Children's bedroom ideas: fun ways to get them involved

After being kept indoors for so long, revamping your child’s bedroom now will give them a new, fun space to make their own as we head into winter. Interior designer Janelle Miles lends a hand to share some of her design tips on how to transform your child’s bedroom to align with their current and future needs, as well as some ways to make redecorating a fun school holiday activity that will spark their imagination and creativity.

Empower your kids to be creative and involved in the design process

No matter how young your child is, they’re likely to already have a sense of personal style and know what they do and don’t like. Make sure you ask your child questions to help involve them in picking furniture, colours and decor so that their room can express their personality and interests. Kids have the best imaginations so encourage them to get creative about how they’d like their room to look – then it’s up to you to bring it to life in a practical sense. If your child is shy about what they like or is unsure, spend some time with them on Pinterest and get them to point out rooms they like to help them feel inspired.

Choose practical furniture

It’s important to select functional, high-quality furniture that the kids can grow with. Whilst race cars and fairy princess beds can be a real crowd pleaser, they won’t last long as your child’s taste will change as quickly as they grow. It’s a good idea to choose neutral furnishings for the larger ticket items; you can be bolder with decor such as linen, artwork, lamps or perhaps a coloured or patterned feature rug.

Modular furniture is a fantastic option as it can be moved around and reconfigured to suit changing needs. In-built storage is also a great solution for small rooms and ease of tidying. Items such as bookcases, dressers with drawers, cabinets, storage boxes or trunks, under-bed storage baskets and even overhead cupboards will all keep the clutter under control.

Pro-tip: A fun activity is to create a to-scale model of the room on paper, including to-scale furniture, so your child (and you!) can play around with the layout of the room before you commit to moving or buying new furniture.

Unleash your child’s inner Picasso

DIY artwork is a cheap and fun way to decorate your child’s bedroom walls. Encourage them to paint their own artwork on either canvas or paper and then get it framed and hung on their wall to make the space unique to them and also give them a sense of achievement. If you have old pieces of furniture such as wooden chairs, desks or side tables, sand them down and give your kids the task of painting it their favourite colour.

Another fun way to bring the room to life is wall panelling, where you can paint the panelling in your little one’s favourite colour, adding a few stencils or sticker details for character along the way. Most good wall stickers will peel straight off and won’t damage the paint. Keep the base palette of the room neutral so that as the room adjusts to their changing taste, you won’t need to commit to a full makeover.

Pro-tip: Interactive walls are a great way to let your child unleash their creativity and have some fun. You can have hours of fun with chalk paint. Get creative with the kids and use chalk paint to draw on the walls or to decorate furniture. Loads of fun!

Have a variety of lighting options

Just as you would for the rest of the home, think about the ways that your child will use their room throughout the day and plan for different types of lighting so they know when it’s time to play, and when it’s time to unwind for bed. Fairy lights and lava lamps make a space fun for kids and create a
feeling of cosy ambiance. Bright overhead lighting and desk lamps are important for when they’re doing homework, and a bedside lamp is a great way to encourage bedtime story reading. Solar light ceiling stickers in the shape of the moon and stars are another way to make bedtime fun for
the kids and gives them something to look at when they’re going to sleep.

–Janelle Miles is Queensland lead interior designer for Porter Davis Homes, awarded the 2019 Housing Institute Association – Australian Professional Major Builder of the Year award. For more information about Porter Davis Homes displays.