Children’s bedrooms | A cocoon to flourish

A child’s room is a universe in itself. A place to grow, discover, take refuge. A space that is transformed over the years to allow the personality of our little treasures to bloom. How to build a decor that will allow them to flourish? Experts offer us some possible solutions.

The bedroom, soothing and intimate

During the first years of a child’s life, the bedroom is essentially a place to sleep.

“This is probably the most important aspect to consider in young children,” said Sarah Lippé, full professor in the department of psychology at the University of Montreal. “The place must be safe because it will accommodate sleep in the evening, with stuffed animals or objects that the child will find soothing. “

As the child gets older and more independent, he will need a psychological refuge with “his little corner and his little things”, she emphasizes, in the shelter of her brother or his sister, especially if they share the same room. “When children become teenagers, they need their privacy and it’s their room that will correspond to that room,” adds the professor.

When designing children’s rooms, interior designer Josée Cyr wants to involve the main interested in the creation of this space, by establishing their interests, colors and patterns that appeal to them, from photos or cuts. “I like that the child is there because it will be his place”, she insists.

But before getting started – if the space allows more than the presence of a bed and a chest of drawers – you have to ask yourself a few questions: will he play, study, practice an instrument? music, crafts or reading in this room? The answers will help determine the furniture needs in order to optimize space, with storage being the main challenge in children’s rooms.

“Children need space, but as there is less of it, paradoxically, we can make them a little setting in these rooms that we create for them by paying attention to each meter so that they feel good there” , advances Alexandra Viragh, author, among others, of books Feng Shui, force of harmony and Harmony spaces for children – The world of psycho-decoration.

Vital spaces

This Swiss expert in psycho-decoration, a theory she developed from feng shui and vastu shastra by adapting them to our Western way of thinking, believes that there are three living spaces to which special attention must be paid. in a child’s room: the bed, the desk and the play area.

Children need protection at the back of their head first and foremost when they sleep, she explains, so make sure you sleep against a wall or have a full headboard. wooden or upholstered. For toddlers, that means avoiding cribs against a window; but if you can’t move the bed, you can put on a fleece that will make the headboard opaque. Thus, the child will no longer be stimulated by the flow of air and light passing through him – neuro-stimulants that make him stay awake, explains Alexandra Viragh.

The desk, meanwhile, should never face the wall, in his opinion, because it’s like the child is being punished when he works. His solution? Just peel it off the wall and rotate it when the child is doing their homework, so they have a view of their bedroom, ideally near the window, and a whole new perspective.

Likewise, a play mat can be recessed when not in use, then placed, when playing, in a place where the child will feel safe – “therefore not between the door and the door. window ”, specifies Alexandra Viragh. You can also have an ottoman, cushions that you put on the floor or a blanket on a bed; the important thing, according to her, is that there is a space that is soft, warm, warm and protected. And we don’t forget that for a child to play well, she notes, it is important for him to be able to store his toys well: the storage unit must therefore be larger than necessary so that we do not don’t feel like you have to solve a puzzle to fit the toys into it.

“We interact with our environment and our home constantly and we all have a spontaneous, intuitive relationship with the space, whether it has been arranged according to certain rules of feng shui or with taste, gentleness and a beautiful intention”, emphasizes Alexandra Viragh.

Visit Alexandra Viragh’s website Visit Josée Cyr’s website, interior designer

A decor that transforms

Specialists are unanimous: a child’s room must leave enough room for change so that he can adapt it to his tastes, his passing desires and his discoveries. Clarification in four points.

A showcase for his dreams

Alexandra Viragh has often seen “dream rooms” furnished at such high costs that the child finds himself living in the setting from his 4 years old until the end of elementary school. “If the bedroom is not as aesthetic as the rest of the house, that’s okay because the goal is for the child to have fun. It’s very important that he has a space where he can display all his dreams – firefighters, police cars – because it allows him to free some of them and move on. A decoration is psychic information; and once he has experienced it all, he finds his way. Its walls are supports to develop psychically, ”she explains. Interior designer and president of Versa Style Design Lucie Pitt agrees and suggests coating a wall or section with paint that gives a whiteboard effect: this surface, brighter and less dusty than blackboard with chalk, will allow him to express his creativity as he pleases.

A universe of colors

According to psycho-decoration expert Alexandra Viragh, we should favor soft, cold and pastel colors for the bed, which invite to sleep, unlike bright, warm and tonic shades, or “colorful, Batman or cars ”(which can be replaced by posters next to the bed, she explains). On the other hand, it goes against the decorators who design rooms around the same shade: “The child needs to experience life in all its forms in his room. You need to have a multicolored look, ”she says, since colors convey emotional information. She gives the example of a bedroom with a jungle themed decoration, in shades of green and brown. “The child is going to be missing something. It is as if we were saying to him: “You have only one toy for your room.” He has the same psychic and emotional landmarks all the time. »Does the child want a rose? We opt for sheets, curtains or even bulbs of this color, which can more easily be changed than the paint on the walls. There are also lamps that can project different shades and thus vary the atmospheres, according to the desires and needs of the child – such as blue or purple to soothe him in the evening – recalls Alexandra Viragh.

An adaptable environment

Designer Lucie Pitt swears by modular and scalable furniture and storage accessories. Storage cubes, among others, very practical for toddlers, can always be used later in adaptable modules like IKEA, when the child grows. At a young age, she recommends convertible beds, then, when the child begins to study, a “loft” style bed, with the bunk on the upper floor and an empty space below where you can set up a desk. , storage shelves, or even a smaller bed if the room is shared. “It’s like a small apartment for children, it’s their small world. And when they’re teenagers, you can put a sofa under the loft bed, ”she suggests.

Watch Benjamin Moore’s video on Notable Dry Erase Paint

A center of interest

Lucie Pitt finally recalls an essential point: like adults, children also need a “focal point”, this element that will catch the eye when you enter a room and reflect their passions. A framed soccer t-shirt, a graffiti wallpaper mural for a board enthusiast… Even a rug, which will add personality and color, and serve as a play space. ‘he walks into the bedroom,’ she says. When children are young, we can change the themes more often, by investing less, because their tastes change quickly; around the age of 10 or 11, it is better to move towards something “more mature”, adds the designer, and choose a theme that will accompany it a little longer. “Everyone needs their space, even young children,” says Lucie Pitt. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a child happy. “

Visit the Versa Style Design website