Real Rooms for Real Kids

Hi there!  I am Cassie from Primitive and Proper, back for my monthly post here at Remodelaholic.  Over the last two months I have been busy designing my own kids rooms, making them functional, fun, and attractive to the kids and to me.  I wanted to create rooms that they would be happy to spend time in, and that would foster creativity and imagination, rooms they could play in, but that would also be easy for them to take care of in the clean up sense.   I thought I would share them with you today.

I have two kids, a boy and a girl, so you get to see a room for each today!  Sawyer, my boy, is 6 going on 7, and is a huge lego fan and Star Wars fan.  I combined his passion for those in the design for his room.  He also has declared red his favorite color and wanted red walls.  I, however, did not want red walls, so we compromised and I brought in lots or bright red accents for him.

Here is a view of his room from the doorway…

As you can see, he has a fairly large bedroom (much bigger than our last house!), so there is room to play, and plenty of storage space for his toys and books.  All of his toys have very specific locations where they are stored making it super easy for him to pick up his toys at the end of the day.

His room features a navy blue wall with glow in the dark stars and two lego star wars vinyls I ordered from Big Lego Fan on etsy.  I would have loved to DIY some sort of Lego accents for him, but I know my limitations.  And trust me, the look on his face when he saw the vinyls made me aware I had made the right decision!  In this picture below you can also see a solar system mobile.  It was a kit that was a paint and put together yourself type of set.  Sawyer is very proud to have it hanging in there!  Displaying kids artwork in your home or in their room helps their self esteem for sure!

Because Sawyer’s room has a dormer window I knew it was going to be a challenge to find window hardware that was not ugly or cheap looking to fit both a dormer and a regular window.  So I created my own curtain rods using pipes from Home Depot, and I made the curtains with fabric Sawyer chose- red chevron!  This little nook with the dormer also serves as his creative station…. He loves to sit here and draw or color.

I also painted his closet doors with chalkboard paint so he can draw on them as he wishes, and as he grows it will serve as a great place to leave himself reminders, or brainstorm.

I had so much fun putting together his room, and designed it with the client in mind- a 6 year old boy! There is plenty of room to play, create, and imagine; and he is surrounded by things he loves.

Sawyer loves playing in his room.  I often find him in there waging battles with his playmobil, reading aloud, or coloring with his sister, Emmy.

Emmy’s room was done just before Sawyer’s, and hers is also largely based on things she loves…. fairytales and woodland creatures.  This child loves animals!  When we first moved into this house, she and I shopped online for a quilt for her new bed, and we found a woodsy girly one we loved.  The room evolved from that quilt.

Again, her room, like Sawyer’s, is filled with plenty of storage for her toys and books, and is filled with things she loves.  It also features space for her to play.  Her play kitchen is in her closet, and I have set up a table and chair set for her.  She and her friends love to play in that area!

The closet doors are also painted with chalkboard paint so she can draw as she wishes.  Her ruffled curtains (that my mom made) hang from a tree branch, and she chose a red cardinal to live  on the branch.

She also has a desk/vanity where she can sit and color, or play with her jewelry.

She has lots of storage for her stuffed animals and babies (though since taking these pictures the babies have moved into the closet, and we added a bookcase).

As I said, since taking these pictures, we added a bookcase.  Emmy is my thrift shop body, and we often pick up books for her while we are out thrifting.  I don’t believe there is such as thing as too many books when it comes to kids!  I want to encourage them to read, and to get lost in a story, and to imagine their own stories.

And one more addition to her room was an adorable gnome banner which came as a kit from the etsy shop Smart Bottom Kids.  Just as Sawyer had his solar system, Emmy now has a beautiful banner in her room that she proudly created, and it hangs right over her bed.

Here is a closer look….

When creating rooms for real kids, and you want those kids to actually want to spend time in there it’s important to think about your client, your child!  Ask yourself what they are passionate about, what they like to do, what colors they like, and how you need the space to function.  If you can answer the needs and wants of your child in your design, you are bound to have one happy client!

Thanks again for having me over here today!  Hope you will visit me at Primitive and Proper!