March Break can never come soon enough for me. I think I am more eager for the break from routine than my children are! Of course the novelty of a break wears off quickly and the initial excitement of having nothing to do quickly turns into the realty of boredom for kids who are used to routine and scheduled activities.
Beat the boredom and choose this time to overhaul kids' rooms and play areas. Getting children involved in creating their space ensures that they will take pride in their rooms and feel more connected to the space and maybe even want to take care of it. Imagine that!
I have never allowed my children to have "carte blanche" when decorating their bedrooms but I make them feel like they have more control than they actually do and in the end the result is pleasing to both mother and child.
Children need guidelines and restrictions in most areas of life; this applies to decorating rooms and play areas. Realistically most kids aren t quite sure just what they want so helping them make their choices relieves stress for everyone.
I do a lot of the leg work first and bring home choices that are all pre-selected and approved by me. I will let the child choose the paint colour once fabric selections have been made. This works really well as I have decided on the basic look and feel of the room s overall decor but the child finishes it off. I may tweak the colour choice a bit, without my child knowing, as my eye can see the effects of colour better than my child can.
Re-decorating a bedroom or playroom is a great way to get rid of old games with missing pieces, books with torn out pages and bits and pieces of Lego and puzzles that are no longer played with. Encourage even more cleaning by offering to let your child have a garage sale in the spring.
Tips on refreshing children s spaces:
- Start the process by deciding on a theme and overall look with your child and then hit the stores yourself.
- Offer your child no more than three choices for fabrics, bedding, sheets, etc.
- Choose furniture that will last through the teen years. Don t buy gimmicky children s furniture that they will outgrow in a few years, unless your budget is limitless.
- Be creative with window treatments that fit into the child s theme. There are lots of fun inexpensive ways to dress up windows, such as using a hockey stick as a curtain rod, a fishing net for a valance, ballet slippers hanging from the finials, footballs or baseballs as finials all offer personal expression without breaking the bank.
- Let your child choose the paint colour (although you may have to adjust the initial shade choice, without your child knowing). Re-painting is easy and inexpensive and something you can do yourself so let your child take ownership of this.
- Make sure your child is aware that a newly decorated bedroom or playroom is a treat and an area of the home to be proud of and treated with respect.
You can write to me and share your ideas and suggestions about home renovation, decorating and more!
