Tastefully Decorating Children’s Bedrooms and Playrooms

*This is a collaborative post

Children are constantly growing, changing, and evolving – much to the despair of parents, who find themselves in an endless cycle of purchasing new school shoes and trainers, only to find out that their child has grown out of them in just one half-term! Just as their bodies and personalities continue to grow, so do their tastes, wants, and needs.

The child who absolutely loved spaghetti Bolognese one day will suddenly have discovered a newfound hatred of the meal and turn their nose up at it every time it’s placed in front of them; the Spiderman-obsessed fancy dress connoisseur will go from wanting to wear their costume on the daily to never even wanting to see it again; and the child who absolutely adored all things Disney may decide that the whole thing is just a little too juvenile for them to partake in anymore. With all these changes in fancies and whims, parents can have a hard time keeping up and may also feel frustrated at having funded such passions, only to have their child fall out of love with it as quickly as they fell in love with it.

This is even more frustrating if your child absolutely begged for their bedroom or playroom to be decorated according to these fleeting tastes! You spent days and hours painting their room and purchasing matching items, from bedcovers and rugs to curtains and posters, only for them to decide they now hate anything related to their prior love. So, guess what?

You’re going to have to spend time and energy redecorating.

There are, however, ways to avoid to such pitfalls and save yourself both time AND money in the long-run. Want to know how? Read on to find out more.

Neutral Expanse

The mistake that many dedicated parents make is to give in to their child’s every whim and desire, kitting out a whole room in patterns and colours that reflect their current favourite television programme or film franchise. But, as children mature and grow, their tastes change. Pokémon may well have been their favourite programme and computer game for a number of years, absorbing all of their time and attention, but it’s possible that they’ll grow out of this fandom and move on to something they consider more mature, or that is more in line with their friends’ current favourites.

We aren’t saying that you have to rule out ever allowing your child’s immediate environment to reflect their love of certain things – particularly when you can hardly walk through a shop without there being something decorative related to said thing – but what we are saying is that there are ways to balance this in the decoration of your children’s bedroom or playroom without letting it take over completely, especially if you anticipate that, just a few months down the line, your child is going
to change their mind.

One good way of balancing the two is to decorate the vast bulk of your child’s space in neutral colours that can be paired with an array of different, brighter tones. Shades of beige, cream, white, and grey can all be effectively used as base colours that dominate the room – bed clothes, rugs, walls, and furniture – and then your child’s individual preferences and tastes can be added in to the room via accessories such as lamps, blankets, wall art, and teddies/toy collections. That way, if they
change their mind, there are only a few minor changes that need to be made to reflect this!

Investing in high-quality bedroom furnishings, like a made-to-measure set of vertical blinds in a neutral base colour from a company such as Make My Blinds can also help you to save money, as they are durable, well-made, and long-lasting. Or, if they don’t take your fancy, you can always try a different style of blinds to furnish the room instead!

Colour Schemes

Another way of incorporating your child’s tastes into their bedroom or playroom in a tasteful and functional way is to choose a colour scheme based on their favourite programme, football team, film, or pop star, without dedicating yourself to purchasing a range of items that are specifically tied to that interest (you’ll also find that this is a much cheaper alternative).

Is your child mad about Disney princesses? You can always take the colour palette related to their favourite Disney princess film and replicate it across their room. Take Merida from Brave, for instance; you could take the greens, browns, golds, and oranges (basically, autumnal hues) that tie the whole film together and dot them throughout the room in homage to your child’s favourite film/character.

Huge football fan who’s mad keen on Liverpool FC? You can incorporate reds throughout the room to reflect their love of their team, without spending an extortionate amount on branded bedding and other accessories. You could even paint the team badge in the odd place around the room – a lick of paint will cover that up nicely if they decide they no longer want it.

Themed Scenes

If your child is adamant that they want to reflect their love of a particular interest or thing in their space, it’s possible to compromise without feeling that you’re giving in to their every demand. You could choose an area of their playroom or bedroom to have as a themed space, which they can decorate as they like with as much décor and memorabilia related to their interest as possible. This way, when they inevitably want a change or they forget about their obsession, you only have a small area to transform.

Multi-Functional Furniture

As children get older, they grow out of not just interests, clothes, and shoes, but also furniture. The small bed that they happily slept in for 6 years may suddenly become too small, or they may require a desk now that they’ve started sitting in their room to complete their homework or sit on the computer.

To allow for this, you can instead choose to fill their room with multi-functional furniture right from the off, saving you time and money in the long run. A cabin bed is a great way to save space whilst also creating an area that can be used as a secret den when they’re little, and then repurposed into a study area when they grow out of wanting a secret den – the possibilities are endless!

Of course, you want your child to feel that they are listened to in your home, and you also want to respect the things that they love and enjoy, but it’s all-too-easy to give in to guilt and constant nagging to fulfil their every want and need, whilst simultaneously sacrificing your time and money to pointless endeavours. These easy-to-implement ideas help you to find a balanced compromise between allowing your child the freedom of individuality, whilst also helping you to keep more of a
tight rein over your purse strings.

Even better, you and your child can spend quality time together collaborating on the room design and planning it out so that their ideas are incorporated, respected, and appreciated, which benefits you both and makes them feel valued – something that all children need and crave from the caregivers.