Parents who have, or who are planning to have, more than one child, may designate one space for them to share. This can mean decorating a nursery with gender neutral themes, personalizing two halves of the room, or choosing colors and pallets that can work for both children involved.
Neutrally Decorating a Nursery
Parents planning on having children close in age who will share a bedroom, may decide to purchase nursery bedding and decorations to suit not only their current child, but the child who may soon come as well. Since this space could just as easily be shared by two children of the same gender as by two children of different genders, the color pallet must remain open.
If a neutral wall color is not desired, consider using colors in the room that can move into different, adjoining colors as well. For example, painting a bedroom a bright, apple green opens the possibility of using yellows, turquoises and oranges as well. This means that the bedding for a little girl can be sunny yellow with some splashes of orange and pink, while the bedding for a little boy could be in the turquoises.
If using a multiple color pallet like this, the key is keeping the color saturation the same for each color. This means that the hue and depth of each color chosen should remain constant. So if beginning with pastels, stay with pastels, if choosing bold colors, then all the colors should remain bold. In this way, accent colors that will help to personalize the space for each child will remain in a cohesive design with the rest of the room.
Personalize Each Half of the Children’s Bedroom
Whether choosing a consistent and matching décor for all bedding and linens in the room, or using an eclectic mix finish the children’s bedroom design by personalizing each side of the room. Even when children enjoy sharing a room with their sibling, they may also wish to feel that there is an area that they can claim as their own.
Personalizing each side of the room can mean including accent colors of the child’s choosing, hanging a child’s name above their bed or using vinyl wall art depicting the child’s interests. This works well for any bedroom style, whether dual gendered or single.
In a boys’ bedroom, for example sports decals can be applied above each bed. Focus on the child’s personal favorite activity and keep the colors similar to keep the room balanced. Or, if interests are vastly dissimilar, decorate each half of the room with the child’s interests. Add in a bulletin board for each child to put up their own artwork, school work and interests to further personalize their own space.
Remember that children’s interests change as they grow, so using bulletin boards and vinyl wall decals, rather than paint and thumb tacks allows for changes in the room’s personalization without a major renovation of the space.
Create a cohesive design, whether in color or in color saturation, personalize the spaces for each child and know that the children’s bedroom design will be loved by both its occupants.
Sarabeth Asaff - Sarabeth Asaff is a freelance writer and artist with a passion for cooking and good food. Growing up in the kitchen of her Lebanese ...
