Kid Rooms

See how this UK family brings magic to daily life through their stunning home.

Are there any design trends you’ve been loving for kids? Our 8-year-old daughter needs a room upgrade. (We’re working with a dated, slightly babyish space, TBH.)EricaDear Erica,I love this question and it gets me right back into my designer headspace, which is fun and creative — but also — very subjective, so let me kick it off for you and then you take if from there with your daughter.

The floor-to-ceiling storage, locker-room-style bench, and emerald green accents seriously can't be missed.

It's the perfect mix of timeless and unexpected.

This chic playroom radiates glamor and sweetness.

Now I want all my rooms this color.

Project by: Meena Location: Ashbury Heights — San Francisco, California This converted bedroom project comes from first-time parents who recently bought a house in San Francisco. After spending nearly 10 years on the East Coast, they returned back home to the Bay Area to raise their daughter. The family moved in the home when the baby was just two weeks old, so needless to say it was an exhausting and whirlwind experience.

Whether you’ve got little ones at home or not, you’ll be able to take some inspiration from these cheerful but totally mature spaces from our house tours. It turns out that kids (and of course their indubitably stylish parents) have mastered the secret to a youthful yet refined space.

Art tables for littles all the way to multi-functional desks with cool Scandinavian design features.

If you ask a feng shui expert about the space under a bed, they’re going to tell you to keep it clear — that putting anything in that space will block energy from circulating around your body when you sleep. So, basically, they’re going to tell you the exact opposite of what I’m about to suggest. But as a mother of two little ones, I find the space under kids’ beds to be prime real estate.

When I saw the title of this reader submission, I braced myself for some The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe action, but it turned out to be less Narnia, more Lane Kim. Don’t let your teen see this makeover unless you’re prepared to build them a secret hideout — and you’ll probably be tempted to build one for yourself. Here we see Laura Medicus of The Colorado Nest‘s daughter stepping into a fairly magical vintage wardrobe . . .

You want kids to be able to reach their favorites and for the room to look polished. Here’s how it’s done.

Whether you’re on your last child or expecting your first baby, I don’t have to tell you how quickly things can accumulate. As I gear up for my first, my zen bedroom is getting more and more cluttered by the minute, my kitchen counters are already littered with childproof dinnerware, and my living room is slowly morphing into a play area.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Nursery decor has come along way over the past few years. Color schemes have evolved beyond the traditional pastel pinks and blues, and upholstered gliders now look like stylish showpieces you’d leave out in your living room. In general, there’s also been a shift towards creating environments that can grow up along with a child without the need for a major redecoration project or thematic shift a short time later.

Meera knew she was going to have to get extremely crafty with her son’s new room. The previous owners had made some questionable (and potentially dangerous) choices that needed to be fixed immediately, and Meera was able to do so with some very cool DIYs and brilliant money-saving fixes. From Meera: The walls and ceilings were covered in poorly-hung textured wallpaper and the room was a DIY mess.

When Jessica and her husband moved into their home they knew that they would need to do some serious updating. They took off the Beetlejuice wallpaper in their guest room and when it came time to turn it into a nursery they decided to go full fun. A little bit of Memphis, a sprinkling of Facts of Life, a dash of FAO Schwartz and you have a super cute, very unique nursery.

No matter your age, you deserve a bedroom that’s stylish, comfy, and perfect for relaxing — and that goes for kids, too. Need help figuring out where to start? Take inspiration from this glorious kid’s bedroom redo from Jennifer Harrup (Jennifer Laura Living).When Jennifer and her family moved into their new home, this room started out pink with a white chandelier.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! I have a clutter-busting, kid-resetting secret weapon. It’s called the Magic Basket and it lives in our game closet. Family life is messy. Figuratively, but also literally. Having so many people inhabiting one space means that things get left out all over the house.

Kids rooms are always so much fun, perhaps because parents use their children’s spaces to fulfill inner fantasies. But, parents are still parents after all, and can’t entirely forget they also have to keep their kids both busy, and on an even keel. So, when you see great decor ideas that aren’t just creative, but also fun and functional, jump on them. Here are seven favorites that don’t just look good.

As spectacular as bunk beds may be, they leave little room for organization. Unlike a regular bed setup, it’s tough to pull a nightstand up to a top bunk, which leads to books, pillows, and maybe even alarm clocks strewn about your sheets or lying out on the floor. This shouldn’t put a damper on your (or your kids) dreams of building this kind of space-saving structure though. Luckily, there are quite a few ways you can keep a bedroom tidy even with a double-decker bed.

Name: Ashley Wilson; Preston; 6-year-old son, Don; and two dogs, Derek and LucyLocation: Hollywood, FloridaSize: 890-square-feetWe’re in the midst of a beautiful, blazing summer, and no home screams summer more joyfully than Ashley Wilson’s two-bedroom Pink Palm Hideaway on the Florida coast.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! If I could have anyone as my phone-a-friend for advice about decorating my kid’s room, Julia Marcum, of Chris Loves Julia would be high on the list.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. It sounds strange to say, given the events of the past year and a half, but we have been traveling a lot. We don’t go anywhere exotic or posh; we just drive two hours west to the same place over and over again.

Some rooms have a million flaws that need remedying; the problem with this nursery-to-be was there was no real there there. After months of sanding, painting, ripping out, and replacing by a very pregnant lady and her crew, this room was lovingly decorated for its tiny new occupant. The word for this nursery, created by Bridget Matkovich of The DIY Playbook, is dreamy.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! Four years ago, when I was covering home design for a parenting magazine, I noticed a do-it-yourself trend of parents building simple, house-shaped bed frames for their kids. They were so cute that we included them in the magazine along with instructions for how you might make your own.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! When I was a kid, I can’t remember having any friends who had their own playroom. Kids in my suburb typically played in their rooms (or outside!); if you were lucky, your parents might have ceded you the basement as a rec room.

Name: Lily, Oli, and Chloé ( 5, 4, 2) Location: Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal — Canada Years ago, we shared our Lily and Oli’s shared room on Apartment Therapy. Since then, we’ve added our third child, our daughter Chloé to the room. Now that we are officially crib-free, and still happily using one bedroom for our three little ones, I thought it was time to share the many changes we’ve made.

Whether you’re a parent of little ones or just a fan of dreamy spaces for naptime and play, you’ve probably seen your fair share of gorgeous nursery inspiration, and the guest room-turned-rainbow-nursery in Sarah Blumer (@saynihay)’s 1940s Pittsburgh home is definitely one to add to your Pinterest board.It didn’t start out that way, though. The space, Sarah says, actually went through several iterations before becoming a nursery.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. With the wallpaper trend alive and well, it isn’t a stretch to see murals, wallpaper’s captivating, prehistoric cousin, take center stage. Murals — large scenes that don’t repeat like wallpaper — make neighborhoods beautiful and add vibrant color and interest to our streets.

Family: The Halls, with two kids, aged 2 and 4Location: Flatiron District, New York CityPlayroom size: 106 square feetThis piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. As a mom of two young girls who are also wildly creative, designer Dana Waldron of Murphy Waldron Interiors especially enjoys working on kids’ spaces.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Names: Jacqueline Mellow, husband Christopher, and Baby MellowLocation: Denver, COSize of home: 1,700 square feetEven before she became a mother, Jacqueline Mellow was a storyteller. An award-winning author of several books written under the pen name E.J.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. There’s a particular art to designing children’s rooms: They have to satisfy not only the paying client (mom and dad), but also the rooms’ pint-sized inhabitants.

My son is 10 and he is messy, but I really want him to at least make his bed in the morning. When I grew up, I had to and I feel like a bad parent for not succeeding here. Got any tips?ElleryDear Ellery,I have to admit that I’m struggling with this one too with my 14-year-old, and to give you some local color, I’ve made this little video to share with you. My problems only began about a year ago and she used to be very good at this!

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. With all the Memorial Day sales happening this weekend, there’s no shortage of great deals, but if we had to pick one to shop, it’d be Pottery Barn’s Warehouse Sale, spanning all their brands, including Pottery Barn Kids.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids.

Name: Stacie and Joseph Abdallah, their sons Nehemiah (7), Noah (5), Nolan (3)Location: Atlanta, GeorgiaThis piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. DIY is all about problem solving, and for former school counselor, Stacie Abdallah, it comes naturally.

If you hop over to designer Sarah Sherman Samuel’s Instagram page on any given day, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself scrolling, scrolling, and scrolling … while saving every other image along the way. Packed with inspo from both clients’ spaces and her own, her feed highlights her signature aesthetic: all things clean, contemporary, and California cool (even though she now lives in her native Michigan).

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. It’s no big secret that parenthood is full of many surprises, and the products that end up being lifesavers is definitely one of them. If we were talking about movies here, we’d call these products the sleeper hits.

Closet space is premium in many homes, which means that the space has to work hard to meet everyone’s needs. Great closets can fit everything in that needs to be stashed, but also are easy to rifle through and pleasant to look at. It’s a tall order.Morgan Gomez knew that this closet in her home — used for her young daughter’s clothes and toys — was not cutting it. “The setup left a lot of unused space,” Morgan says.

Name: Monica Chavez; partner, Ruben; and children, Esperanza (7 months), Mauricio (3 years), Abel (passed away in 2010)Location: Bay Area, CaliforniaMonica Chavez is a mother, blogger, and DIY expert whose Instagram account offers a steady, stunning stream of creative projects and inspiration. She lives in the Bay Area with her family, including a new baby who arrived during this strange year. “I’ve got a COVID baby!” she laughs. “She’s 7 months old.

We’ve got a very small extra room that we’re turning into a nursery. What’s a good small space solution? JoeDear Joe,Good for you, and I know you’ll do well! You’re also in luck, because one of the greatest things about babies is how few things they need to be happy as opposed to how much friends and family may give you that you often feel like you have to find room for. You really don’t need much room at all.

Name: Emily Berger-Crawford, husband Chris Crawford, daughter Edie, dog Lilly, and cats Chester and CharlieLocation: East English Village in Detroit, MichiganSize: 1,650 square feetEmily Berger-Crawford says that an old house was an all-but inevitable conclusion for her family. Growing up, Emily lived in a 1890s Victorian that her parents lovingly filled with antiques. Then when she and her husband Chris Crawford moved back home to Detroit, old houses were what was available to buy.

So your child’s room is a bit of a disaster zone. Hey, no judgement here. Messiness is a part of life, but unfortunately, it’s not part of the process for successfully selling a home. That’s where home stagers come in—they unleash a few simple tricks to make a house seem appealing to buyers of all kinds.

I’m putting together my first nursery and need a nursing chair. I want something really comfortable, but also that I won’t mind keeping for a long time. They are expensive! EmmaDear Emma,Nursery furniture is a big challenge. I will come back to all of it in the future as it can be a big first expense and not something that’s very useful for the rest of your child’s life, but I want to give a great recommendation for THE chair we found.

When it comes to decorating, a child’s room is one of the most enjoyable projects to take on. There are seemingly no rules—fun themes, bold colors, and whimsical decor all tap into the playfulness of childhood, perfectly suiting the space. There’s a real satisfaction to completing these projects, too. Designing a nursery for a baby is often your first chance to “nest” and create a safe space for your child.

Name: Amber and Chris Earl, owners of EARL (@earl_home); their daughters, Giavanni, 4, and Copen, 3; and son, Guy, 1Location: North Hollywood, CaliforniaObserving a house evolve over time is a specific kind of pleasure: It’s like watching a young person grow up. You can see how a home stretches, adapts, and evolves to the lives that are being lived within. A visit to Amber and Chris Earl’s two-bedroom home in North Hollywood shows a house that has found its stride.

“I love the way I’ve set up the house! I love our living room so much. That’s where we spend most of our time together: It feels super cozy.” Name: Caroline and Jason Rodrigues, owners of @shopmercimilo; their daughter, Milo, 5; and Caroline’s children, Cailin, 14, and Darren, 16, who live there part of the timeLocation: Glendale, CaliforinaImagine if your child had a never-ending stream of toys showing up in your home.

Since IKEA introduced the DUKTIG play kitchen, customers have brainstormed ways to hack and customize this plain Jane item into something with more personality and charm—like, you know, a full-sized kitchen might have. The tweaks these parents have made are doable for even DIY beginners and, I think you’ll agree, make these little plays kitchens even more special for their kids.