If you are planning on decorating your child’s bedroom, to avoid fights, hassles and headaches, let them be involved in the planning stage. As parents, we tend to put our likes and dislikes on our children. However, children have minds of their own; they have their own likes and dislikes. We learned this when they were two, and the “terrible two’s” commenced. You don’t want to do a “Princess” theme room for your daughter who’s a tomboy, and would rather play baseball than dolls, or a sports theme room for your son, who would rather play chess than catch.

I have clients, a married couple with two young daughters no older than ten years of age. The couple prefer Contemporary decor in their home. They allowed their daughters some new things for their rooms, such as comforters, window treatments and pictures. While the youngest picked something they felt was “appropriate”, and in keeping with their style, they were totally shocked that their oldest liked the Shabby Chic style. To their credit, they allowed her to decorate her bedroom in her choice of décor.

We have to remember that although it’s our house, it’s their room. Children spend a lot of time in their rooms and it should reflect their style, not ours. What a great gift you are giving them to allow the use of their creativity as an outlet to decorating their own space. This is probably one of the first things they can do that will allow them to be an individual. You still need to guide them, as these decisions are made, to watch budget, safety and growth potential. (By growth potential I mean that if your child decides on a style of window treatment and fabric, make sure that the window treatment being picked at age 8, will grow with them to age 16. So maybe the style of the window treatment is okay, but the fabric needs to be more age neutral.)

Think about storage – kids have a lot of stuff, from the time they are babies up through the teen years. Storage and organization should be a number one priority when decorating your child’s room. Luckily, there are so many versatile and stylish storage solutions available now that you and your child should be able to find something that not only fits their room décor, but also is something that they will actually use to keep their room neat.

Include their hobbies and interests in the décor of their room, but don’t make a theme out of it. “Less is more”, and those little touches will stand out. Keep awards and trophies limited to current ones, and keep them in one area of the room rather than spread out all over. Make sure they have a desk to do homework, or write in their journals, with a sturdy desk chair that allows them to reach the surface of the desk comfortably. Finish off with an upholstered chair for reading and adequate lighting for all tasks.

Letting your children be a part of the decorating process of their bedrooms, will not only be adding to the beauty of your home, but you and your children will be happier for it.

By Kathy Passarette