Decorating a Disney Themed Bedroom for Your Child: The Lion King

One of the highlights of Disney's greatest era, The Lion King not only made a great movie-it makes a great bedroom theme for your child. Here's how to recreate this wonderful movie into bedroom décor. First, assess your artistic talent. If you're only so-so on the artistic side, it might be a good idea to look for prefabricated materials to create this Disney bedroom retreat for your child. If you're an outstanding painter, you can look to creating a mural of one (or more) of your favorite scenes from the movie. Personally, I recommend some part of Simba's montage into adulthood; not only does the jungle background in those scenes blend nicely into a loft bed, but the image is beautiful. If you have carpentry skills, you can create cut outs in wood of trees, boulders, or even lions to line your child's bedroom.

One particularly artistic and soothing way of dressing up the room would be to paint Pride Rock on one wall, with a beautiful sunrise mural on the opposite. Your child will be ready and willing to jump awake every morning!

Another beautiful theme from the movie is the waterfall scene. Painting a lovely waterfall on a wall will help, and you can even dress it up by creating some hanging vines, stuck to the ceiling and dangling down over one portion of the room. This could be a particularly interesting notion for rooms that two children share, or for one child who would like to create a special reading spot in his or her room. A reading nook can be set up using a simple appropriately colored bean bag chair.

Of course, if you don't have those skills and have some extra cash, or would like to spring a bit extra for a truly magical Disney bedroom retreat, you can hire any of a number of mural creators. Some work locally, and checking with local art or parenting groups can help you find these. There are also a number of companies who can create custom murals and send them in wallpapered strips for you to paste to your wall. Plus, check with friends and family. I had a friend who happily painted a beautiful mural on my childhood wall in exchange for a lunch. Some people just like to utilize their talents, and it grants a great way to bond with friends.

If you don't want to have a giant mural on your wall, you can paint the walls either green (if you're going for the Simba-in-the-jungle look) or beige (if you're going for a desert theme). Small paintings of lions or stick ups that can be purchased at craft supply stores can be posted throughout.

For the bed, you can purchase Lion King themed bedding, or you can get sheets that match or accentuate the wall colors. The bed is a good place to place one of the wooden cut outs. Additionally, you can take a bunk or a loft bed and line the rails with vines or, if your child really enjoyed and wasn't frightened by the ending scenes, flames.

For curtains, you can get green or beige curtains, and younger children will really enjoy Lion King themed curtains. You can tie these curtains back with vines.

The advantage of a Lion King themed bedroom is that it can be varied based on age of the child. For a young child, using posters or paintings of young Simba and Nala alongside of bright colors can really make the room an exciting place to go. For the older child, a beautiful scene taken from the movie and some special areas can create a private place that their friends will love to see.