Thank you very much for your wonderful comments regarding my son's room! Truly, you all ROCK!
Anyhow, as I mentioned during the reveal, my son absolutely adore his new room. Maybe not all people will, but to him, it is absolutely perfect, and the funny thing is, it is to me too!
So I thought of analyzing why this room was just right for us. And although the tips I'm sharing here are no guarantee to success, I am sure it will be great start for both of you no matter what!
1) Decorate the space where YOU can.
Ok, this is a bit vague, but this is what I mean - Add things YOU like for the space in places where you know your child won't mind at all or you have one wall, he has another wall.
For example. this wall behind the bed. I have been dying to use the Schumacher Zimba Wallpaper for a very long time, and I thought it would be perfect behind the bed, and since the opposite wall had everything he loved already and a "ME Board" on the side, he didn't mind what I put up behind the bed! Adding Hardware that YOU like is easy to get away with too. And don't forget about window treatments, kids usually don't care much what you hang or don't hang on the windows.
The dresser top is another place to easily decorate to your liking, just incorporate some of his stuff to make it feel it's still "His". Adding a favorite paper to the back of bookcases and small decorative objects like the ceramic dog and green lamp above, are also good examples on how to 'subtly ' incorporate what YOU like into HIS SPACE.
It is your child's room right? So even if you want to hide all his toys to have a clean and stylish space, he will not end up liking or loving his room, and you will end up with a big messy space that he might not care for.
I had to incorporate the things that he currently loves into HIS ROOM. We compromised where we can, like for example. I'd display his Monsters University toys if he kept all his Minions in a box. I made him choose between his own stuff on what to display and what to keep. Lightsabers vs. Nerf Guns, Marvel superheroes vs. Star Wars toys, etc.
The "ME BOARD" is a perfect way of adding things your child loves in a confined area. Here I added his PATCH COLLECTION, his certificate and some of his photos, so he really feels how important HIS LIFE is when we did this room.
3) Do not make anything he loves PERMANENT in the space
We all know how kids go from one fad to another, and go crazy from one thing to another. Right now, my son is into Star Wars obviously, but then again, if you look closely at how I decorated, all of these are easily replaceable! He might jump back to Marvel Superheroes next month, with easily switcheroo, this room will turn into Marvel Haven for him!
My son's not sporty. He just started to love basketball and biking, but his daily routine consists of doing his homework, practicing his instruments and reading. My son has a learning disability in Math, but despite that, my little man is a very hard-worker, so I incorporated a desk in his room to make his studying even more conducive and fun! I added the framed multiplication and addition table for easy reference, and a separate reading chair for his reading. The wall lights by his bed is adjustable, so he can read on the bed too!
5) Make everything he needs daily easy to find & LABEL, LABEL LABEL
The desk I added obviously has open shelving. and since it is small, I had to choose a few of the things he will use almost everyday. Like his pens and markers on the blue plastic box and the green plastic box below it holds things like eraser, calculator, small scissors, etc. I hung his headphones on the side. I placed labels on all the boxes on his small book shelf so he knows what's in it, and added this small trinket tray for his watch. The drawers are all labelled too, I placed labels on the top lip of the drawers so he will not forget what's inside.
6) Freedom of Expression Matters
Kids like decorating their room in their own way. So thank God for the inventor of CHALKBOARD PAINT! I placed it all around the room if you noticed - the ME BOARD, DESK, Lower half of the wall and even on the small alcove on the ceiling! My son wanted to write on that actually, but I held him off until I took some photos! ;-)
7) Have your child help out
It is his/her room right?! So taking responsibility for it, including fixing it up, matters. The child needs to have some sense of 'ownership' for his space and that begins the moment you make him help you when you guys fix the room up!
My son didn't do anything major, he helped clean things up, organize some of his stuff , but still, he helped, and that counts a lot. He could've helped painting the room, but since we hired a person to do this for us, we all didn't have to.
Anything I missed here folks? Would love to know what you think and your tips too!
Please don't forget too, I'm participating in the much-anticipated Summer Home tours on Friday this week! Please check out the fabulous homes listed below for some more Summer inspiration!
And don’t miss out on the next 5 amazing summer homes on the tour tomorrow. Here’s the full lineup.
Monday – June 6
Tuesday – June 7
Life Love Larson | Haneens Haven | Claire Brody Designs | My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | The House of Silver Lining | Hymns & Verses
Wednesday – June 8
Dimples & Tangles | Our Southern Home | Simple Details | Decor To Adore | A Thoughtful Place | 21 Rosemary Lane
Thursday – June 9
Our Fifth House | Decorating Delirium | Driven By Decor | Making Home Base | Simple Stylings | Cuckoo4Design
Friday – June 10
Refresh Restyle | Splendor Styling | Monica Wants It | Life and Home @ 2102 | It All Started With Paint | Far Above Rubies
Have a Great Week!
VEL
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