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Green Means 'Go!'
From babies to young adults, children’s rooms need to reflect their personalities and provide a feeling of security, acceptance and love.

by Karla J. Nielson, Allied ASID, WCAA

A few years ago when my 19-year-old-college-senior-on-full-Scholarship-of-Merit Diana was a baby, I created a lovely bedroom for her. She hated it. She fell asleep in my bed every night and was carried to her room slumbering as a toddler. I couldn’t understand the dilemma because the room was picture perfect, lots of soft little girl pink and whites—a dreamy room. I got a clue into her personality and unique approach to life one day when she was four as we were driving down a street together and I decided to teach her about stoplights. I said to her, “Diana, green means go and red means stop and yellow means slow down.” Without missing a beat, she responded in that authoritarian four-year-old way, “And purple means go FASTER!”

What I learned was that this child needed more stimulus. She wanted a different environment for her talented, intellectual and active life which was unfolding. Although she moved to a different bedroom, that room is still a sweet and delightful space. It became a guest room and a sleepover room for grandchildren. Recently one of my adopted children (OK, we have five birth and five adopted children), Sabrina, who is Kazakh, has moved into the nursery and loves every moment in this still princess-pretty room. Her personality fits the space. She is a gentle, sweet, kind and quiet girl who loves order and a feeling of calm and empathy that the neutralized pink provides. She is vastly content.

HOW DO I KNOW?
This little story echoes the concerns of parents everywhere who tend to create wonderful rooms based on what they think their children should want. When assisting client-parents who are making decisions for the interior décor of a child’s space, perhaps we could consider some sound advice from experts.

In his book, “In My Room: Designing For and With Children” (Fawcett Columbine), Antonio F. Torrice, ASID, states, “Looking back, I realize that children have taught me the greatest lessons in life. From them I’ve rediscovered the wonderment of youthful spontaneity, innocence and the kind of positive energy that makes you believe you can do anything.” His approach in designing for children is to design with them—make them part of the process.

One technique he found successful was to create a simple pencil drawing of the child’s room, then have the child narrow down a selection of crayons to a few favorites, then to color the room in the colors they preferred as they wanted it. This was used as a guide in the selection of paint, textile window coverings, bedding and flooring. Later, in planning colors for a children’s hospital, his study of color led him to the work of Nobel prize winner and Soviet electronic technician, Semyon Kirlian and his wife, Valentina, who captured on photographic plates colored images of energy emanating from life-forms under emotional or physiological changes. Their discoveries led Torrice to deduce that red is absorbed at the base of the spine, orange corresponds to the circulation, yellow to the chest and lungs, green to the throat, blue to the eyes, ears and nose, and violet to the top of the head and brain activities (see the Diana story above). Torrice then used these concepts in planning hospital healing areas where children made remarkable improvement during therapy in areas colored to correspond to the ailment.

Other books filled with ideas for children’s rooms include these: “Children’s Rooms: A Mothercare Book” by Jane Lott (Prentice Hall), “Designing Rooms for Children” by Mary Gilliatt (Little, Brown), “Kids’ Rooms: Decorating Nurseries to Teen Retreats” edited by Linda Hallam (Meredith Corp.) and “Rooms to Grow, Creating Rooms and Furniture for Children” by Jane Cornell (Prentice Hall).

BABIES, BABIES
Babies have become big business in niche decorating markets. More money is now being spent on fewer children than in any time in history. Sweet rooms that are dreamy places with soft colors or happy places through vibrant colors nurture not only baby but parent as well.

Spaces that are beautifully decorated connect child to parent and parent to child. A child’s world should be a place where he or she feels safe and secure, accepted and loved and where intellectual growth and motor skills development are encouraged.

SELECTING A THEME
If the parent does not have a firm direction in mind for selecting a theme, there are places to go for inspiration for a child’s room. Fabric, wall coverings, area rugs, furniture and accessories are all good places to find a theme. Baby, nursery or toddler themes are delightful, and can serve from one baby to the next if they are kept generic, such as nursery rhyme, alphabet, animal or playful themes.
For preschool and elementary children, general themes may include a favorite cartoon or movie/television character. Bedding for these themes are generally very large in scale and bright, but are temporary, so that the background should be able to blend and support without usurping the image or locking the room into a very bright and over-stimulating color scheme.

As boys grow, they gravitate toward themes including sports such as a particular favorite sport or general ball game theme. Boys may love chess or computer themes, or collectable themes—say racecars. A boy may have a hobby that he loves such as fixing things or camping or participating in community groups such as a team or scouts. He may love outdoor settings, science or outer space exploration or the world of dinosaurs. He may love animals.

Girls’ themes often include princess or femininely artistic topics. Cuddly animals and gentle themes in color and form are thought to be more feminine. Some girls like fun, clean, spunky bright colors and patterns that are cheerful and encourage visiting or connecting to others. Some girls like sports as much as do boys, or outdoor themes. The key factor is to interview the child to determine interests and personality and to not make any predetermined decisions without adequately consulting the child.

Children who have a say in their bedroom planning will be happier for longer. On the other hand, they may learn quickly that what they thought they wanted so desperately and insisted on isn’t that livable after all. This can be a good lesson to learn in helping them also to develop a more long-term view of their own decorating tastes. Personalizing the space can be accomplished when the child selects the art and accessories and helps with the rearrangement of furniture.

THINKING IT THROUGH
Another approach is to keep backgrounds more neutral or more flexible and use materials that can be changed easily such as bedding or fabric window treatments as the more personality or thematic portion of the décor. As a general rule, carpet lasts for many years, so a long-term approach should be considered. Children stay babies and toddlers for a very short time, and by the time they enter elementary school their preferences begin to emerge. In middle school or junior high, and certainly in high school, the child can become an active partner in making decisions.

Sometimes, however, children want items or colors to which parents are not willing to consent. In this case, the desired color for the wall, the wall covering or bedspread can be placed on a wall that is not immediately in view from the opened door. In fact, the idea of the child having a bit of a hide-away retreat space for dreaming, reading or homework holds as much appeal today as it did during the Victorian era when nooks and crannies were designed into the complex rooflines of homes. The bed itself can accomplish this goal through fabric hung from the wall or ceiling or by a custom-built or unique bunk bed arrangement.

WHERE SHALL I PUT IT?
Beginning about elementary age, children also can be involved if the parent allows them to draw sketches of how he or she would like to see the bedroom furniture arranged. This can be a fairly simple approach under the direction of the design or decorating consultant. It may be learned that the child wants to rid the room of certain pieces or add different furnishings into the space; both offer opportunities for giving the room a different look.

For little ones who may fall out of bed safety should be a priority in arranging the room, such as placing a bed in the corner of the room against two walls. Beds and climbable objects such as dressers or chests and bookshelves should be away from windows. It’s always best to anchor these to the wall if the child has a propensity for climbing. A large object that falls over onto a child can harm him for life.

PRIORITIZE SPENDING
Parents should have concerns about allocating spending in a child’s room. Although some affluent families are prone to spend more, many families who seek a professional’s help should also receive some guidance about where the lion’s share of the money should be spent. The carpet or flooring is a more long-term investment, so good quality should be sought. Likewise, a sturdy bed that can give proper support to a growing child for 10 to 15 years is important. Window treatments with safety features such as break-apart cords give peace of mind. Custom bedding and window coverings, items such as upholstered window seat cushions and pillows or upholstery are a matter of taste and budget.

Selecting furniture that will grow with the child is always common sense. For example, the youth beds with plastic frames in cute but faddish designer styling will likely be very short lived, so furniture that is a bit more mature will be appreciated by the child in a few short years. Children may be sensitive to or embarrassed about living in a baby’s room once they arrive at the ripe old age at which they become kindergarteners. So long-term planning can bring greater family felicity and less conflict.

GROWING UP
If the bedroom plan does have a long-term focus, then the space may not be gender-based. It may simply be a pleasant space that can accommodate the flexibility of a child’s growing up years. Perhaps the room will have a more neutral background so the child can place vinyl appliqués, posters, personally selected or created artwork on walls and collectibles and memorabilia on shelves without worrying about whether their choices match a theme. These types of bedrooms can more easily adapt to other uses when the child leaves home as a young adult.

I often ask my university students what their bedrooms back home have been turned into. The responses are always revealing and humorous as they realize that their very own bedrooms are not theirs anymore but have become spaces with entirely different purposes. When they visit, they become guests.

The fact that children will grow up quickly and move out seems like a far distant event to a young parent. Yet life is so fleeting that good long-term planning will help parents to more wisely allocate their resources to the best advantage for now and for the future.
And if their choice is to decorate for the sweet little child who is here and now, then green means GO!

Karla J. Nielson, Allied ASID, WCAA, is assistant professor of design at Brigham Young University. She has authored several books including Window Treatments, Understanding Fabrics and Interiors: An Introduction, 3rd Ed. Nielson is a regular correspondent for Draperies & Window Coverings addressing the areas of fashion, education and merchandising.