If you’re a minimalist like me you’ll understand my love for all white walls peppered with black and white art. That’s the kind of look I’m planning for most of our home except Anya’s room. I don’t think any kid would chose a monochrome colour scheme for their room. When chatting to Anya about possible colours for her room, she came up with suggestions of an orange and yellow room! A bit too much for a minimalist like me but I started thinking about how we could use a splash of paint somewhere to add a bit of colour.
I went looking for some creative wall painting ideas and here are some really fun ways to add a splash of colour to a kids bedroom or even your own room. You can go big or small, dark or light but the best part is you can transform the room in a couple of hours with no more than a tin of paint and a brush:
Shelves are such a practical way of storing stuff and you can’t ever have enough of them. You really don’t need to spend a packet on them either – there are plenty of very cheap and basic shelves out there. But just because they’re basic doesn’t mean they have to be boring. With a little imagination even the most basic of shelves can become features in any room but I especially love getting creative with shelves in a kids room. So here are five cool shelf ideas for a kids room that you can re-create using shelves bought from ikea. Each of these shelf spaces is unique and can be customised to your needs and tastes:
This is such a cool shelf space for a kids room. It makes a simple but striking feature wall while still providing good storage. You can create similar using the ikea forhoja kitchen storage units. All you need is a few of these storage boxes and a large piece of ply. I like the natural wood look but you could also customise as much as you want using paint, wall stickers or wallpaper.
Backless shelves on a wallpapered wall look so stylish. You can easily get this look with ikea’s ever popular billy bookcase by simply leaving out the back – I did this in my last home and it worked really well. Add some colourful toys and artwork around the shelves and you’ve got a completely unique looking bookcase or shelf.
In this shared boys room, those box shelves in various sizes and shades of green look great on the wall. Instead of being boring boxes, they’ve been turned in to a feature because of the unusual layout, the colours and also using a mix of open and closed shelves. You can get the same look using ikea’s valje wall cabinets. Paint them in any colour, combine a mix of square and rectangular and a mix of open and closed. They’ll end up looking custom made.
How pretty are these shelves? I love the touch of pastel blue that has really made them look special. Using ikea’s bekvan spice rack, you can create a similar look. You don’t have to stick to the idea above, you could paint the whole shelf or you could go for two colours – whatever works for your kids room. And for more storage, create a floor to ceiling wall of these gorgeous shelves.
All shelves don’t have to be made of straight lines like this picture above shows us. What a creative way of storing soft toys. It adds so much charm to the room. You can do similar with these ikea sinnerlig baskets. I’ve got one of these baskets which I love so I’m planning to get more and do this in Anya’s new room. It’s a great way of making a feature of her soft toys while having a place to store them too. And of course it saves floor space too especially useful in a small room.
Loft or attic rooms are the perfect space for kids. If you’re short on space with a growing family then converting your loft in to a kids room or playroom is the answer. It’s a lot cheaper than moving house and with a little thought, you can turn that unused loft space in to a super cool bedroom that the kids will be fighting over! It doesn’t even matter if the loft space is very small, it can still make a single bedroom and sometimes even a small space can accommodate two kids as you’ll see from these loft bedroom decorating ideas. Here are some awesome loft bedrooms to inspire you:
This loft bedroom is a tiny space but every inch of space has been used very well. The cupboard under the eves is great for storing all those toys and by using light colours, this room looks gorgeous and cosy instead of small and cramped.
This kids attic room is a far bigger space and makes the perfect room for two. It’s a boy and girl shared space and by placing the beds under the sloping parts of the ceiling, the space is maximised leaving lots of room for play.
This room is so striking! I love how they’ve used contrasting black and white to accentuate the sloped ceilings which gives such a dramatic look. And because the ceiling is so low, instead of wasting the space, they’ve cleverly put a mattress on the floor without a bed making such a cosy sleeping space for any kid.
This is another small attic room which has used the space so well. They’ve actually used the structure of the roof to make the bed area – how clever is that? Many people would probably overlook a small space like this in their home or use it as a room to dump stuff in but it makes such a lovely little bedroom for a child who after all doesn’t need the same headroom as adults.
The space under the sloping ceiling of a loft room is also a great space to put a desk as this room shows us. It creates an intimate little space to do homework or any desk work. If your loft room is going to be shared by two kids, this would be a great way of creating an individual little corner for each child.
This is a bit of a blurry image but I still wanted to include it because this is another great space saving way to place beds in a shared loft room. If you don’t have quite enough width to place beds side by side, this is the answer and will work so well in long and narrow loft spaces. I also love that the beds are under a big window – lots of scope for star gazing at night!
This adorable space is shared by two sisters. It not a big space but it’s still perfect for a pair of sisters. In a small loft room you can use a shared bedside table and then beyond the beds is a little play space. I can just imagine the hours of fun the two little girls have hiding out and playing in their cosy room (when they’re not fighting of course!)
Loft rooms feel like a kind of hideout and that’s why they can make amazing rooms for kids. Big or small, high ceilings or low any space in your loft can be turned in to an amazing kids space. Unlike basements, loft rooms are always bright because you can add plenty of windows to let in lots of natural light as the rooms above show us. And with such a wide range of roof windows available from places like VELUX you don’t even have to search too hard. All you need is a little imagination and you can create such a cool space for your kids. If not a bedroom then a think about creating a playroom to keep all those toys contained in one place. If I had a loft I would definitely be converting it in to a useable space but I’m just not sure whether I could give it to the kids!
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
