Interior Decorating for Kids
by Komee Carpenter
Description: Get your kids involved in helping to decorate their bedroom. Their creativity may surprise you!
I believe kids are born creative. Unfortunately living life usually
squelches most of that creativity unless it is carefully nurtured. You can
help your children maintain their creative nature by allowing them to
express it. That’s where interior decorating for kids comes in.
Kids start having color preferences at an early age. Test this out
yourself by giving them choices. Rather than purchasing a cute outfit for
your child because it’s fashionable or because you like it, pick out two
or three and give your child the choice. If you do this often enough
with various items and choices, you’ll start to see a pattern emerge. Go
with it.
Who spends the most time in the kids’ bedrooms? The kids do of course!
So why not make it a room they want to be in? Let your kids have a say
in how it’s decorated. Give them choices, and guide them along the way.
One way to start this process, is to determine what your kids’ favorite
toy, blanket or TV program is and use it as a basis for your
decorating. If it is a theme based item, such as Blues Clues™ or Barbie™, your
job will be much easier!
Choose some colors based on these preferences (colors you can live
with as well), and present them to your child. Have him/her make a first
choice.
Now regroup the colors presenting a second selection including colors
that will go nicely with the first color choice. Ask your child to make
another selection. ( I recommend doing the second color selection on a
different day. Kids seem to have a sixth sense, and may well make a
bogus choice thinking you have ulterior motives! ) There you have your
basis for decorating his room, and your child feels like he got to make
the choice, which in fact he did!
After you have two or three colors you’re set, and each of those colors
has many shades and tints to work with. You can use these to form the
foundation of the bedroom, by painting walls, furniture and selecting
bedding.
But wait! There’s more!
Here’s the fun part. If you have a favorite drawing or painting from
your child, is there an object in it that could be used as a pattern on
the wall? How about a drawing of the sun, the family dog, the house, a
hand print or even a silhouette of her head that she did as a school
project?
It’s pretty simple these days with all the technology around, to use
such a drawing and make a copy, cut out your own stencil and paint or
sponge the figures on the walls or furniture. Think how pleased your child
will be to see his artwork all around the room.
If you feel artistically impaired, you could give your child a choice
of 3 or 4 different Wallies™ Cutouts. These are wallpaper cutouts that
are prepasted, and easily applied to the walls and furniture. Your child
can help you with this too!
Continue going through the decorating steps in this manner, each time
giving your child a choice from 2-4 selections. If you are going to buy
a lamp, pick out 2 or 3 that you would consider using in the room, and
let your child make the choice. Use the same technique with an area
rug, furniture, wall décor and window treatments.
If you take it step by step, letting your kids have the final choice
from each of your selections, you are letting them express their
creativity and this will in turn give them a sense of ownership.
Think how empowered your kids will feel knowing that they got to choose
how to decorate their own rooms! When their friends come over and tell
them how cool their room is, they’ll be able to say I got to pick it
all out myself!
Komee has over 15 years experience in the decorating industry designing
and manufacturing home décor items. Her website Decorating Kids Rooms offers
free tips, ideas and resources for decorating your kids’ rooms from the
baby’s room to the dorm room. Sign up for Free Kids Room Decorating
Tips.
Related Articles:
Fantasy Rooms for Kids Under $50
Creating a Dream Room for Your Child
Teen Room Decorating Ideas
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