As a follow up to Part 1 to why we must plan a children’s room consciously, here are the key elements to consider when planning your child’s room.
- Beauty: Beauty also uplifts a child and teaches them to appreciate it. It can beauty in the form of whimsy or just plain cute when they are small. But beauty will help them to feel good in their world and to re charge their spirit.
- Color: Depending on your child’s temperament, you will want to select colors that will keep a hyper active child calm or a intelligent child stimulated.
- Organization: With space getting smaller it is more crucial then ever to organize your child’s room around their interests and needs. Keeping things well organized when they are young helps them to find things when they want them, and also teaches them to stay organized as they grow. Take the time to clean out old toys and books they no longer need, making an event over donating them to children in need (orphanages, battered women’s shelters, etc) and books to the library
- Shared Rooms: Again, with smaller homes it’s sometimes space that determines that children share a room. It’s quite a good thing as they do learn to share space and play things with another…yet it is still crucial to feel that they each have a place that is all their own. Think curtains or cubby beds to create a smaller space they can crawl into when they need solitude.
- Quiet Time Space: This is time to read, play with toys alone or with one other child…a time for quiet and reflection…downtime before sleep. No technology, not a lot of people
- Creative Play Space inside: Tables, chairs, book shelves, craft corners, anything that can stimulate your child to let their imagination and creativity flow, alone or with others.
- Outdoor Play Space: Children love to play with “loose parts” which they can move about, use for their own self-selected construction projects and incorporate into their dramatic play. Did you know that studies indicate that children actually prefer to play with stones, bricks, stumps, sand and other natural materials to carefully designed playground equipment?
- Study Space: It is crucial to help a child learn to study for themselves and to actually enjoy it. I had a friend from the Avery Coonley School for gifted children in Downers Grove, ILL. talk about the importance of children really learning how to study and to enjoy the process. This is best done in quiet and in solitude, helping the child to learn to think for themselves and research an answer. That’s not to say they don’t need help at times, or that some children have special needs that require more help…but in general the love of study comes from learning how to do it and feeling the accomplishment of figuring it out for themselves.
What does your child or grandchild like best about their room? I’d love to know…I invite you to share your key element in the comment section below!
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31 Comments
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Irene,
This is super! I love the way you write. It’s direct and very informative.
I have two small children and I always love reading about how we can improve the rooms lived by them. Design for kids is fun but there’s so much more to it and you get it.Thank you very much for visiting my site! I appreciate your comment.
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
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My girls are very lucky that they have quite large rooms. Color wise we tend to go with what they like but with neutral walls so we don’t have to redecorate as they change their mind about what their favorite color is. We bring the color in through the bedding etc. I completely agree with having no technology in their rooms though. No TV or computers in my girls rooms. They do have music though. Since one of my main beliefs is that it is a parents responsibility to make sure a child gets adequate sleep, my girls will never have TV or computers in their rooms. I would say what they like the most is that they are allowed to have a huge say in the decor.
Louise Edington
International AuPair Finder -
We just redid my 13 year old room this past summer as we had not done it since we moved in 8 years ago so her room was to “little girly” for her as she now a ‘cool teen”. She loves her new room. She chose blues, greens and brown and we matched the bedspread and curtains too. You have some great tips about space. Her room is quite small so we are limited there. Thanks for the great advice
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My younger son’s room is a nice blue color. I think it helps relax him after a hard day at school. His room is smaller so it can be hard to keep it organized. We are always trying different storage ideas. I’ve been good about going through his stuff and cleaning out old toys that he doesn’t play with anymore.
Thanks for a great post.
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I don’t have kids myself but I have helped a number of friends decorate for their children. Great tips, I love your focus on play space and organization. I’ll pass it along!
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My young children share a room and I always struggle with making sure they each feel like they have a space of their own. Thanks so much for the curtain idea. Will see if I can work on those for each space.
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My young children share a room and I always struggle with making sure they each feel like they have a space of their own. Thanks so much for the curtain idea. Will see if I can work on those for each space.
Yvonne
facebook.com/wildforwildtree -
I love that you included quiet time! Too many kids and TV’s and video games or computers in their rooms and don’t know how to have quiet time. I love the other ideas too and have made a note of the ones I need to use in my kids’ rooms.
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I am not a mother (yet) but I am a daughter and sister for 2! We shared one room and according to your list, my Mom did a fantastic job. Lovely pictures 🙂
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What do you suggest for color when the house is rented?
My grandson loves to play in his closet, no matter what he has in his hands or is pushing gets taken there. Might be time for them to make some space in there for him to play in.
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wonderful suggestions! we don’t have any kids yet, but we are close (both relationship-wise + distance-wise) to our two nephews, aged 1 + 3. i know that their mom would love + appreciate this post, so i’m going to send it to her. thanks!
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What a great post. I really need to take some time and reorganize my kids room. They are lucky to each have their own room, but the rooms are really designed for just sleep. The pictures really showed some great ideas. Especially the organization. I’m not a real neat and tidy type and I’m noticing my kids are following in my footsteps. I really need to nip that in the bud now or they are going to be unorganized people. Thanks for sharing this and getting it on my checklist.
Amy
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Great suggestions. Got any tips for making a messy kid neat? Just kidding…one of my favorite times last year was working with my girls to redecorate their rooms. ;D
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I don’t have children to think about for this post, but I would love my grandson to have a great space some day. He and his parents are very cramped now. I hope some day he has a home where he can know the pleasure of a beautiful private space (or how about we just start with a private space?)
When I was a child, I got my own room at a certain point, and I consider it a very special part of my childhood. I loved to clean it up (where did that love go???) and to examine all my special objects.
Judy Stone-Goldman
The Reflective Writer -
Decorating a child’s room has always been easier and more fun than decorating any other room in my house. I love the bright and bold colors which I understand enhances their learning and promotes creativity. Decorating with some high-quality transitional items has really paid off. Though we spent more money up front, less redecoration was required over the years as children moved from toddler, kid, teenager and young adult.
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My daughter is in college now and I don’t have any grandchildren yet! but when she was younger, how her room was decorated was always a big deal and what made it special to her was having a say in it. I did stay firm about no TV or computer in her room, but other than that, I let her choose how to arrange the furniture, what to put on the walls, and what colors to use for her bedding, etc. which changed many times over the years as her tastes changed. So I think that what made her room special to her was how it reflected her own uniqueness. I loved watching your video of all the beautiful rooms and play areas!
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I always loved decorating my kids rooms. I always made them a part of the decorating. Sometimes their ideas had to be modified slightly. I think it is important to have a space for them to have quite time. We had a large room we used for play and art activities. I love this post. I am sending it to my sister. Her children are still at home.
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Irene – I always love reading your blog and watching your videos. I loved decorating my daughter’s room when she was younger. (She’s now 2 years from going to college!) When she was young, I had more control, so her room was neat and tidy, but alas, she hasn’t inherited my “organizational” gene – I pity her roommates in college…
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Author
I hear that the skills you taught them by example come back to them in their late 20’s to early 30’s. Right around the time they have their own families! Don’t worry : )
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Fun and informational post. Being in the design biz myself I cant help but agree with you on the importance of making a room delight the child, while offering spaces for different functions, and places for different items. A bedroom is a sanctuary for any of us. No matter our age.
Jen Duchene
The Home Makeover Mixtress blending cool & cozy style. -
I love this post, Irene! With 3 daughters in our family, it’s nice to know we have done something right! (kidding)
Anyway, to add to what you have listed, I like to put fresh flowers in my girls’ rooms so that they can appreciate nature. And as you noted in the organization section, we use birthdays and holidays to purge the unused items and donate them to charity. It helps us to remember that it is as important not to have clutter as it is to give things to people who are in need!
These tips really do apply to children from 0-100, so thanks for keeps us on top of our surroundings so we can live inspired lives!
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Great post Irene and love the video.
It is interesting on how we, as parents, don’t realize how much a room means to a child. My kids are in their 20’s (and no grandkids yet thank goodness), but was just talking to my daughter about the house she grew up in before we moved. She could recreate every inch of her room, what it looked like, etc., and I can hardly remember it.
So having their imput I think is so important. We gave each child one wall that they could do what ever they wanted. I think that gave them a sense of their room actually being theirs.
Candace Davenport
http://www.outlittlebooks.com ~ Little Books with a Big Message
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