Home Décor
28th October 2017
A Room that Grows with your Child
How does one go about creating a lovely room for their child that they can enjoy for years to come?
Designing and decorating your child’s room opens up a whole new world of exciting possibilities, whether the space is large or small. It's the perfect excuse to be as bold, brave or magical as you want. Whether it's a girl's room, a boy's bedroom or a nursery for a very little one, there are plenty of ideas to inspire you, from furniture to lighting to wallpaper and wall décor, along with tips on how to make it age-proof and ensure that it grows along with your child.
Safety is of the essence when designing a room for a child – accidents can happen even to the best-behaved, and you can’t be too safe. Avoid positioning the bed underneath a window, shelves, ledges or appliances that a child can get hold of. Freestanding furniture should be secured by fixing it to the wall with anti-toppling devices, while open drawers can easily be used as a climbing frame by more imaginative and athletic children, so use child-proof latches on lower drawers.
When choosing lighting, go with something that’s difficult to break – wood or tough plastic lamps, instead of glass or pottery. Recessed lighting is safer than ceiling or wall fixtures that can be hit with balls, airplanes or anything else that can fly through the air. Use socket covers to keep plug sockets safe from curious fingers, and secure all dangling lamp cords to prevent injury from pulling on them. Finally, the windows should be child-proofed too – use latches that will let the window open no more than 10cm.
Furniture that’s working overtime is ideal for a children’s room, especially since, as we all know, they grow up so quickly. For example, when it’s time to start shopping for a bed, look for one that has built-in storage underneath – your little one’s never-ending supply of toys will have somewhere convenient to go when they’re not in use, and your child’s lovely bedroom stays spick and span.
Bunkbeds are a very cute and efficient solution to room-sharing, although they should be avoided if the children are under six years old – that ladder can be difficult to handle. However, they’re a good option when the children are a little bit older, and there’ll be plenty of extra storage underneath too.
Your child’s room should express their personality – it’s their own space and they should be encouraged to use it to express who they are, be it through posters on the wall, statement wallpaper, wall decals, fuzzy rugs and more. But children’s interests change quite rapidly – one day they’re obsessed with Moana and the next day they’re all about Batman. Allow them to express their interests with accessories that can be changed quickly and cheaply – this means items like rugs, throw pillows, and picture frames that you would be fine with swapping out on a semi-regular basis. Additionally, while it’s always great to keep clutter to a minimum, allowing your child to choose a few knick-knacks for display in their room is a simple and affordable way to allow them to feel involved in the design process.
When it comes to children, nothing is permanent. Favourite foods, colours, characters and styles come and go in the blink of an eye, and the way they’d like their room to look is no exception. Whilst you can be prepared and open for these requests for change when they come, a room that grows along with your child will save you lots of money, time and frustration in the process. Best of all, you’ll be showing respect to your child’s unique personality while doing so, which is always a good thing.