Designing your kid's room so that it can grow with them — without shrinking your budget
Create a blank canvas for your kid to colour in
The culinary genius of Sanjeev Kapoor, a chowkidar’s ability to stay alert, and the patience of a pre-school teacher in a room full of noisy toddlers on a sugar high – these are some of the skills that are a pre-requisite for new parents. But there are other hats parents must don to make the adventure that is bringing up a kid, a smooth one. One such skill is the ability to design your kid’s room like a pro, balancing cuteness and comfort levels, without filing for bankruptcy.
And while your sleep cycle is at the mercy of your newborn, designing a kid’s room is a skill you can acquire.
To make your new full-time job a little easier, we reached out to the founders of interior design firm Quirk Studio – Shivani Ajmera Gaglani and Disha Bhavsar – to share with us some trade secrets that will make designing a room easier, help you make pocket-friendly decisions and ensure your child’s room grows with them.
Redesigning a room as your child grows older is an unrealistic goal, and is impractical not just logistically but also with respect to finances.
“Start with a neutral space, and let the room fill up with your kid’s personality — and let that shine through instead of making the room a gimmicky and thematic space,” says Bhavsar.
Here are a few points to help you get started on making your little one’s safe space special.
Start off with a functional layout
When designing your kid’s room, Bhavsar and Ajmera advise you to have a plan that would work well for a span of 10 years, as opposed to one or two years. And having a functional and modular layout is one way of achieving that.
For example, a one-year-old might need a crib; at five, he or she will need a bed and at 10, they might need a slightly bigger bed. The layout needs to be fluid in a way that you can transition easily between these stages without making any major changes or burning a hole in your pocket.
Another way to make transitions smooth is by not having any bulky and fixed pieces of furniture. This makes playing around with furniture and layout a lot less cumbersome.
While narrowing down on your layout, ensure that you have the study, sleep and play areas clearly demarcated. This gives the space a flow while ensuring that it is functional and looks neat.
The last aspect of the layout that you should pay extra attention to is accessibility. The room is your children’s space, and should be designed in a way that they can access and make use of all the aspects without difficulty. Build platforms and furniture at appropriate heights, so your child can use each element easily.
Colour it durable
“We don’t follow a theme. The kids’ rooms we design always have a neutral colour palette that can easily transform by changing other movable elements. We try to not make it look ‘kiddy’,” says Bhavsar.
There are few rules that you can follow while narrowing down on the colour palette for your kid’s room.
- Pick a neutral shade as the base colour for the room. Greys and whites are Quirk Studio favourites.
- On the neutral base, use one other complementary colour for accents. “Team up a neutral base of grey or white with any pastel shade like a lilac, pastel pink or lemon yellow,” recommends Ajmera. “These combinations are gender neutral and are also not too restrictive with respect to age,” she adds. While looking for complementary hues, it is best to stay away from primary colours.
- You can add bursts of colour with other moveable and easily replaceable elements in the room – soft furnishings, drapes, sheers, books, toys, and decorative pieces. These elements can be swapped for different things to give your kid’s room an instant and effortless facelift, as they get older.
- Choosing a playful wallpaper is another way to introduce a pop of colour into your kid’s room.
Try not to spend a bomb on your kid’s room
Treat furniture shopping for your newborn’s room exactly like you go about picking clothes for them – they are going to outgrow it in no time, so there is no point spending a fortune.
Till your children develop a personality of their own that they would like to express through their room, keep the budget minimal.
Especially if you’re building a nursery — where even the most basic things like the baby’s crib will have to be replaced sooner than later.
Never neglect the S-word
The one aspect of the room that you must invest in is storage.
Everyone needs storage, and kids even more so. But if massive cupboards seem too bulky for your kid’s room, then do what you do to get your kid to eat nutritious healthy greens – disguise.
“We designed a room for siblings and gave them a bunk bed, but instead of giving them the regular ladder, we gave them steps instead, and incorporated storage in each step,” says Ajmera.
A cheat-sheet to help you shop for your kid’s room
Bhavsar and Ajmera shared with us a list of their go-to brands when designing a kid’s room.
- The Little Nugget for decor
- All Things Baby for furniture and toys
- Floor And Furnishings for fabrics, wall covering, and upholstery
- Cradle & Maa for eco-friendly baby furniture
- Little Nests by Aayushi for furniture and room accessories
- Little Bird Kids Furniture for baby furniture
- Miffy’s Mansion for bedroom accessories and furniture
- Mockingbird Studios for wallpaper
- Baby Select for furniture
- ZOEY for baby bedding
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