Makeover Your Kid's Bedroom or Children's Bedrooms

Have you noticed that your child's bedroom is lacking excitement? Do you have to move a child's bedroom to make room for a baby? Are your children going to share a room and you want to change things up to accommodate both (or all) of the kids? This is my story:

Decorating our bedrooms was not a priority when we bought our home nine years ago. Nobody saw our bedroom and the other rooms were "spare rooms".

Well, they were spare rooms until I became pregnant with our first child. We decided to use the smaller of the two spare rooms as the Baby Room. What a fun time that was planning and decorating for our first child. It was perfect. Beautiful bright yellow walls with pale blue ceiling (sky) with clouds sponge painted. The teacher in me decided to use a classroom alphabet train around the room. It chugged along the wall from one door to the closet door. Not only was this perfect for either boy or girl but it could grow with the child.

Though in fact this was not necessary because two years later baby number two arrived. Our big boy had to be moved out of our beloved baby room and into the bigger room, which was fit for a big boy! Since Thomas the Tank Engine was this big boy's most favorite character we decided to go with bright blue walls. I'm not "into" character themed rooms so we decorated simply with transportation as the main theme. New paint, a throw rug on the crummy floor, and vibrant quilt bedding made the room perfect for our little boy.

Baby boy number two was not even two years old when baby boy number three made his debut. Fortunately, the big boy room was accommodating for two little boys! Boy, were we smart when we invested in bunk beds from the "get go"! Baby boy number three moved into the Baby Room and all was well.

Jump forward to the present. It is now time to contemplate a change. Our oldest will be six years old and soon the baby will need a big boy bed (he'll be two soon). We have done some research and brainstorming and this is what I have to share with you!

My Tips for Kid Bedroom Makeovers!

1. Look into the future. Think about the direction your children will be heading in five years. How old will they be? How big will they be? What will they possibly be interested in over these next five years?

2. If children are going to share a room, first decide the best combination of children. If one child will have his/her own room, evaluate who will most benefit from either sharing or being alone. Obviously this is not as much of a dilemma with boys and girls. Separate them. Ask the children what they want to do. My five year old has a strong opinion about things. Don't underestimate your child's opinion.

3. Purge toys and clothing. Invest in a bunch of bins (Rubbermaid or Sterilite are good choices). Sort the toys into four groups, throw away, give away, store, and keep. Sort clothing by size and season. Decide on a storage system that works for you and go with it.

4. Evaluate your furniture needs. Decide what you can keep and use. Decide what you are going to get rid of or replace. Brainstorm colors and themes with your children. Don't go crazy with themes or characters. Start with the basics. Today he may be "into" Thomas the Tank Engine but in two months he may be all about Superman. Stick with a simpler concept. Give the children choices but not free reign. Make an adventure out of planning. Go to the hardware store and get a bunch of paint swatches. Utilize the process of elimination. Help you children narrow down the paint color to one or two favorites. Of course, keeping in mind the anticipated theme.

5. Now it's time for the big makeover!Move all the children into the largest room temporarily for the big makeover. Keep only the necessities out of storage for this transition time.

6. Start with the smallest room. Empty it (as much as possible). Paint the trim and the walls and the ceiling. Consult my article "A Fresh Coat of Paint Can Makeover a Room" for further details about painting.

7. Consider the flooring, we added hardwood into the "baby room". It was a nice change from wall to wall carpeting. If you go with carpeting, a nice choice is Berber for a child's room. Also consider adding an area rug to accent the bedroom. An area rug is a good choice if you need to cover up crummy flooring on a budget.

8. Move the furniture back into the bedroom. Invest in some bold, contrasting colored bedding. Quilts are a nice accent to a child's bed. Have your child pick their favorite 5 friends to put on their bed. Purge the rest. Stuffed animals (as cute as they are) are dust collectors. If they (or you) are attached to more of their stuffed friends, put them in a bin and allow them to trade friends in and out from time to time.

9. A bookshelf is a nice addition to a children's bedroom. Place books, puzzles, or figures on the bookshelf. Find a storage or sorting system for toys and stick with it. You don't want the room to become over-run with toys. Keeping in mind it IS still a child's room.

10. Finish off the bedroom with some new framed pictures or posters. Keep it simple. These are things that can be changed when your child's interests change.

11. Move on to the next room! You are now a pro!

Have fun redecorating and definitely let your children be a part of the process. They will cherish the room more if they have a vested interest in their bedrooms!