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I believe kids are born creative. Unfortunately living life usually squelches most of that creativity unless it is carefully nurtured. You can help your children maintain their creative nature by allowing them to express it. That’s where interior decorating for kids comes in.
Kids start having color preferences at an early age. Test this out yourself by giving them choices. Rather than purchasing a cute outfit for your child because it’s fashionable or because you like it, pick out two or three and give your child the choice. If you do this often enough with various items and choices, you’ll start to see a pattern emerge. Go with it.
Who spends the most time in the kids’ bedrooms? The kids do of course! So why not make it a room they want to be in? Let your kids have a say in how it’s decorated. Give them choices, and guide them along the way.
One way to start this process, is to determine what your kids’ favorite toy, blanket or TV program is and use it as a basis for your decorating. If it is a theme based item, such as Blues Clues™ or Barbie™, your job will be much easier!
Choose some colors based on these preferences ( colors you can live with as well ), and present them to your child. Have him/her make a first choice.
Now regroup the colors presenting a second selection including colors that will go nicely with the first color choice. Ask your child to make another selection. ( I recommend doing the second color selection on a different day. Kids seem to have a sixth sense, and may well make a bogus choice thinking you have ulterior motives! ) There you have your basis for decorating his room, and your child feels like he got to make the choice, which in fact he did!
After you have two or three colors you’re set, and each of those colors has many shades and tints to work with. You can use these to form the foundation of the bedroom, by painting walls, furniture and selecting bedding.
But wait! There’s more!
Here’s the fun part. If you have a favorite drawing or painting from your child, is there an object in it that could be used as a pattern on the wall? How about a drawing of the sun, the family dog, the house, a hand print or even a silhouette of her head that she did as a school project?
It’s pretty simple these days with all the technology around, to use such a drawing and make a copy, cut out your own stencil and paint or sponge the figures on the walls or furniture. Think how pleased your child will be to see his artwork all around the room.
If you feel artistically impaired, you could give your child a choice of 3 or 4 different Wallies™ Cutouts. These are wallpaper cutouts that are prepasted, and easily applied to the walls and furniture. Your child can help you with this too!
Continue going through the decorating steps in this manner, each time giving your child a choice from 2-4 selections. If you are going to buy a lamp, pick out 2 or 3 that you would consider using in the room, and let your child make the choice. Use the same technique with an area rug, furniture, wall décor and window treatments.
If you take it step by step, letting your kids have the final choice from each of your selections, you are letting them express their creativity and this will in turn give them a sense of ownership.
Think how empowered your kids will feel knowing that they got to choose how to decorate their own rooms! When their friends come over and tell them how cool their room is, they’ll be able to say I got to pick it all out myself!
Komee Carpenter
Komee has over 15 years experience in the decorating industry designing and manufacturing home décor items. Her website http://www.Decorating-Kid-Rooms.com offers free tips, ideas and resources for decorating the baby nursery to the dorm room. Sign up for Free Kids Room Decorating Tips at http://www.Decorating-Kid-Rooms.com/click-decor-kids.html and if you're looking for do it yourself home decor projects, visit her other site http://www.DiyDecor.com
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