The beauty of a child’s bedroom is that you can really go to town when you’re thinking about decorating – after all, chances are that it’s not a very large space so it’s not going to cost an arm and a leg, and you have the endless imagination of your kids for inspiration.
Just remember that children really need a great night’s rest to give them the energy to learn, play and grow during the daytime so it’s important to get the right size of bed and mattress to suit your kids’ growing needs.
But once you’ve been to Bedpost to choose the perfect combination of base and mattress to suit your budget and requirements, you can be as bold and brave as you like because you really don’t have to cut corners on style.
So here are our top seven ideas to make the most of your child’s bedroom.
1. Small spaces
Children’s rooms are rarely afforded the kind of space given over to adult bedrooms and certainly don’t have the luxury of walk-in wardrobes and en suite bathrooms. Instead, chances are you might have converted an old office or boxroom into a kid’s room, in which case you might have to get creative when it comes to making the most of the space. The most efficient way to combine a great night’s sleep with clever space-saving ideas is to incorporate the bed into some form of storage or desk area. If your child has a head for heights you could even build storage units into the bottom of a bunk bed.
2. Nursery rhymes
It’s easy to get carried away when you’re planning for a new arrival – plus you’re likely to get inundated with presents from friends and family. Remember, though, that when you’re kitting out the room you need to think about your own comfort as well – after all, you’re going to spend a lot of sleepless nights and nursing days in the nursery too. Set up a nursing station with a comfortable chair (which you might even catch a few minutes sleep in) and a table stocked with bottled water, a book and a snack.
3. Camping out, inside
Children always like the idea of camping outside – but New Zealand doesn’t always provide the type of weather which lets you head to the beach or even set up a tent in the back garden. If you’ve got the space, though, why not set up a tepee in the bedroom – all you need is a few branches or poles, some sheets, rugs and pillows. It will create the perfect space for the kids to use their imagination – as well as somewhere they can call their own.
4. Get cooking
Play kitchens are a great way to keep children quiet in their room while also letting them use their imagination. You can cobble together something from old pieces of furniture if you’re DIY-minded, or buy one off the shelf as the basis for a small “play corner”. Little ones like nothing more than playing “kitchen” – and, who knows, you might grow a young MasterChef?
5. Chalk it up to experience
As well as being where your kids sleep and play, their bedroom is fast going to become where they’re going to catch up on schoolwork, do their homework and, eventually, revise for exams. Why not incorporate a blackboard into the design and let them compile their own to-do lists? It might be a bit old-school, but chalkboards give a real feeling of education.
6. Share and share alike
When kids share a room it can often lead to sleepless nights for everyone – especially if they don’t have their own privacy. Look to put up something which can be used as a divider – tracked vertical blinds or a central curtain would do the trick – in case they simply won’t settle. Alternatively, if the children have beds on the ground you can always rig up the “four-poster” look by hanging a bamboo frame from the ceiling and draping it in fabric.
7. Get crafty
It’s always likely to be a pain to get your kids to keep their rooms tidy – but if they’ve contributed to how it looks in the first place they might just enjoy helping. Crafting decorations for their bedroom can create cool ideas – for example, why not turn driftwood into a curtain rail or convert a wooden pallet into a vertical rack for their shoes.
