allocate a place for all of the bigger things and types of items, it will be much easier for your child to keep the room neat and tidy over time.
Keep lighting in mind when it comes to practicalities, too. For example, ensure there are light switches on the wall that your child can reach to turn globes on and off by themselves and consider dimmable lights that can help ease the transition from day to night. You want kids to have a desk to study at, too, so don’t forget to add a desk lamp or other targeted illumination over this area. They may also need a bedside lamp or other lighting to read in bed.
Make the Room Flexible Enough to Make Changes Over Time
Lastly, make your child’s bedroom flexible enough that you can make changes over time as they grow and their needs, wants and tastes change. For instance, if you have a young toddler, it’s helpful to put a cot in their bedroom that can be turned into a bed or a bed with side rails to stop them from falling out when they’re young but can be taken out later.
If your youngster is into a particular theme at the moment, such as princesses, unicorns, robots, dinosaurs, or particular TV or book characters, it’s best to decorate with items relating to this theme in accessory ranges rather than permanent features. For example, instead of choosing unicorn wallpaper they’re sure to grow out of in a couple of years, you could let them pick out a unicorn quilt cover, poster, and lampshade.
Take your time decorating a bedroom for your child so you don’t rush decisions and regret them later. Factor in all the elements above, and you’re sure to come up with an optimal bedroom that your young one enjoys spending hours in.
