3 Tips to Creating A Room That Grows

One important thing to keep in mind, when decorating your preschooler’s bedroom is that he will not always be a preschooler. At some point in the near future, Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder will no longer be hip in the eyes of your child. To avoid having to do an entire room make over every three or four years, try starting with a neutral palate that will go with a variety of themes and ideas. For example, if you paint the walls of your preschooler’s room a neutral shade of blue (not a pastel baby-blue) you can put up a strippable wallpaper border featuring your child’s favorite characters or interests. Later on, the border can easily be replaced by something more up-to-date. For instance, my son’s room has gone from Winnie the Pooh, to a solar system theme, to the Red Sox, all with minimal time and money.   

Little girls rooms can be tricky, because colors they like as preschoolers often become “too girly” for older girls. My daughter loved the color purple just two years ago. Now, at the ripe old age of 10, she decided she wanted a blue or green room. As a compromise, I painted a striped border around her room, using left over green and blue paint from other projects. The result was a sophisticated pre-teen look, which I didn’t spend any money to create. 

Keep any theme ideas to a few surfaces in the bedroom. Instead of buying the Blue’s Clue’s wallpaper border, comforter, bed skirt, curtains, lamp, sheets, rug, throw blanket and throw pillow, pick two items and leave the rest. I recommend a comforter and the wallpaper border. The wallpaper border, as previously discussed, can be easily replaced. If you are handy with a sewing machine, you can make a duvet cover, and simply put it over the old comforter as your child grows. I never buy theme printed curtains because they are expensive, and will be outdated very shortly. 

 

By using a neutral color palate, and interchangeable accessories, you will be able to create a dream bedroom for your preschooler, which will grow with them.