Introducing our fun and toddler-friendly baby bedroom
In collaboration with Wayfair
When we moved in our new home, one of the rooms I was so looking forward to decorating was the baby bedroom. Or rather, the toddler bedroom for our two year old daughter.
One of the key things I wanted to ensure was that her room would be fun and a safe place for her to play and explore her new skills. I recently heard about the Montessori principles when decorating a child's bedroom and they made a lot of sense to me. The guiding
idea is that when children's play and life is facilitated and made easy, it will encourage their independence and also good behaviour. It is all about considering life from a pint-sized perspective, and how to make it more comfortable and natural for them.
I recently wrote my top tips for a toddler-friendly bedroom for Wayfair, with some detailed explanations of what to consider and why, and detailed pictures of the project.
In brief, the easiest way to decorate a toddler-friendly bedroom is to get some child-sized furniture, make it easy for them to get to their toys, and place items in their reach and in their viewpoint. This fosters independence and teaches them how to do things for themselves (such as hopefully, putting their toys away!).
Some more specific ideas I used were:
- A toddler-sized chair and desk for comfortable drawing and crafting session;
- Wall hooks at a toddler level to help her get used to putting clothes away and dressing herself;
- A fun play mat for creative play;
- Low-level storage to encourage her to choose her own toys independently (and fingers crossed, to encourage her to put them away too);
- De-cluttering toys to keep the room as clear as possible - fear not though my dear daughter, the toys have been relegated to the loft, from where they will be periodically rotated from to keep things fresh;
- Artwork on the walls at her level to make it easier for her to enjoy it - and in the future we will put some of her own artwork on the walls too to encourage her to create even more art;
- Child-friendly bookcase where it is easy to choose the book (by the cover -pretty and functional!) and easy to grab it too with chubby fingers. I got the Tidy Books bookcase, which we all love.
What do you think of the room?
(And don't forget to check my detailed tips on decorating a toddler-friendly bedroom over at Wayfair! They've also got a swath of other lovely how-to posts there as well I have spent many a moment perusing through.)
I absolutely adore this room, it's perfect! I so wish my daughter had a bigger room so we could do more with it but it's literally the box room. You've done a great job! x
ReplyDeleteAbbie | www.lilymaeadventures.com
Thank you :) yeah box room can be really difficult to furnish as you can't really fit much more than a bed there! Our third bedroom is really small, so the next nursery will be a bit more challenging to decorate!
DeleteYou've made a fab job of it Sanna. It really does look very child-friendly. I love the neutral colour scheme, the art work and the bookcase too.
ReplyDelete#HomeEtc
Fionnuala from http://www.threesonslater.blogspot.com
Thank you :) that's exactly what I was trying to do - make it child friendly and fun for a toddler. I know we will have to redecorate it to suit an older child in maybe five years but that's ok. I am sure my daughter will have her own ideas by then too :)
DeleteI love the light shade, so very cool! :) #HomeEtc
ReplyDeleteIt is isn't it :) my daughter loves it, always talking about the mice in it :)
DeleteIt looks great, and I love that ugh. And it makes sense to have toddler sized furniture too #homeetc
ReplyDeleterug not ugh!!! :)
DeleteHa ha about ugh! My spell checker is a bit weird sometimes too and does weird things like that :) yeah I am really loving the child sized furniture. Of course we will have to change it later, but nevermind.
DeleteIhana huone, sain tasta pari uutta ideaa tytön huoneeseen!
ReplyDeleteKiva kiva! Teetko sakin joku kerta sit huonepostauksen?
DeleteOh I love it!! I did loads of research (thank you pinterest) into montessori when I was doing Reuben's room, which influenced a lot of what we did but I think it still needs an update...like getting rid of the HUGE chest of drawers in there in favour of a desk and child sized coat hooks is a great idea :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to #TheLIst xx
Yeah Montessori method has quite interesting ideas doesn't it! I am thinking of finding out a bit more about it, it seems like up our street. To be honest I think we will need to get a chest of drawers in her room to store her clothes in, as storage can be a bit of an issue in old houses like this.
DeleteOhh this room is amazing!I love the rug and the bookcase. My boys room is just overflowing with toys/books/clothes...really need to sort it out. You have inspired me :) xx #TheList
ReplyDeleteWe had that too! Over flowing with stuff I mean. We have now decluttered a bit and just put the extra stuff up at the loft to wait for the next one :) but yeah it takes a while! Good luck if you decide to go for t :)
DeleteI really love it! And you've taught me a good tip - putting things at child-level! Doh! Note to self - I am moving Tyler's coat rack down so he can hang up his coat himself. Can't believe I never thought of that. Thank you! x
ReplyDelete#HomeEtc
Yeah it is not necessarily the first thing you'd think, as you look at the world from a completely different perspective. Glad you got some new ideas from this post, and hoping Tyler will like them too :)
DeleteAah I said to you on Twitter — we've got similar bits and pieces for the boys' room! The same IKEA unit and the same bookshelf! :) Great minds eh?! We've also got a little desk but that lives downstairs in the snug. Until we get rid of the nursing chair in their room there's no room for that too! :) Thanks SO much for linking up with us on #HomeEtc xx
ReplyDeleteYeah ha ha great minds! Definitely! I am thinking of moving the little table and chair to the living room as well actually, I think it might be useful there. I'll still think about it, not sure, as we are still checking out the perfect places for a lot of furniture! Thanks or hosting :)
DeleteI love this! I can't wait until we have saved enough to convert our loft so the boys can have their own rooms #HomeEtc
ReplyDeleteGoo luck with the loft conversion (and obv saving for it!). It will be lovely when you can have a bit more space for the boys, I am sure they will love their new rooms!
DeleteReally love your choices in decoration. I love the cheese ceiling lamp shade. I love that is playful and colourful. Some really good suggestions about looking at the room from the child's perspective. #TheList
ReplyDeleteThank you :) sometimes I even went on my knees to try to see it from my daughters perspective :) I love using primary colours in kids room, looks fun and fresh I think :)
DeleteIt looks fantastic and what a great idea to help them learn by having a room that's so practical from their point of view. That lampshade is adorable too X #HomeEtc
ReplyDeleteThank you :) it has been a great success with my daughter, she really loves the room and I think it will help her learn too some skills :)
DeleteWhat a big room you have. I could have never make this out of Chloe's or Matthew's bed room because it only fits a wardrobe and bed in it unfortunately. I would love to have the road play mat though #thelist
ReplyDeleteYeah this is a good sized room for a child - but the next bedroom which is for a future sibling will be much smaller and this more difficult to furnish... It is difficult with small rooms as you need storage facilities too there!
DeleteLove and need that bookshelf!! Off to buy! Looks superb and just perfect. Love the colours. Thank you very much for linking up with us. Jess xx
ReplyDelete#HomeEtc
Thanks for hosting! The bookshelf is gorgeous, and I am doing another post about it soon :) Very happy with it, it looks great, and I love the letters on it too :)
DeleteWhat type of bed/crib is that.. my husband isnt completely sold on yhe floor bed idea so that looks oike a good middle ground
ReplyDeleteIt's a Stokke bed! It's great, you can change the height of the bottom, and also, extensions to make it last till your baby is up to 7 years old. We love it, but it is pricey.
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