Decorating Your Child’s First “Big Kid’s Room”

As all of us parents know, letting go is one of the hardest things to do when parenting our children. Luckily for us, one of the first steps to letting go does not involve a lot of distance. It is when a child moves into his first “big kid’s bedroom”. No longer does the room’s decor focus around designs chosen before he was born. Now, the room is centered around his interests.

The Bed Is The Centerpiece

Hold on though, your child isn’t going to grow up as quickly as he thinks he is. This is shown by your selection of the bed in his new bedroom. While the family bed may be right for some families, other parents may decide they want to foster more independence for their chidlren. In these cases, going with a queen size bed allows a child to sleep alone while providing the option for an adult to join the child on the rare nights they may be sick or have nightmares.

Now that you know what size of bed you need, it’s time to decide what is going to be the decor of the bed or theme of the bedding. Here is where your child’s independence starts. Choose bedding based on his favorite sports team, activity or television show. Involve your child in this decision as the bed will be the center of the room and the bonding element for the decoration of the entire bedroom. Be sure to purchase sets of bedding that can be used to keep your child comfortable in his room based on seasonal temperature changes.

Decorate The Edges

Once the decoration for the bed has been chosen, the next step is selecting how to decorate the walls of the bedroom. As a parent, you have a choice between painting and wallpaper. If you plan to remain in this house for many years to come, painting is a much more convenient way to decorate. Removing and replacing wallpaper can be costly and very time-consuming. Painting is much easier and colors can be changed by painting with a new layer. When choosing the colors for your child’s first big kid’s room, go with light colors. These will make the room for lighter and less “scary” during those childhood nightmares.

Now that the bed is decorated as the room’s centerpiece and the color of the walls have been chosen, it’s time to decorate from the outside in towards the middle. The windows are going to need shades and curtains to control the light flow of the room. These tend to be inexpensive compared with other room decorations so choose ones that match your child’s current interests. It could be a color pattern, characters from a cartoon or a favorite sports team.

Customize With the Most Affordable Choices

The next step is selecting the furniture for your child’s room. It should be both decorative and functional. Some of these pieces might last a decade, while others will be swapped for more mature pieces as your child ages. Start with the dresser that holds his clothes. For boys, neutral colors that do not detract from the other decorations of the room. Girls may prefer bright and colorful decorations or prints on the furniture.

One piece of furniture that may last years and be passed on from child to child is a desk. This provides a private area where your child can escape distractions while working on homework. Be sure to choose one with at least one drawer and preferably multiple storage options to help organize the workspace. Matching the dresser is a common choice.

Lighting in a child’s bedroom is often overlooked. Here is another area of decorations where a child can have input into the personality of the bedroom. Choose table lamps designed in shapes of your child’s favorite characters or representative of his interests. Mixing floor lamps and table lamps will add creativity to the room. Being able to help choose items to decorate his room will give your child a sense of ownership of the room, and hopefully, encourage him to keep it clean.

Admire Your Work

What seemed to be a monumental task is now complete. Not only was it less challenging than you thought, it was actually a bit of fun. The completed bedroom is a lasting sign of how you and your child can create a masterpiece together.