Children's bedroom

Children’s bedrooms

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hildren’s bedrooms are generally multi-functional – basically, a space to sleep, but in the absence of a playroom, they are also a space to play and store toys.

As children become older, their bedrooms become a place to relax, read, maybe watch television or play games, to chat with friends and host sleepovers. It can, therefore, be a good idea to plan them carefully when your child is young - to ensure they have a versatile space that can be easily adapted, has good storage space as well as having a design scheme that will not date too quickly.

Carpet or rugs on a wooden floor are a good idea for children’s bedrooms as they provide a soft, cosy surface for them to kneel and play on.

Designers Guild’s Mulberry Walk bedlinen is suitable for children and teenagers aged 5-18.

This wonderfully pink and feminine bed will be loved by many little girls but it also offers great storage at either side and overhead - perfect for books, toys, clothes and all the little trinkets that girls seem to have.

Available to order from Treacy’s Carpets and Furniture 12

Designers Guild’s Floral Street wallpaper is feminine, yet striking as it incorporates pinks, aquas, limes and blues.

Themes for Boys The nautical look is always a popular theme for boy’s bedrooms and one that can be adapted as the child becomes older. It is a look that is easily achieved with the addition of items such as nautically-themed pictures, sailor hooks, gingham checks, curtains and cushions with flags and boats, seaside colours of blues, beiges and whites enlivened with splashes of red.

Paperboy is a new wallpaper company that launched at 100% Design in London in September. They have designed a fabulous collection of elegant, high-quality decorative wallpapers for children – particularly aimed at boys. Their wallpapers are fabulous because they encourage creativity and imagination. They appeal to boys who have a sense of humour and enjoy scary or “horrid” themes.

The Dya-think-e-saurus wallpaper is perfect to stimulate a boy’s imagination – they could be ducking and diving amongst dinosaurs, flying through the air with one, trying to hide from a T-Rex, lying down chatting with miniature dinosaurs - really different, funky and stylish.

Colour Children’s bedrooms can be very bright and colourful with their toys, pictures, bed linen, rugs and curtains so it is a good idea to paint or wallpaper the walls in a neutral colour, particularly if the room is on the small side.

If the walls are very bright with a plethora of stimuli provided by colourful accessories, books and toys; it won’t be a restful environment.

However, if you are fortunate enough to have a separate playroom in which to store toys, then you can afford to have walls that are more spectacular.

Girls traditionally tend to like pink but too much of this colour in a room can be overwhelming, try calming it with the addition of some soft greens or aquas. Many of the new wallpapers and fabrics for girls incorporate these colours, thereby limiting the use of pink within the pattern. Designers Guild’s Primrose Hill range is ideal for young children and teenagers as a number of different colours are incorporated into most of the designs.

Children outgrow themes very quickly, so choose one that will last for a reasonable length of time using small accessories that can be replaced as children outgrow them. The Primrose Hill designs last for many years, being stylish and contemporary rather than thematic. Stylised flowers, painterly chinese fans and lanterns, quirky retro patterns on fabric and wallpaper form eleven designs and create a versatile, easily co-ordinated and dynamic collection suitable for those aged 2-18!

The nautical look is very popular for boys bedrooms and is one that can be modified very easily and inexpensively as the child becomes older.

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Dya-think-e-saurus - a dynamic wallpaper for boys that love dinosaurs, for imaginative children who will dream about chatting to dinosaurs, flying through the air with them, ducking and diving to hide from them.

Storage Storage is always essential for children’s bedrooms as toys, books and accessories tend to accumulate. Bookshelves within easy reach of your child’s bed are a good idea for them to choose their bedtime read before snuggling down. Storage units with colourful tubs or baskets are excellent for holding items such as lego, bricks and vehicles. It is much easier to persuade children to tidy up if there isn’t too much effort for them, so having tubs and shelves with plenty of space makes it easier for young children to tidy away their toys. A bed with drawers underneath provides handy extra space for clothing or toys.

As children get older, having friends stay for a sleepover becomes a more frequent occurance.

The captain’s bed in Treacy’s Carpet and Furniture Store provides drawer storage as well as a pull-out trundle bed - perfect for smaller bedrooms and saves having to move in another bed on these occassions.

Lorna Sixsmith is an interior design and wallpaper/fabric stockist at Garrendenny Lane Interiors. She can be contacted on 086 1051007 / info@garrendennylane.ie 14

This Captain’s bed from Treacy’s Carpets and Furniture Store offers great storage with three separate drawers as well as a pull-out trundle mattress - perfect for sleepovers.