A room for two

Kids’ rooms are allowed to be colourful:
Another approach is painting a paler colour on the walls as a simple backdrop, then letting your furnishings do the talking. Add a pop of contrasting colour that complements somewhere else to tie the elements of the room together. The little shelves were painted to complement the duvet covers. (Walls painted in Resene Princess, from Resene KidzColour range, shelves painted in Resene Hippie Blue).

In the zone:
Create different zones in the room to encourage play and relaxation. A lamp next to the bookshelf immediately suggests a reading nook, while a soft rug on the floor beckons kids to sit and play a while.

Personalise your child’s space with her own artwork and photos:
Photos pegged on a ribbon add interest and personality and can be easily updated. Or get a favourite photo printed on a large canvas. Displaying your children’s artwork is a sweet way of encouraging their creativity. Use your child’s art as an inspiration point for colour schemes. Or rotate pieces more often with an easily update-able display option. Try pegging to ribbon or string, mounting clip boards on the wall to hold the latest masterpieces, or pick up a vintage wooden frame from an op shop, paint it to match your colour scheme, mount it on the wall and display paintings or drawings within the frame.

Recycle:
In this disposable age it is nice to provide our children with traditional toys and furniture. TradeMe is a treasure trove of pre-loved things. The dolls’ highchair and cot are from TradeMe while our charming wooden rocking horse was rescued from a roadside inorganic collection! The Patersonrose rug is from Allium Interiors.

Name it:
Give your child a sense of ownership over her space by featuring her name within the décor. Spell it out with letters mounted on the wall, stamp her name onto something or paint part of the wall with blackboard paint and write your child a love note.

Invest in pieces that will grow with your kids:
The Helmer drawers (above) from Ikea ($219, myflatpack.co.nz) are actually sold as office furniture, but while your kids are small they provide the perfect storage hideaway for precious collections. Also, pictured: Mini Tree $19.95 from Mocka, clock $34, Allium Interiors.

We used spice racks from Ikea to create bedhead shelves, perfect for knick-knacks.

Choose furniture that works double time:
The book shelf cubbies double as a place to sit, Hip Hop Cube $99, Target Furniture.

Upcycle:
The foam squab on top of the cubbies is actually a no-longer-required porta-cot mattress, folded in half and tucked inside a custom-made cover.