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A Child’s View Rooms Designed Just for Kids By Renee Houston Zemanski

Anchors aweigh! A custom-made lighthouse bookcase and details such as toy boats, dock line curtain pulls and nautical flags and map make this room seaworthy for any boy. Room designed by Kristen Hughes of Lullaby Baby.

Next two photos (before and after) to go with "Play by Play" sidebar – can shrink the size:
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Bright color adds a lot of punch to this tween/teen hangout. The mirror curtains on the right create a subtle room divider that says, "this is my space."

(These 2 photos must include copyright and say, "as seen on HGTV's Kidspace. Information accompanies photos on jpegs.)

For some people decorating a child’s room seems like a dream come true—you can be a kid again and use your imagination. For others it seems like a nightmare—What? My kid has an opinion?

If you are in the latter category don’t throw in the towel just yet. In fact, hang that towel on a rod and call it a window treatment! There’s no limit to the creative things you can do when you are decorating a child’s room. With national companies spawning specialty stores such as Bombay Kids, Pier 1 Kids, and Pottery Barn Kids, there’s a plethora of ideas and resources as close as your local mall (or your mailbox).

“Design doesn’t have to be scary,” says HGTV’s Kidspace designer Valerie Thwing, who designs bedrooms, nurseries, and play spaces for children. “In fact, it can be a lot of fun.”

However, before you let your imagination go wild, Thwing says to remember three basic guidelines.

Number one: Design for function. “Plan ahead,” she says. “Think about what your children will do in the room besides sleep. Will they study, play with Legos, or play an instrument? Will they want a cozy place to sit and read? Planning is what people like to do least because it scares them, but it’s very important. The best-designed rooms are the ones that function the best.”

Guideline number two: Get your kid involved—up to a point. “Encourage your kids to participate in the design and planning,” says Thwing. “Ask them, ‘What do you want to do in this room? What are your favorite colors?’”

If this sounds frightening—yikes, what if they want their room purple and orange?—Thwing says not to worry. “Listen to what they say and then balance the needs of what your kids want and what you want,” she says. “Paint the walls a neutral color and bring in orange and purple accessories. Comforters, picture frames, and pillows are easy things to change when the orange and purple craze is over.”

Third, Thwing says to keep age in mind. Pick themes carefully, especially when designing an older child’s room, unless you don’t mind redesigning and painting every couple of years. For example, when you are designing a 9-year-old’s room, remember that the preteen and teen years are right around the corner. Will a preteen really like painted dragons dancing across the walls?

Baby Blues (or Pinks?)

Decorating for a baby is all up to you, but keep in mind your pint-sized pal could be climbing out of that designer crib as early as 1 year.

“I design a lot of nurseries and I advise people to buy as much transitional baby furniture as possible—the crib that will work as a youth or day bed, for example,” says Thwing. “Get the furniture in a color that you would want your 4- or 5-year-old to have.”

If this is your first baby, Thwing suggests seeking the advice of friends who already have children. Do they use the changing table? Do they really need two chests of drawers? Other parents can offer the best advice on function because they’ve been through it. They can tell you things such as how important it is to keep diapers and wipes close at hand, what you will need to take care of the baby, and how to design with safety in mind.

Paint your baby’s room a soft shade and as your child grows you can just change the accessories so the room grows with him or her.

“Think of a kid’s room as an ever-changing canvas,” says Aimee Desrosiers, a color expert for California Paints. “Kids go through phases and it depends on your level of commitment to how you decorate their rooms. Some people like to redecorate a room from scratch at every phase. If you’re not one of those people, do a little preplanning and you won’t have to do much to change the room.

French-inspiration room brings grandeur and whimsy to a boy's or girl's first room. Black toile bedding and window treatments along with a sophisticated color palette of yellows, cremes and greens help the room grow with baby. Room designed by Cindy Binder, Cassy Young, Alexandra Liff, Cortnie Higgins, Lisa Stevens, and Rose Dubina, all interior design students from AACC.

Desrosiers gives this example: “Paint a baby girl’s nursery light lavender and focus on the linens and window treatments for a baby look,” she explains. “When she becomes school-age, create a princess theme, keeping the walls lavender, but painting the trim silver and adding whimsical touches. Then when she turns 9 or 10, you can use the silver and lavender to create more of a pop star room by changing the linens and curtains and adding a mirror with lightbulbs on top. You can make the room grow up with your daughter. Of course, when she becomes a teenager, all bets are off.”

The Tween and Teen Scene

When your child hits the tween and teen stage, it’s all about individual styles, and during the preteen and teen years, those styles change as often as the weather.

“Preteens are notorious for changing their minds, so you need to incorporate the colors and styles that they like in accessories, such as pillows and art,” says Thwing. She also recommends going with a neutral color. She doesn’t mean beige, but a color that is a neutral of your child’s favorite color.

“A blue has a neutral color, not powder or navy,” explains Thwing. “A neutral is in the middle of the color strips you can pick up at a paint store or home store. Then build around that color and liven it up with bright color. Think of a wall color as the foundation and the accent colors as the blush, mascara, and lipstick.”

You can also incorporate personal expression and style into a tween or teen’s room by using open shelving to let your child display his or her accessories and by hanging corkboards for photos and posters so you don’t mar the walls. Thwing suggests adding vibrant color by painting blank canvas squares so you have color blocks to hang around the room.

Finally, Thwing stresses the importance of designing ahead of the game. “Kids change so much in the tween years that I recommend designing a little bit more of a sophisticated room, so you don’t have to switch it out for a long time,” she says. “If you follow the guidelines of using color in the accessories, it’s really easy and cost-effective to change the room.”

California Paint’s Desrosiers suggests painting an accent wall if your teen wants a color and you can’t see yourself living with it. For example, she has designated one wall in her teenage son’s room as his wall for expression.

“You can’t see the wall looking into the room, but he can see it,” she says. “That wall has been many colors; the other walls are a compromise color.”

Color and Style Trends

HGTV’s Thwing notes that kid’s room trends are growing more sophisticated with color and style. “For girls, we are seeing hot pink mixed with black instead of a pastel pink with flowers,” she says. “Zebra and animal prints are big and fabrics are more sophisticated too—there are fluffy, feathery fabrics and even silks in children’s rooms.”

According to Thwing, trends in boys’ rooms are heading toward a refined lounge or locker-room look. Metal and chrome accessories are increasingly popular in boys’ rooms, giving them an industrial, contemporary look.

Lisa Casinger, editor of Kids Today, a trade journal for the infant and juvenile furniture industries, also sees trends toward a more grown-up, modern look.

“The furnishings aren’t as ornate and there are cleaner lines,” says Casinger. “The furniture finishes are dark brown, black, and painted—colors that you would see in an adult bedroom—much more sophisticated and straightforward.”

Color is growing up, too—gone are the traditional pastel pinks and baby blues of years past. They are making way for lavender, teal, and black. Colors are becoming more intense and whimsical. By this spring, color forecasters predict girls will be begging for shades such as fuchsia, coral, wine, and yellow, while boys will opt for shades of blues and greens, taking their cues from MTV, extreme sports, and the Internet. For example, lots of Kelly green, bright blue, orange, and canary yellow in boys’ rooms comes from the world of skateboarding.

Does this mean walls so bright that you’ll need sunglasses to enter the room? No, say the experts, because there are many ways to apply color to walls. Paint a stripe around the room or just paint the doors and bookshelves so you’re not overwhelmed by a color. Again, accessories can bring enough color into a room to satisfy any kid’s ever-changing tastes. When choosing style and color, have fun with them. Designers promise it will be a learning experience.

Springhill Center for Family Development's Christmas Show House Photo by Larry French Fun Ideas Got a racecar driver on your hands? Go to an automobile supply store—it’s filled with accessories such as hubcaps, seat covers, and car mats to rev up any kid’s room. You can even stack old tires and place plexiglass on top to create a unique and fun nightstand. Fairy princesses’ rooms require lots of sparkle. Purchase inexpensive gems and some glue at a craft store and use them to embellish mirrors, lamps—even walls. One of the least expensive and prettiest ways to dress up a little girl’s room is with tulle. Its soft, billowy look can add a touch of whimsy to any room and it comes in a rainbow of colors—including hot pink and black. Head to the beach. Just hit the boardwalk or your local discount store for plastic buckets, grass skirts, and tiki torches. There are hundreds of beach and surf-type accessories on the market, ranging in price from high to low. Alternatively, just take a walk on the beach and pick up a few shells—they make beautiful accessories and they can be glued to just about anything. Pick a sport or a team and go fanatic! Sports fans’ rooms are probably the easiest to decorate because there is so much paraphernalia on the market. You can also use sports equipment as accessories or even put it to use. For example, use a hockey stick for a curtain rod. Drill some hooks into a baseball bat and it becomes an instant clothes hanger. Pennants hung [horizontally can act as valances for the windows. And don’t forget the basketball hoop strategically placed over the hamper! For all those little Annapolis sailors in training, there is no look that grows up with a child like the nautical look. Of course, you just have to travel downtown in Annapolis to find hundreds of nautical accessories. Look in the boating stores for anchor or dock lines with which to craft curtain tiebacks, chrome cleats to use to create drawer pulls, and lifepreservers and buoys to turn into impressive hanging art. You can even use sails for window treatments. Need to get that new industrial look for your preteen? How about a garden look for your girl? Just visit your nearest home center and look! Ideas are all around you. With a few adjustments, wrenches can become drawer pulls and cork tiles make fun bulletin boards. A hanging rake spray-painted pink or purple becomes a hat rack and, with a little help, a birdbath topped with clear plexiglass turns into a charming night table. Terra-cotta pots are inexpensive and can be used au naturel or spray-painted to hold hair accessories and pencils. There are no design boundaries when it comes to decorating a kid’s room—just a few practical guidelines. Have fun with it and think of it as just another way to get closer to your child.