The Rural Voice, 2001-07, Page 35Home Decorating
Helping kids redecorate their rooms
By Patti Robertson
Kids are fascinating! I've yet to
meet the child that does not have
her/his own innate sense of colour
and what is the appropriate choice for
her or him. They know whether they
prefer old or new furnishings,
whether they like bright, light -tilled
rooms or conversely dark, cave -like,
moody rooms. Kids definitely have
opinions on "what works for them!"
So, this is how I approach working
with a child when we're decorating
his/her bedroom ... his or her
personal domain.
What is ultimately cool about kids
is, they are not colour shy. They see
colour as a free and easy expression
of their goals, dreams and desires.
They appear to understand how
colour works with the psyche and our
energy balances and usually choose
what is going to feed their energy
level.
Now, this is usually where as a
parent one starts to freak. What will
the neighbours think of Johnny's
black bedroom? Take heart, a little
primer and a coat or two of paint and
you'll regain your room when the
time for change comes. In the
meantime if your child is happy in
their own little corner of the world,
what could be a better place for them
to be?
As far as colour selection goes
I've been given the most outrageous
requests ranging from jet black in
combo with fire engine red,
tantalizing teal and passion purple,
luscious lavender, sunflower yellow,
outrageous orange and stately
Victoria blush and of course all the
more sedate colourations that are
found on the colour wheel. We've
ragged, smooshed, bagged, and
dragged. We've done custom racing
stripes, painted fairy tale motifs and
added wallcovering featuring electric
palm trees, and the themes have
varied greatly from nautical to
wildlife to floral gardens.
So as a parent preparing to
decorate your child's bedroom, I
' suggest you take this all in stride —
it's only for a period of time and it
will be a marvelous learning
experience in economics and interior
decorating for you and your child.
Start by sitting in the room to be
decorated and taking notes. Discuss
budget, what has to remain and what
can be changed or added. Discuss
colourations, possible theme motifs,
window coverings and bed linens.
Address the room's furniture
arrangement and
storage pros and
cons.
Now proceed
to the decorating
product store and
select all the
sample colour
cards that appeal
to you, these will
assist you in
narrowing the
colour scope
while you work
through the
initial plans. If
wallcovering is a
part of the plan. scan all the books
available and then borrow those that
appeal to you the most. Take all your
samples home with you and lay them
out in the room so you can look at
them in all the various lighting
conditions that the room is subject to.
Now start building the room's
"colour story". Always start with the
most complex element in the room.
Let's say it's a floral set of drapery –
you'll want to work with this to
achieve the ultimate colour and
wallcovering to harmonize and create
a blend.
If you are planning on creating a
theme -oriented room, the sky is the
limit! Almost all wallcovering and
fabric companies offer a large array
of patterns to set the stage or at least
stimulate the creative juices. What
interests does your child have —
fishing? hockey? baseball? ballet'?
baton twirling? gardening? You can
make a room come to life by adding
all the fun and intimate detailing that
goes along with your chosen theme.
In a garden setting you can
incorporate lattice. watering cans and
potted artificial tlorals. while in a
rustic lodge type setting you can add
fishing tackle, mounted fish. and
hang your window treatments on a
fishing pole. what you cannot think
of you can rest assured your child
surely will!
It truly can be a unique experience
working with a child on their room
— an adventure developing the
perfect colour scheme. intriguing
foraging for the absolute right bit and.
piece whether it's at a boutique.
secondhand store or garage sale. The
inhabitant of the room gets to he fully
engaged in the selections and
understands the process and
budgeting and the fact that they'll
need to be content until the next
renovation. This can be a very
positive experience. and as I stated
earlier if the kid likes his/her room
then they'll most likely spend more
time in it — a safe haven, their room.
And as far as we the parents go.
remember "you can always close the
door!" After all childhood is such a
brief period in time.0
Patti Robertson operates Classic
Interiors in Winghant.
PATTI ROBERTSON'S
effissic
nferiors
Unique Residential and
Commercial Interiors
135 Victoria St., WINGHAM
357-2872
• Custom-made Window
Fashions, Bedspreads
& Accessories
• Fine Domestic &
Imported Fabrics
• Select Wallcouerings
• Furnishings, Lighting
& Artwork to suit
any interior...
JULY 2001 31