Room to Grow

Anatomy of a Child’s Room

Too old for Sesame Street and too young for a study desk. Too old for toddler toys and too young for a TV in his room. How do you decorate for a child stuck in between being a little boy and a little man? It is all about character – the characters he loves, the characters he pretends to be and the character he is and will become.

In designing the room, there are five key components to start with – theme, storage, focus, growth, and safety.

Theme – In planning this room, a specific theme did not seem appropriate nor was it what this little boy wanted. When asked, he wanted a bit of everything – a little army, a little construction, a train, and some hints of his current favorite movies. For this room the theme is simply – him. The challenge here is to design a room that incorporates the varying obsessions of a 5-year-old while creating a unified and cohesive look and feel.

The foundation of this room is the key to bringing together all of these separate elements. The walls are painted a warm neutral color and custom molding is introduced to look like steel beams. These beams provide the theme for the built-in shelving and also frame out different areas of the room, including the construction zone and the dresser. The entry into this room is a double Dutch door, personalized for the occupant, which includes a small personal door just for him. He may be getting too old for the mini door but he still enjoys having this special, personal entrance.

Focus – The choice here was to have many smaller areas of focus instead of one major piece. Everything in the room is intentionally placed along the walls, leaving the center of the room available and unobstructed for activity. All of the toys, books, and games are stored within easy reach, brought to the center of the room to play and then returned to their place. All of the vehicles in the construction relief can be removed to play on the floor because they are held to the wall using elastic straps and can be replaced easily. The more fragile toys are kept on higher shelves where this room’s occupant and friends can reach favorite figures without help but won’t damage them during rowdy play.

What little boy does not love to watch a train? A suspended train is an original concept for this room. The train rides through the bedroom, the closet and the attached bathroom. Not only is this a great focal and thematic addition – it is also a fantastic element that this little boy will love for years.

Storage – Storage in a child’s bedroom is not just for current toys and clothing. There are always retired toys or old clothes that are being kept for either younger siblings, projects or keepsakes. Using toys on exposed shelves adds color, character and theme to the room and can be easily exchanged when preferences change.

In this case the many toys are kept out in the room for easy access and are used as decorations. The built in shelves in this room changed a small unusable wall space into an area of focus and storage while not impeding on the flow of the room. A few storage choices were unique to this room include built-in shelving, under bed storage and a full closet system to maximize hidden storage for infrequently accessed items.

Growth – The driving force of a room like this is growth. To accommodate that, this room has a solid foundation that can be easily painted, rearranged, or slightly altered with the removal or introduction of updated furniture or toys.

Safety – A room for a child at the in-between stage no longer requires some of the same safety precautions as a room for an infant or toddler. However, if there is a younger sibling in the house that can (and typically wants to) play in the older sibling’s room, these precautions should still be considered.

This particular room happens to be on the third floor, with the main living area on the first floor. An additional element, added partially for safety and partially to honor the father’s military history, is an authentic Army Field Phone. There is an identical phone located in the kitchen of this home. Both are hard wired together. Just crank one up and call downstairs for help or call upstairs when dinner is ready.

Moved out of a nursery but not yet ready for a big kid room. A bit of everything can help a little boy learn who he is and what he likes best. Soon enough he will be ready for a desk in the corner for long hours of studying. But for right now, anything goes.