How to design children’s rooms that transition
Explore four tips for seamlessly designing transitional spaces that are both cost-effective and hassle-free.
As children grow up, their bedrooms change with them. But this can quickly cost you time and money as you repaint and renovate to accommodate your children’s new favourite colours, or aesthetics, or needs. To make the process as painless (and as cost-effective) as possible, here are 4 tips for designing children’s rooms that transition.
“The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live.”
Neutral colours
Buying new furniture, new curtains, or repainting walls when your child decides she’s too old for pink, is costly. Children’s preferences change on a whim, and there’s a way to avoid this unnecessary expense: keep the bigger design elements in neutral colours.
Stick with light grey, white, cream, or earth tones with warm yellow undertones for curtains, walls, or even to upholster (or paint) furniture.
A gender neutral colour palette can save you time and money. Most children outgrow traditionally masculine and feminine colours (if they ever liked them at all, or had a choice in selecting them), so instead of choosing blue or pink, why not introduce shades of green, or purple, in your child’s bedroom?
Thoughtfully chosen accessories
Cushions, lamps, and rugs are easily replaced and cheaper to replace than bigger design pieces. So, while you choose neutral colours for those bigger design elements, accessories are an opportunity for colour.
Bring personality and colour into your accessories for a cost-effective bedroom design as your child grows up. Is blue your daughter's current favourite colour? Buying her a blue lamp or blue bed linen is much cheaper (and easier) than repainting her bedroom walls.
Pops of colour, as in a bright pink cushion or turquoise quilt, coupled with compelling patterns and prints, are an important part of bringing personality into a room. They can also create a fun, light-hearted environment for your children, especially when they’re young. Children’s rooms needn’t be serious.
Invest in multifunctional furniture
A child's room needs storage. When they’re young, that storage is used for toys and baby items like nappies, bibs, and bottles. As they grow up, it becomes a place for books, school supplies, clothes, and much more.
When designing your child’s room, select furniture that can be used for different purposes.
If your seven-year-old has a bunk bed, choose a bunk bed that can be detached and used as a single bed for when your child becomes a teenager.
Invest in a desk that can be used as a changing table, and then later in life a place where your child can do their homework or sit at their laptop.
Good quality furniture is worth the investment. A toddler won’t notice the practicality of a sturdy chest of drawers, but a teenager will be grateful for it.
A pine chest of drawers could transition from a place to store nappies to an elegant statement piece where your child can sit to get ready in the morning. They could use the surface to display their jewellery, a mirror, or photos of friends and family.
Involve your children in their room’s design
The design of your home naturally reflects who you are as a person. Likewise, the design of your child’s room should reflect who they are. The best way to make that happen: involve them in the design process!
Make it fun. Experiment with colours and patterns, and get your child to join you in painting the walls, choosing accessories, or moving furniture around. The room will mean more to them if they’ve contributed to its design.