As your child grows up they’ll need a bedroom of their own that reflects their personality and encourages them to play, learn and sleep. Here’s a few pieces of advice for designing the best kid’s bedroom.
Cover the design essentials
Award-winning architect Bridget Puszka from BP Architects says you should focus on these 4 elements when designing your kids room:
“Comfortable - A child will need to feel comfortable in their own bedroom. Especially if they have Asperger’s or are on the autistic spectrum. Soft furnishings and a quiet environment will create a peaceful haven for your child’s bedroom.
Warm – Temperature and in Feeling. Make sure that your child’s bedroom doesn’t overheat in summer and is not too cold in winter. The bedroom can be on the south side of your home but you might want to consider air transfer ducts to move warmer air to bedrooms at night so your child’s bedroom feels nice and cosy when they go to bed at night.
Colourful - Adding colour to your child’s bedroom is a wonderful playful way to add joy to a room. Your child grows quickly so encouraging playfulness for your child allows kids to be kids.
Unique to your child - You know your child best and what they like and what is important to them. Adding an individual touch will make your child feel like this is really their home and that they are part of their home life.”
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Organise it in zones
Rajiv Agarwal is the chief editor of Wall Art Prints, a leading Australian design blog and print gallery. They advise creating a multifunctional kids bedroom that encourages your child to engage every facet of their personality. You can use MyDeal kids furniture to create these and many more different room zones.
“Your kids bedroom is a multipurpose space. Your kids will play, study, learn, sleep and hang out in their rooms. The room should help them in exploring and integrating these different aspects of their personalities. You can encourage these different aspects by putting in a drawing and crafts table to encourage creativity, a bean bag for hanging out, a small area where they can play with their toys. Based on your room structure, you can have 3 or more zones in the room, including a sleeping zone, a study zone and a play zone.
Creating zones in their room helps them explore and integrate their inner world while helping their mind and spirits wander.”
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Bedrooms were made for sleeping
Your child will use their room for many different reasons but for the most part it should serve as their ideal sleeping environment. First, it’s essential that you invest in a quality children’s bed so their sleeping arrangements are comfortable. Letting your child choose their own bed will mean they’re always happy to spend time there.
Second, lighting is an important element in good sleep. Bright lights signal to your brain that it is time to be awake. Installing dimmable lights in your kids room will allow you to control the brightness. They can also help children who struggle with the dark as you can leave the lights dimmed until your child falls asleep and turn them off once you know they are in a deep slumber.
Choosing your paint colours
Most people think that choosing what colour to paint their room or their child’s room is simply a matter of choosing their favourite. But a study in Britain found that the colour you paint your room can affect the amount of sleep you will get. Blue, yellow and green were all colours that increased the average hours of sleep in participants while purple, brown and grey were disruptive to sleep. Researchers suggested that the meaning you associate with a colour (e.g. blue is related to calmness while purple is linked to creativity and thus an active brain) changes its effect on your sleep.
Designing a room for your child will be much more fun if you do it together. The easiest way to end up with a perfect bedroom is by allowing your child to help create it.
