Decorating!

At the moment we are knee deep in decorating, we have decided to be sensible and only ‘do’ one room at a time. The lucky room this month is that of our toddler, he has had 1970’s brown wall paper surrounding him for long enough!

So, how do you go about achieving that perfect child friendly haven (minus Thomas the Tank wall frieze)

 

You need to bear in mind that children’s rooms will over the years go through various changes as the child grows, fads will come and go.

Simple layouts and a basic colour scheme are best; these schemes can either be added to or completely changed with little effort.

 

There are three stages that your child will go through, baby to small child, pre-teen, and teenager. Planning is key in getting exactly what you want, staying to time and on budget.

Before decorating the following elements need to be considered, structure, storage, lighting, flooring and overall colour scheme.

 

Furniture should be sturdy and simple. This type of furniture will grow with your child.

Once the basic room layout has been decided and executed (walls moved, windows added etc) it’s time to consider storage. Try and keep all the storage to one area in the room as this leaves plenty of space to play, and gives the room a feeling of space.

Fitted selves are a good idea, under the bed is always good for hiding things away, you could invest in some big wide containers to keep all toys together.

 

Lighting is very important, all decisions about what will be needed electrically, needs to be thought out in the planning stage, ensure you have enough sockets and switches ( before you know it, a computer, I pod docking station and TV will be the requirement, taking over from all soft toys)

As in most rooms there will be areas where task lighting will be necessary (from baby change to homework)

Dimmer lights can be good, they can allow for soft baby lighting and bright task lighting.

 

Flooring should be considered carefully, it needs to be practical and hard wearing. Hardwood floors are good but you will need to soften it with a rug, little ones spend a considerable amount of time on the floor. Consider the colour of the carpet, too light and it will be a dirt magnet, too dark and every bit of fluff is clearly visible. A lightish neutral colour is best.

 

Keep the colour scheme complimentary, use of one colour for the walls, another for all wood work (skirting, door and window surround) If you are considering a bright, bold colour, keep it to one wall, this can look very effective. The same idea can be utilised with fun wall papers.

Light colours are easy to adapt and change. Adding accessories can change and update any room.

 

When purchasing furniture, think long-term, it’s great fun having the odd specialist child piece, but bear in mind they grow quickly! Use pieces that can be adapted, for example a toy box can be converted in to a storage chest, a baby changing table can be recycled later for a chest of drawers.

 

Well we are starting on the weekend… wish us luck!