Kids Room Ideas

Original kids' room ideas for storage and wall decor.

Kids' room ideas is a growth industry, at least judging by the number of books that can be found in the home decorating section of any local bookstore (plus numerous online articles, for that matter). Unfortunately, the providers of kids' room ideas too often value quantity over quality. "Talk with your children first" or "choose age appropriate decor" are not things most parents need to be told. With that in mind, here are some kids' room ideas that might inspire you to do something that's actually new.

Storage, or How to keep kids' room toys from invading outer space

Ask most parents and they'll tell you the greatest challenge with children's rooms is storage. Of course this might come out as, "It's always a mess and they refuse to clean," but if cleanliness is next to godliness, that's probably because God has a very large walk-in closet for hiding messes. So we begin our list of kids' room ideas with storage.

There are two storage challenges that confront most families. One is that closets are too small, and the other is that children are often housed two to a room. A great way to tackle both problems at once is with step chests. The step chest is actually an old Japanese invention, where it is known as a Kaidan Dansu.

Step chests are one of our favorite kids' room ideas because they not only increase storage space, but also function as sturdy room dividers in shared bedrooms. They're also something that can be constructed by most amateur carpenters for a fraction of retail cost. If you're worried about the height due to younger children, build it lower and add extra layers as time and your children's storage needs demand.

All kids' room ideas can be tinkered with, so put your own spin on things. Adding denim material to the outside of storage chests helps blend them into the whole décor and make them "cool." If you use the backs of worn out jeans, you can even add accessible pockets to the sides of the storage chests. And if you're using bunk beds, step chests make it easier for younger kids to climb to the top bunk.

All in all, it's just paint on a wall

No kids' room ideas article is complete without a cliché, so here's ours: the walls and ceiling are the most visible part of a bedroom. You're welcome. The challenge this presents for decorating children's rooms is that whatever color or design you choose, your child will likely outgrow it in a year or two. Many families consequently settle for simple white walls or a single gender-appropriate color, but we're big fans of creativity. Which brings us to the next of our kids' room ideas: let your kids color their own bedrooms.

This does not mean give Jacob and Ashley some solvent and a paint roller and check in later that afternoon. They will need supervision. But if you own your house and your children are creatively inclined, this might be something they enjoy.

Kids' room ideas in this vein might include painted murals. Murals have long been a part of Mexico's artistic culture, most notably those of Frida Kahlo's husband Diego Rivera (a gallery of his murals can be seen here: www.diegorivera.com/murals/index.php). But many commercial murals are far simpler, such as the one seen here: www.polarinertia.com/may06/signage01.htm.

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