Monkmee Guest Post~ Children's Rooms

Planning a Child’s Room

As every parent knows, children can introduce a great deal of chaos into the home. Nowhere is this more evident than in a child’s own room, where clashing colors and patterns, scribbles on the walls, piles of toys and games, the odd sock forgotten under the bed, all reflect kids’ energies and interests.

Making sense of the chaos and disorder doesn’t have to be a tantrum-inducing nightmare. In fact, adults are much harder to please – we’re not happy unless we have a flatscreen TV and leather reclining sofa – whereas kids are much simpler to keep entertained. But to help make the aftermath easier to deal with, there are three S’s that might help: simple, storage, and space.

Keep the decoration simple. Although children are going to beg for wallpaper featuring whatever is this season’s popular cartoon character or tv hero, can you all live with big-eyed animals or mighty-muscled adventurers for years? Can you put up with the kids’ wails for something new when the wallpaper becomes out of date or too young for them? Far better to stick to plain but cheerful colors for walls and carpets, and if they must have cartoon characters, restrict them to accessories such as pillowcases and cushion covers that can be easily changed and replaced. Curtains and rugs, toys and furniture can all add extra color accents to the room.

Kids today need lots of storage space! Left to themselves there would be books, toys, clothes, pet earwigs … all over the floor and on every available surface. There is now a wide range of colorful, attractive children’s cupboards, shelves, and hanging nets that can keep possessions well organized but off the floor. In addition, most of today’s storage solutions for children meet another essential requirement: they are tough and can withstand the kicks and knocks of every day’s boisterous needs. In a child’s room it is a good idea to have all the furniture not only sturdy and lasting, but also adaptable to offer yet another storage opportunity. Chairs whose seats lift up to reveal a chest, beds raised up above cupboards, chests of drawers, or desks, even a rocking horse whose tummy contains a little box, will all enchant children while being a practical way of keeping their things organized.

At the same time, no one wants to tidy a child’s personality out of existence, so some “open” storage is a comfortable compromise between tidiness, and allowing precious toys and objects to be on view and easily accessible. As well as cupboards and drawers, some shelves or open baskets that allow children to see their stuff make a happy room.

Above all, organized storage will supply space to do what kids do best—play.

With a bit of thought for the future and a firm “no” to temporary fads, getting the kids’ rooms right can be child’s play.


By: Susan from Sofasandsectionals.com