Redecorating Your Child's Room

Redecorating your child’s room is something that is going to happen at least twice during your youngster’s lifetime under your roof, more if you have additional moves thrown in to the mix. Generally most children grow up in a nursery which becomes a child's room which becomes the pre-teen's room which tends to change by itself up until your child leaves for college. While this redecorating process is certainly a statement of your child’s growth it can also be particularly expensive and very overwhelming when you aren’t sure where to begin. Many parents run in to a problem when they first step foot in to the redecorating realm especially when it comes to redecorating a child’s room without prior experience. The important thing to remember about a child’s bedroom is that what may seem like a great idea for the living room is not always going to be a good idea for a child’s room and we’re not just talking about appearances, we’re also talking about safety.

First and Foremost Think Safety

The most important thing to keep in mind when redecorating your child’s room is the safety of each and every item that you are putting in to or adding to the room. This issue of safety should extend through paint to furniture as well as storage options and electronics. While this may seem like a common sense piece of knowledge when decorating for a nursery or a toddler, it is also important to remember that younger children can also injure themselves on furniture that is not anchored to the wall. Aside from safety one of your biggest concerns is going to be aesthetics as well as cost.

Reorganization

The biggest challenge for most parents when redecorating a child’s room is the sheer amount of “stuff” that seems to appear out of nowhere when it comes time to find a place to put it all in the new room. A great way to resolve this issue is to invest in Tupperware boxes, closet organizers as well as storage bin systems that are aesthetically pleasing and can be displayed in plain view. Tupperware boxes are a great way to store those knick-knacks that tend to go everywhere and the box can easily be slid underneath the bed to keep it out of view or slid in to the bottom of a closet. Tupperware boxes are also a great way to “recycle” toys because they allow you to hide away toys that are least played with until a later date and when they are finally pulled out again they seem like brand new toys because they have been forgotten about. Tupperware is also a great way to help a pre-teen organize extra clothing by placing out of season clothing underneath the bed in order to make more room in the closet.  Closet Organizers can also help with the organization of the clothes and accessories that do go in to the closet and they can act as a great way to help teach your younger child how to dress themselves because of the ordered structure of items of clothing. Closet organizers also assist children and pre-teens to keep their closets orderly and prevent them from simply opening up the door and throwing things inside, children tend to find it easier to maintain an orderly closet when there is a system underlying the order. Lastly storage bin systems are a great way to store the often played with items or those video games, CD’s or DVD’s that are frequently used but simply look ugly in plain view. Storage bin systems can range from brightly colored plastic systems designed for toddlers to black and chrome canvas drawer systems that suit pre-teens rooms much more.

Quality for Cost is a Big Consideration

Aside from safety and decreasing clutter the other biggest concern for parents when redecorating a child’s bedroom is quality for cost. It may be easy to obtain affordable storage systems and furniture items but if they are not high quality and sturdy then they are not suitable for a child’s bedroom. One of the best ways to shop when shopping for items for a child’s room is to shop midrange and brand name. Avoid shopping store name items for furniture items that are going to take a lot of wear and tear like beds and dressers because cheaper names will quickly break and be of no use to your growing child. Investing in a solid mid range piece of furniture is going to give your furniture a higher likelihood of lasting your child at least a few years. You can; however, save a little money by shopping around, shopping circulars and sales fliers and purchasing display models that are structurally sound.

Consider the Lasting Effect of Changes You Make

Another thing to consider when redecorating your child’s bedroom is that you want the change that you make to the room to last as long as possible without causing lasting damage to your home. Consider all changes that you are going to make to the room and ask yourself whether they would deter other families from purchasing your home if it went up for sale. For example, wallpaper is a rather large change and can often deter home buyers simply based on the work it would take to redecorate over horrific wallpaper so instead of wallpaper consider using a border frieze that will add a touch of personalization but also not deter others from buying your home in the future. The same factor applies to paint; children tend to pick loud and sometimes peculiar colors when it comes to their own decorating schemes so it is important to compromise. When your preteen wants black inform them that this is off limits because it would make repainting difficult and bring the value of your home down, instead offer them a selection of other colors that would not affect the value of your home and its selling potential.

Use Redecorating as a Way to Teach Lessons about Life

While redecorating your child’s bedroom is often a flustered time filled with business and often time’s confusion for parents as they scramble to pull things together, it should also be a time when you keep in mind the long term effects of the changes that you are making. Make sure that the redecorating process involves your child but also make sure that they are aware of repercussions of their choices. Incorporating your children in to redecorating by being honest with them while also allowing them to have an opinion about what they would like their new room to be allows for a valuable opportunity to teach your children about the lasting effects of decisions and how they impact other members of the family as well!