7 Tips for Charming Children's Rooms / April 11, 2022 by Margaret Chambers

The best-designed children's rooms have a touch of childlike whimsy but also complement the rest of the home.

Decorating a room for your child can be a great opportunity to show your creativity, but it also presents some unique challenges. Children's rooms should express the child's interests while also blending with the rest of the house. If you're stumped on the best way to please both your child and yourself, consider these suggestions.

1. Use Multi-Purpose Furniture

Unless you want to spend a lot of money redecorating as the child grows older, you should decorate with flexibility in mind. A crib that can convert to a youth bed is a smart choice. It’s also not a bad idea to make space for a small desk now. Your child will appreciate having a place to work on drawings, and later, the workspace can be updated to a teen work desk. Younger children need plenty of floor space to play, so remember to leave lots of room.

Even if your child isn't attending school yet, try to leave space in the room for a work desk.

2. Include Enough Storage

You can encourage your child to be more responsible and independent by including storage bins and shelves that are low to the floor and easy to access. It’s easier for them to put away clothes on shelving rather than hangers in a wardrobe. Use a mixture of open and closed storage so your child will be able to display a few favorite items while keeping the rest out of sight. Baskets and canvas bins are a more attractive storage option than plastic bins and are softer to the touch.

3. Plan Ahead for Lighting

Lighting is important in every room, but a child's room should be especially well-lit. You can fill the room with light using a pendant light or a cute chandelier that completes the room's theme. A reading light beside the bed or a favorite chair is a must.

The art and rug in this boys’ room were previously owned by the clients. We chose fabrics to match their bold colors.

4. Weigh Your Flooring Options

Choosing flooring for children’s bedrooms can be a balancing act between comfort and maintenance. While carpet is comfortable and absorbs noise, it’s also harder to clean in case of messes. Hardwood is easy to clean, but doesn’t insulate noise or soften falls. A good compromise is hardwood flooring with plush rugs. Don’t forget to put a pad underneath the rug to prevent slippage.

A wall-mounted collection of toy soldiers add charm to this boy's room we designed in a Preston Hollow home.

5. Approach Theming in a Balanced Way

An important topic to consider is themed decorating. While your dinosaur-obsessed toddler may love to see dinosaurs throughout the room, he or she might outgrow the phase. How themed you want the room to be is up to you. You can go all the way with a sports theme using sports posters, bedding, and wall decorations, or you may decide to focus on choosing patterns and colors your child enjoys instead. A suggested middle ground might be to use simple and flexible furnishings while placing a few themed accents around the room.

6. Choose Paint Color Carefully

When you have a baby on the way, it's tempting to paint the room in pink or blue, but gender-neutral colors like green and yellow are becoming more popular as well. Also, keep in mind that color has a psychological effect and can be either calming or energizing. A good rule of thumb is to choose a light wall color and use stronger colors for the accessories and furnishings.

Light green is a gender-neutral paint color that is becoming more popular for children's rooms.

7. Don’t Forget About Wallpaper

Wallpaper has been making a comeback over the last decade and instantly adds charm to a child’s bedroom. Wallpaper patterns designed for children’s rooms are not your only options. Basic geometrics and florals are versatile enough to work with a wide variety of room styles.

By choosing timeless furnishings and colors, and a few personal touches to express your child's interests, you can create a beautiful room your child will remember fondly. If you need help designing a nursery for a baby on the way or updating a bedroom for a growing child, give us a call. Most of our clients have children or grandchildren, so at my firm, we have a lot of experience in both children’s and teen bedrooms. You can reach our Dallas office by calling 214-651-7665 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

Four Pointers for Teenage Bedroom Design / December 1, 2021 by Margaret Chambers

Wall art is an important asset for giving a teenage bedroom its individuality.

Designing a teenage bedroom can be an interesting challenge. At this point, the nursery décor your teen grew up with has got to go. On the other hand, you can’t simply decorate the room the same way you would with an adult bedroom. Striking the right balance between casual and formal is key here. Your teen will also want to be included in the design process, so it’s important to keep their interests in mind.

Every teen bedroom should be a unique expression of that teen’s personality. However, there are also some general guidelines that can be applied to any teenage bedroom. Before you begin with your interior design project, keep these pointers in mind.

1. Create Separate Zones for Resting, Studying, and Socializing

Colors like pastel green and purple are excellent alternatives to pink for a teenage girl bedroom’s color scheme.

Chances are, this is the room your teen will spend the most time in. Any teen bedroom needs to be a refuge, a home study, and also a hangout space for them and their friends. Make sure there’s a designated zone for each of these. One thing to remember is that your teen might want to take their furniture with them when they move out, so don’t break the budget on furnishings.

A comfortable work desk will help your teen stay focused and on-task. If the room is too small for a separate seating area, you could also create a lounging space on the floor with pillows and a rug, or add ottomans to the foot of the bed. For a teenage girl’s bedroom, you’ll probably want to include luxurious fabrics, like velvet pillows, soft blankets and bedding, gauzy curtains, or thick-pile rugs.

Navy blue and brick red are both great colors for a boy’s room, like this one we designed for a Preston Hollow home.

2. Use Your Teen’s Favorite Colors in a Sophisticated Way

One of the easiest ways to differentiate between a child and a teenage bedroom is through color choices. While nurseries usually have pastel colors, and most adult bedrooms are in neutrals, teens tend to gravitate to bold color combinations. Even if the majority of the furniture in the room is neutral, there should ideally be a burst of your teen’s favorite color somewhere.

For teen boy bedrooms, navy blue or warm neutrals (such as warm gray) are popular wall colors. Today’s teenage girls usually prefer green, purple, grey, or blue over pink as the dominant color in their rooms. Purple is a versatile color in that some shades can be whimsical (like lavender) while others are romantic (like deep purple). While touring homes, I’ve noticed that teenage girls’ rooms often have a lot of white furniture.

3. Plan for Plenty of Storage Space

If you have a teen who keeps their room tidy, you have a rare teen indeed. That said, including enough storage space and shelving in the bedroom can go a long way towards helping your teen keep clutter out of sight. The room’s overall design should also be clean and minimal, but not too fussy. Remember that your teen will almost certainly want a room with a more casual and approachable vibe.

A bedside table with pullout drawers is a good choice for adding storage to a small teen bedroom.

4. Design Around Accents and Art that Express Your Teen’s Individuality

Before you begin decorating in earnest, ask your teen if they have art pieces or prints in mind that express their personality. You can potentially use art pieces as a focal point or as a source of stylistic inspiration for the rest of the room. Some other ways to set your teen’s room apart from those of their friends include: incorporating an unusual piece of furniture that makes a conversation piece, adding wallpaper to the ceiling, or wallpapering an accent wall.

Your teen will appreciate having something fun and unique in the room, such as these framed insects on the wall.

Sometimes even when you follow recommended design guidelines, it can still be difficult to bring everything together. In cases like these, your next step should be to consult a professional designer. When I work with clients with teens, I ask my clients to provide examples of rooms that inspire them. An experienced designer such as myself will know how to accommodate both the parents and the teenager’s requests and deliver a result that will wow them and visitors alike. To schedule a free consultation with us, send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com or call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501.