One of the faults of homeowners and

designers alike in decorating the bedroom

for kids is the lack of engagement of the
end-user. Parents and busy designers
assume wrongly that the fnal decisions
for what happens in the home must come
from them. Believe it or not, one toddler
defned the sweater as something mum
puts on you (the child) when she (mum)
is feeling cold. Your guess regarding how
they would defne some of the stuf in
their sleeping space is as good as mine.
In an earlier article Te Bedroom, it was
established that the bedroom must have a
character that makes the occupant desire rest,
nothing more or less. A bedroom should be
a personal hideout or getaway, a sanctuary,
which expresses your favorite styles, colors,
moods, and collections.
If our notion for what the bedroom stands
for still holds, then the young would also
rather have their own theme in their
bedrooms. It is up to the parent of the
child to guide and playfully decorate these
bedrooms together with the child.
For a baby or toddlers room, usually the
parent solely determines what should make
up the room. But note that if babies have the
ability to express themselves verbally, they
would tell the parents and the decorators
what they prefer.
Getting Started
Nowadays most childrens furniture
is made of wood or synthetics. It is
important that furniture for children
should be well designed and well
constructed. All kids furniture must
be comfortable and sturdy. In case of
upholstered furniture, be sure the fabric
is durable and stain resistant. Tere are
two major considerations in choice
of kids furniture:
Safety
Avoid pieces with extremely sharp angles and
points, or small removable pieces that could
end up in the mouth of some curious child.
If your choice is painted furniture then ensure
that all paint works in the child room should
be non-toxic and lead-free. (Not many of
us read the details of contents on the paint
gallons.) Dont forget the child may like to
chew on the painted furniture too. General
safety should not be compromised in the
childs room. Unsafe bed lamps, all suspicious
electrical items, sharp objects, poisonous
paints and chemical fnishes, glass furniture
should be avoided at all cost. If there should
be mirrors, please have them framed.
Future
Life is not just about now. Children grow
much more quickly than some of us expect.
Tey grow in size and weight. Soon that tiny
little one will become too big and strong for
that delicate piece of furniture. Select, choose,
decide but buy with the future in mind. How
long can this piece of furniture stay without
being outgrown? Do I/We intend to use it for
the next child?
Armed with these two major factors, setting
up the kids bedroom will require some more
considerations. Every parent with the help of
the decorator must take time to observe the
childs behaviour, likes and dislikes. Trained
designers know how to engage children to
elicit vital behavioral traits that can help
in deciding the theme for the dcor.
However, the following must be catered for
in all planning and the fnal delivery:
Storage
Closets should be made accessible to the child
in order to develop the attitude to be tidy and
clean. Storage in the childs room should be
considered for these two reasons, tidiness and
storing away items. Storage would be ideal
in chest of drawers and under bed drawers,
which may be fxed on castors (wheels) due
to the height of children. Teaching the
children to stack afer use; to dress bed afer
waking; to fold up and stow away is great trait
development not only for the child but also
for the eventual adult that child would grow
to become. As adults, we do things that we
were taught or imitated from the examples
around whilst we were young, dont we?
Lighting
A childs bedroom, a teen-agers or an
adults bedroom all have diferent lighting
requirements. Built in lighting, which may
be somehow accident proof, is practical in a
childs room. Why? Arent you aware that it
is fun for the child to throw things up at the
hanging bulb? Lighting fxtures in the room
must take care of both the general and task
lighting needs. Task lighting for the desk
activities like writing, and for reading
activities can be catered for by table lamps
and bedside lamps. Generally, the total
illumination in such a room should not be
completely dark when lights are not needed.
Fix one or more very low wattage light near
the doorways especially main exit and the
door to the toilet.
Kiddy Beddy
By Raphael Langdon
Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it
The Holy Scriptures: Proverbs 22:6
This page is proudly sponsored by
TH
BIRTHDAY
A NNIVERSARY
Tip of the Week:
An ample provision of storage
in a kids room and a little bit
of guidance will get you a
clutter-free kid s room. A good
use of space under beds for
storage gives that extra space
we usually dont know how to
get. Dont forget the develop-
ment of every child is linked
what he/she has access to.
Give your child the best kiddy
beddy.
Home Offce Deco Outdoor
Accra: No 4 Graphic Road, Tel: 0302 220 782 / off the Spintex Road, 0244 400 444. Also in Kumasi at Asokwa opposite the Brewery, 0322 028 654.
Accessorising
Te child will not be the sole occupant of
that space; the child and the parent or
caregiver will share it basically. So when you
as parent are putting the room together
probably with the help of the occupant, make
be sure to have yourself represented in that
room. Te accessories you put in can do this.
Let the child know that there is a piece of
furniture or item that is solely for you the
parent. It could be the chair you sit on to
tell the bed time stories or the bed lamp you
always put on when you are attending to
him/her. Te bedroom is always the space
for developing intimacy and closeness.
Te child begins to relate to the items, cloths,
and fxtures around to the extent of giving
them names. What I want to make clear
here is that the growing child develops some
closeness with his/her ambiance including all
that is in it. Consider leaving a framed family
picture close to their beds, the people in the
picture becomes the last thing he/she sees
before sleeping and the frst when
he/she wakes up.

When accessorizing for boys, dont forget the
shelves needed for books and trophies and
games; a music center will be of great help.
Tink of all the items that can withstand
rough usage.
For the girls, you may forget everything but
not the pillows and teddy bears. (Why dont
we try teddy-monkeys? Tat is quite African.)
Pillows and such sof items suggest
friendliness, fondness and comfort.
Transition
It is about simply having the future in mind
when developing the room. Truthfully, the
child will not remain the same in size, taste,
desires, etc. forever. Tere will be growth
and changes and these transitions must be
accommodated. Does it mean that for
every stage we must discard furniture and
accessories that we have acquired?

No, where necessary some pieces of
furniture should be reusable. Closets,
shelves, chairs, desks should remain for
as long as they are needed. In some cases,
modular bunk beds are used and then with
time the bed is dismantled and converted
into two beds of equal importance for the
teenagers who may be sharing a room
together. Te same shelve used earlier can
still be in use by the teenager. In your own
contemplation, I believe you know how to
make many of the accessories transitional.
Orca Deal of the week
email: intnlng@netscape.net
Website: www.integratedinteriorsgh.com
Blogging: raphaellangdon.blogspot.com
Children Bedroom Set (Bed + Wardrobe + Desk + Storage Cabinet) for GHC 3,000