How kids can express themselves through designing their room
Brilliant bedrooms: How kids can express themselves through designing their room
It’s important that your children have a space to call their own at home. If you’re planning to redecorate or refurnish, Suzanne Pearce from Casa Bella Furniture discusses how involving your kids in their bedroom design can be a great way to let them express themselves.
Your child’s bedroom is more than just a place they go to sleep. It’s likely that they will play, learn, grow, and develop in this space for years to come, so it’s important that their room feels welcoming and personal to them. Creativity and self-expression are integral to a child’s development, as both help to build important things like confidence, imagination, and problem-solving skills, all while celebrating their uniqueness (Nido.edu).
Creative activities like painting, arts and crafts, and learning musical instruments can all be a great way of incorporating more self-expression into their everyday routine. However, having a say in bigger projects like designing their bedroom can give also your child their first taste of responsibility and independence, and help them build their own special space.
Read on to find out how you can get the whole family involved with making your house a home.
Start brainstorming ideas together
When your children are old enough to have a say in their bedroom design, you can start the process by having a fun brainstorming session as a family. For younger children, you may want to do this by providing them with colour wheels or printing out a few themes and patterns you’ve found online and in design magazines. This way you can lay them out and let your child pick their favourite. Another fun way to come up with ideas and colour schemes is to let your kids draw what they’d like their bedroom to look like, and see what you can realistically implement from their picture. Seeing their ideas come to life is an excellent way to inspire their imagination — you may even frame this drawing and hang it in their room, to remind them what their creativity can do.
If your children are slightly older, sit down with them after school or on the weekend and talk about what ideas they have for their new room. Some things may not be possible within your budget or be something you disagree on (such as having a television in the bedroom), but try to let your child feel heard and have a mature conversation about what you can do together. Having a private, personal space is especially important for older children and teenagers, and they will appreciate you being open to their input.
Reflect their personality
One of the simplest ways to make your child’s bedroom feel unique to them is by having it reflect their hobbies, interests, and personality. You might have a budding fashion designer on your hands, in which case providing them with a desk for their sewing machine and a tailor’s mannequin would be the perfect touch. For avid readers, be sure to add plenty of shelving or a bookcase to store their collection of books, and make the most of any window seats, bean bags, or cosy corners to make their very own reading nook. You may even let their favourite book inspire the décor by adding posters or stencils of the characters on the walls.
When picking a hobby, sport, or interest to inspire your child’s room design, it’s worth remembering that these can sometimes be fleeting! If your little ones are still figuring out what they like, then it may not be the most cost-effective or long-term decision to go for a bold, very specific theme. Instead, you can still reflect their personality with colour, patterns, or anything else they’re fond of. Giving your child this kind of personalised space is even more important for those that share a room: try decorating each side with different colours, or add a separate space like a mini tepee to give your children as much of their own space as possible.
Invest in quality, long-term furnishings
While you may be able to refresh your child’s bedroom more often with a new rug or coat of paint, frequently buying new furniture is neither a sustainable nor budget-friendly approach to your home interiors. Instead, when buying integral new furnishings like bedframes, cabinets, or wardrobes, it’s wise to invest in good-quality pieces that you know will last. Unless you have plans to move, your child is likely to be in this bedroom for several years. So, quality furniture (whether that be solid wood or any other durable, natural material) is a must when creating your family home.
They might be car- or space-mad now, but your child’s interests and personal tastes will inevitably change over the years as they grow and evolve. Versatile pieces are therefore another key investment to make, as furniture in neutral, classic colours can stay put and still complement the room while you change colour schemes, wallpapers, and any other soft furnishings around them. Durable, sturdy furniture will also withstand the hustle and bustle of family life and be a comforting constant in your child’s room.
Get stuck in decorating!
Once you’ve decided on things like a colour scheme, furniture, and a new layout, it’s time for the fun part: decorating! The whole family can get stuck in with stripping wallpaper, painting, and applying fun additions like stencils or art, and this is essentially an arts and crafts session brought to life. Seeing the process through from beginning to end is not only a good bonding experience for you as a family, but it can also give your child a good sense of responsibility, as understanding the time and effort you have all put in can encourage them to look after their new bedroom.
As well as being a space where they go to sleep, play, and learn, your child’s bedroom can also be a key outlet for their self-expression as they grow and develop. With the tips above, you can start to work together as a family and create the perfect bedroom for your child. For more advice and top tips like these, be sure to check out the Parenting Daily blog.
