KPA - Pretty Places
Decorating a baby or child's room
Decorating a baby or child's room can certainly release the creativity in you. There is nothing like the ability to use colour to bring out the aspiring artist in any parent.
The most important part of decorating for your child is to recognise their needs can change greatly as they grow from baby to toddler to preschool. Unless you are a compulsive DIYer, it may be a good idea to plan ahead so that major changes can be avoided year to year.
The first key in successfully decorating a room is to carefully think about how the room is going to be used. Is it mainly a sleep space or will your children play in it for long periods of time? How much and what type of storage will you need? How many children will use the space and how can you change the room as your child grows.
Once you have worked out these issues, you are ready to pick up your paint swatches and start thinking colour.
It can be tempting to use a cacophony of colour in your children's room. However most professional decorators recommend the use of paler colours for the majority of surfaces, adding the vibrant colours for feature and trim. This advice in part is due to the impact colour can have on rest. If the room is full of loud hues, your child may not find it as restful as it could be for sleep times. However, if your child is more likely to sleep in another room, and you want a play space, then colour away!
When selecting paint one with a low sheen can be a good option so marks can be easily wiped away.
The Nursery
Furniture in a baby's room needs to be safe and secure for children. Many older cots are not safe for children, with gaps that are too wide between slats or corner posts that stick up too high. If you do have an old cot, it is important to check it meets the safety standards. This also includes checking the pain on old cots to ensure it is not lead based.
If the nursery is for your first child, it can be tempting to purchase an array of beautiful furniture to kit it out. However many babies are more likely to spend much of their time in a bassinette in your room for the first months at least, and may not use the furniture for a while (and some children may never end up using it!). If it is your first child and you plan to have more, consider investing in a good cot that will see you through all your children. Cots that adjust from cot to bed to couch can be a good option for those families looking for value for money.
While setting up the room, it is good to prepare for when the child is more mobile. Check the room is safe for a growing child. This can include safety locks on power points, keeping the cot away from curtain sashes or open windows and making sure there are no heavy objects a crawling child can pull on themselves.
Heating is important, particularly for winter babies. An oil fin heater is the safest option. However, it can be quite drying for young skin. One option is to use it to heat the room then wheel it out to the corridor overnight. Bar heaters and gas heaters may heat well, but can be unsafe in an unsupervised room.
Many families find a good rocking chair or recliner in the nursery is a useful addition for nighttime feeds. A change table is not essential, but can be a good place to keep nappies, a change of clothes for emergency leaks and other essentials.
A book case and toy box are good additions. You can paint them to match the room, or leave as an assorted range of shapes and colours.
It is easy to find coordinating bed linen and accessories at reasonable prices or you may prefer to provide a more eclectic combination of designs fitting a theme- such as teddybears, or puppies or night time stars. It can be advisable to make the room relatively generic until the baby arrives- in case you are mistaken about the baby's sex!
Making your own linen can be rewarding. You can either find ready made quilt templates at sewing shops or custom make your own creations from scratch.
Add a mobile over the cot and the room is ready!
The active toddler
If you did not safety proof the room now is the time to do it! Make sure any window pulls are secured away, and windows have safety latches on them.
While a baby's room may be fairly generic, a toddler's room can be custom designed to fit in with their growing and shaping personality. This is the stage where many children move into a big bed. Select a good quality mattress as bones are still developing and growing at a fast rate. Creative parents can make a custom designed one such as a car (Or purchase one) or add new bed linen to follow a theme. Add a mosquito net for an Arabian princess room, or a Chinese lantern to light the room in a soft tone
Using the base colour you began with for your nursery, add brighter trims and decorations. Try using stickarounds, borders or stencils to decorate walls. There is some wonderful paint effects available from manufacturers such as Resene that can add a shimmer or effect to the walls. Use some of the creative paint options like magnetic or blackboard paint to create active areas for your child.
Spend time thinking of a theme that will either last for several years or can easily be altered. Use props such as fluffy mats and cushions to make the room appealing for young players. If the mat is on a wooden floor, make sure there is a non-slip mat underneath!
Think about what items you want your child to reach. If you want to encourage independence in dressing, using bins or open baskets for clothes may make this easier. You can paint up a custom designed shelving unit that will fit the bins. Add labels showing your child what types of clothes they have in each basket.
Toys will get more play if they are organised in a similar way. Buy containers that are labelled to show the contents. Place the construction materials in one, and the cars in another. Group dolls with doll clothes to encourage imaginative play.
Any materials that require supervision such as art supplies can either be placed high up, or away from the room
Find a good method of storing books. Try a bookcase or a several bins near the bed.
A room for a preschooler
As your child prepares to move into the preschool age, their personal tastes develop. If looking to change their room, include their ideas in the process. Talk about the use of colour and accessories. As with any conversation with preschoolers, decide beforehand how much power you wish to give them. If they want a pink room, make sure they are aware they may get to choose the colour of one wall or of trims rather than of all four walls!
Adding higher shelves is a good idea at this stage, particularly if there are now children in the house. Preschoolers like to be able to have some treasured possessions away from younger siblings, and know only they can get them down.
At this stage, you may need to be looking at moving children into a room together.
If so, you need to consider how to make the space work for two different age groups. Will they have a shared bed, two separate beds or a bunk set? How will you arrange the space so the needs of both age groups are recognised? Toys that fit both ages can be placed low and special "grown up" toys can be organised higher up, for special play.
Consider adding a CD player or some sort of music at this stage, as well as a desk for quite working times. The desk can be used once your child reaches school age, and provide a great place to store pens and paper.
Tips for renters
Some landlords will allow you to paint a room if you check colours first. It never hurts to ask.
However if this option is not possible, there is still a lot you can do. Coordinate the accessories together, and use removable borders and stickarounds to decorate the walls. Change the curtains (keeping the others for when you leave) and the lampshade.
If you have loud wallpaper that will clash with everything, try what one parent did- pin up large sheets of muted and soft material to use as a backdrop on the walls.
Storage ideas
It can be amazing to see how much a young child can accumulate in even few months. Use spaces in the room to store toys and clutter away. Under a bed or cot can be a good space for infrequently used items
Move as much off the floor as possible to give more play space, and look at painting or lacquering shelves to match the theme.
Custom designed storage does not need to be expensive- if made form customwood you can order up fairly inexpensive items that fit your room perfectly and can be painted to match.
Label boxes and crates with picture labels to help toys and clothes remain in a semblance of order. |
