There is something undeniable about a child’s bedroom.
It might be that the moment we step foot across the threshold we are whisked back in our memories that does it. For a moment, we’re no longer an adult, a parent – we’re transported back to a time when we were the child. We remember how things used to look, memories we have forgotten for years come flooding back. We recall the things that we loved in our bedroom and we want to infuse our kids with the same, with a love for the space they’re in.
It therefore follows that decorating a child’s bedroom should be one of the simpler tasks of home decor. You know the feeling that you want to evoke: safety, security, beauty and with a little necessary sprinkle of practicality in there as well. So isn’t it a matter of choosing your furniture, electing for a bright wall color and then standing back to admire a job well done?
Alas, not.
As parents, we have to accept that sometimes we don’t know everything. That can be a difficult thing to adjust to, because for our kids, we are the font of all knowledge. Even the little things we don’t think of as impressive can change our child’s world view. The fact we have an answer to the endless parade of questions – “why is the sky blue? Why does the light go off when I turn the switch?” – makes us all-powerful. We are the guardians of knowledge, sharing it with the next generation and equipping them for life! So how can we possibly make mistakes?
The answer is mundane, but it’s the truth: because we’re human. While we might hold the keys to a thousand and one useless bits of trivia, we are still capable of making bad decisions.
So that’s why it’s so easy to get the design of a kid’s room wrong. We make mistakes naturally, and sometimes, we do it for all the wrong reasons. For example, by far the most common error is…
- You Design The Room You Would Want
There’s nothing selfish about this, despite what the title would suggest. It’s not like we’re standing in the middle of the room demanding our child like what we like and refusing to take no for an answer.
Decor is a very personal thing. As a society, we tend to describe the choices we make in this area as being a matter of taste. When we say this, we are basically acknowledging that these things are subjective, that they vary from person to person.
While we may know this in theory, in reality – well, how many times a day do we make decisions on behalf of our child? We control their entire lives, from their schooling, to the clothes that they wear to even the basics of nutrition. It’s all on us; we are the guardians at the gates to their tastes. So it should come as no surprise that sometimes there is bleed over.
Sometimes, we become so accustomed to thinking for our child we forget that they can do it for themselves. After all, the younger they are the more difficult it is to see them as an autonomous being – and for good reason! If your child wants to have candy for dinner, then of course it’s our place to step in and make the decision for them.
All of the above has a tendency to coalesce into a scenario where we choose the room decor that we love – and assume they will go along with it. We choose neutral colors because a million property guides tell us that’s a good idea, ignoring the fact that children have a predilection for bright colors. We choose to keep surfaces cluttered with ornaments and decorative touches, forgetting that for our kids, a flat surface is nothing but a place to race a toy car.
While there is nothing wrong with falling into this habit, try and remember this single point: it’s your kids room. They have to like it. There’s no reason you can’t come up with something that melds both tastes, but if there is a decision that can only be one way, then you need to step aside. After all, you want to ensure they look back on their childhood bedroom with the same fondness that you do – right?
- We See The Room Through Pinterest or Instagram Goggles
Please note, other social networks do exist and terms and conditions may apply – hang on, sorry, autocomplete.
The reason we mention these two social networks as primary agents in this mistake is due to their focus on the aesthetic. Instagram is very little but cosmetic. It would be quite strange for someone to post a list of “amazing feature walls for kids rooms” to their Twitter, but on Pinterest? That’s post of the month.
It’s natural to look through these sites when we are looking for decor ideas. The problem is, the images and suggestions they contain are sometimes far from practical. These are carefully cultivated images, with every item staged and placed in a specific way.
What they are not is practical. In fact, they go so far in the opposite direction that many a modern kid would manage to exist in one of these perfect rooms before they broke something.
Your child’s bedroom is not a piece of art, something to photograph, PhotoShop and filter. There’s almost no doubt that you didn’t need to be told this anyway – at least, in principle. In the midst of seeing all those exquisitely designed rooms however? There might be a little bit of a tune-up on the thought process required!
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is forgetting that a room has to be lived in. Beautiful, delicate furniture might look good through the lens of a camera – but it looks vulnerable and breakable in reality.
You might see the beauty of a wrought-iron inspired daybed, all delicate spindles and sweeping curves. Then you throw a child on there and all of a sudden, those delicate spindles are a hazard rather than a decorative touch. You find yourself deciding to search for Comfy Sacks and ensure that anything you buy can actually be used for the purpose it is intended.
The same applies to decor. Sure, that beautiful, gradient painting effect looks amazing – but then add in a child. A child with sticky hands, covered in paint from their own projects or mud from the garden. The mere thought has you running to the endurance paint products as quickly as you can.
So long as you let your mind intervene the way it does in these two examples, then you’re good. Practicality is an essential for anywhere in the house, but it is no better brought to the forefront than in a child’s room. It needs to look good – sure, but you also have to be able to clean and have your child live in it. Keep that front and centre.
- You Don’t Allow Personal Touches
There’s no doubt about it: paper posters stuck to walls look awful. They just do; they’re tacky, they have the potential to damage the wall beneath if affixed with glue and – they’re just bad news.
You had them, though, didn’t you? Carefully collated from magazines, of the latest band or even just a picturesque cute fluffy animal. And even though they were cheap (or even free), you still loved them.
You might think that you can do away with the posters by investing in wall art. It can be beautiful, child-friendly wall art – all neatly framed, set on canvases rather than directly against the wall. You can even convince yourself that it’s better as the quality is better; no one is going to rip a canvas just by brushing past it!
But it’s also lacking in charm. There is something about the disposable things we as kids stick on our wall; the way we arranged photographs or just tacked up a note that a friend sent us. For most of us, it was our first foray into creating the room we wanted, putting our own stamp on things.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing wall art for your child’s room – there’s no argument there. Decor is as important in this area as it is anywhere else. But allow some freedom for creativity, some way that the things that go on the wall can change and adapt as per a child’s mood. Even if it’s just a particular area that you give over to their choices, then you’ve done a good job.
There is no right or wrong way to decorate a child’s room outside of the obvious safety precautions. You can make decisions for all of the right reasons and mean them from the best place, so long as you avoid the mistakes above. By bringing together what you need to work with what your child needs to live among, you’re going to get along just fine.
