How to create a beautiful, yet practical space for your child.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. William Morris 1880

This is my motto when it comes to designing children’s rooms. Does it look great, and equally as important, does it do exactly what it needs to do over a long period of time?

Creating a beautiful room for your child will capture their interest. It will spark their imagination and give them a sense of pride and ownership of their space. Practical pieces make life easier for everyone, particularly for us parents! They allow spaces to be adapted as the child grows over time and promotes safety.

Invest in full sized furniture to provide longevity.

Investing in simple, full sized pieces of furniture in neutral colours or natural materials, ensures that these items remain useful for years to come. They will provide a neutral backdrop which can then accommodate changes in colour schemes and accessories as the child’s tastes change.

This can be seen in these 2 images where the same pieces of furniture have been used to create a simple nursery, and then a slightly older child’s room. The whole look of the room has been totally transformed by simply adding different accessories and colours to reflect the child’s personality and developmental stage.

Books and toys can be used to create a feature within the room.

Books and toys are vitally useful for a child’s learning and development. However they can also be displayed to create a beautiful focal point within a child’s room, adding texture, interest and colour.

Practical items can be stored close at hand but out of sight.

Clearly there are some things that your baby or child needs that are less lovely to look at, think nappies and baby wipes for instance. However with a little planning the less beautiful, more useful items can be cleverly stored or concealed close at hand. For example drawers under a changing mat or baskets on or above the changing table, ensure that the overall look remains beautiful yet practical.

There are benefits for Introducing children to great design from an early age. Nurturing a love for interesting, carefully crafted pieces, particularly those built with sustainability and longevity in mind, will hopefully give them a lifelong passion to take with them into adulthood. It will ensure that your child’s space blend’s in effortlessly with the rest of the modern family home. Investing in beautiful pieces of furniture that adapt as the child grows will also prove to be more economical on the pocket in the long run, as they will remain in the child’s room for years to come. I feel it is important to encourage and educate children to buy things that last and try to reduce the throw away culture that has developed over recent times. Thereby protecting the world for our kids in the future.