How to make a kids' room feel special, not temporary

Yes, you can make a kids' room feel special, and it does not take a theme, a mural or a full redo. It takes treating the room like any other room in the house. Hang one real piece of art. Get the light right. Choose storage that looks like an object, not a bin. Put the useful things at their height. Then stop, because a kids' room improves more from fewer good things than from a cart full of themed ones.

Most kids' rooms get decorated last and least. The reasoning is familiar: they will outgrow it, they will wreck it, it is only a bedroom. All true, in part. But it is usually the first room a child thinks of as theirs. It deserves better than leftovers.

In this guide

• Why do kids' rooms get left until last?
• What actually makes a kids' room feel special?
• How do you decorate a kids' room so it lasts past one phase?
• Where does all the stuff go?
• What kind of light does a kids' room need?
• Frequently asked questions

Why do kids' rooms get left until last?

Three reasons come up, and none of them holds up as well as it sounds.

• "They'll outgrow it." They will outgrow the cartoon bedding. They will not outgrow a good lamp, a basket or a picture they have looked at every night for years.
• "They'll wreck it." Some things, yes. So choose things that can take it: wood, rattan, wool, a frame with plexiglass. Sturdy and beautiful are not opposites.
• "I don't know how to do a kids' room." You do. It is a bedroom. The rules you use everywhere else (a focal point, layered light, somewhere for things to go) work here too. The only change is scale.

The trap is the matching set. A themed room looks finished on day one and dated by the next birthday, so you redo it, and every redo makes the room feel more temporary. Build it like a grown-up room instead, a piece at a time, and it gets better as it goes.

What actually makes a kids' room feel special?

Real things. A room feels special when something in it was chosen, not just bought to fill a gap. The quickest way to get there is one piece of original or vintage art, hung where they can see it from bed.

We have two that suit a child's room well. Both are large vintage lithographs on paper, each signed "Alex" in the plate, with a wide cream mat and a painted wood frame. In one, a young boy holds a small green horse against a deep terracotta ground. In the other, a girl in a green striped dress holds a richly coloured ball. The loose lines and flattened figures have a distinctly mid-century character. They are pictures of children without being cute about it, which is exactly why they will still look right in ten years.

If original art in a child's room feels like a stretch, we made the broader case in Why Original Art Matters. The short version: children notice. A real picture gives them something to look at that rewards looking.

How do you decorate a kids' room so it lasts past one phase?

Skip the theme and use shape and craft instead. Animals, fruit and birds are fine. They just work better as a silhouette or a hand-carved detail than as a printed character with a licensing deal.

The Giraffe Bookcase is a good example. It reads as a giraffe, it holds books and toys, and its silhouette is pared back enough to move into a teenager's room without embarrassment. It is made from FSC certified painted MDF, and the cashmere colour is the one we have in stock.

Then there are the small things that do the most work. Hooks are the cheapest way to make a room feel considered, and the most useful. Put them low, at their height, and coats, bags and dress-up capes stop living on the floor. Our bird hooks are hand-carved and hand-painted wood, inspired by folk art traditions.

Where does all the stuff go?

Into something you do not mind looking at. Plastic bins solve the floor and create a new problem, which is a wall of plastic bins. Woven baskets do the same job and add texture, and a child can tip one out and fill it again without help, which matters if you ever want them to tidy up themselves.

The Pear Braided Storage is braided in the shape of a pear and sized for teddies, blankets or toys. It sits on the floor like a piece of decor rather than a container.

What kind of light does a kids' room need?

More than one source, same as anywhere else. The overhead light is for finding a lost sock. Evenings need something lower and warmer: a lamp by the bed for stories, which becomes the lamp they read under by themselves a few years later.

The Frill Portable Lamp was made with a kids' room in mind. It has a weighted base for stability and a moulded, fluted shade that gives a soft, ambient glow. Because it is portable, it can move from the bedside to the floor of a fort and back.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth buying real art for a kids' room?

Yes, if it is hung securely and chosen to last. A good picture outlives every phase the room goes through, and it is one of the few things in a child's room that can follow them into adulthood. Hang it with proper hardware, and for a young child's room, a frame with plexiglass rather than glass is the safer choice.

How do I decorate a kids' room without a theme?

Pick a palette instead of a character. Two or three colours, plus natural materials like wood, rattan and wool, will hold a room together. Bring in personality with shape (an animal-shaped bookcase, a fruit-shaped basket) and with art, which you can change far more easily than wallpaper.

Where should hooks go in a kids' room?

At the child's height, so they can reach them without help. Mount them securely into a stud or with suitable anchors, and plan to move them up as they grow.

How do I keep a kids' room tidy?

Give everything a low, open home a child can use alone: baskets on the floor, hooks on the wall, a shelf they can reach. If tidying requires an adult, it will not happen.

Shop the kids collection

Our kids collection has hooks, baskets, lamps, shelves and furniture, online and at the shop at 2090 Dundas Street West in Roncesvalles. Start with one good thing. The room will tell you what it needs next.