Kids Bedroom Ideas?  Is it a battle every weekend with casualties on both sides?  A quick trawl of the experts on child rearing shows they often agree on the following points:

1. Whose bedroom is it anyway?

Involve your child in planning their bedroom from an early age.  Neutral furniture will allow for changing accessories as they develop and fashions change.  Their ‘ownership’ of the space is important.

Allow them to choose the pictures and ’emblems’ that they put up and keep, which reinforce this sense.

2. Kids Bedroom Ideas: Design with them in Mind..

Toys need homes, be it in hammocks, tubs, cupboards..

As do clothes and laundry.  Features such as raised beds or beds with drawers and storage tubs can be helpful.  Quick google will generate fantastic ideas.

Now the room should be easy to clean and tidy.

Grandad’s hot tip for Kid’s Bedroom ideas:

David Attenborough famously defends a child’s need to collect as a way of learning about life.  Our son loves his sectioned wooden box turned sideways for display and storage.   (you may like our blog on how to store collections)

Fossils and Momentos in Sectioned Box

 3. Be realistic.

Nothing succeeds like success!

4. Where can you compromise?

Decide what kids bedroom ideas you can live with – and not.  This will form the basis of the tidying routine.   Can you live with certain things as long as they clear up before Granny comes to stay?

5. Point Tidying Routine:

Here’s one we came up with earlier…

• Daily:  make the bed and put laundry in the dirty clothes bin
• Weekly: Dust and Vacuum
• Put away clean clothes and toys (negotiate locally!)

Granny’s hot tip:  Remember they need to develop self-reliance and learn about health, safety and hygiene gradually for adult life.  Start early.  And not just with their bedroom, they can share the chores elsewhere.  Rewards of pocket money and ‘choosing time’ can be useful.

6. Help with Clear-Outs:

How often do you want to clear out clothes and toys and donate to the charity shop? Help and rewards work well.  10 things going out, 1 coming in?

7. What sort of Role Model are You?

Enough said?

8. Be prepared to lend an age-appropriate hand.

Remember that wail of despair from a teenager may say ‘please spend 1:1 time with me and help me out here’.   You can always negotiate an agreement.

9.  What to do when agreements are broken:

A bit like a Pre-Nup, decide with them in the beginning what will happen (on each side?) if agreements are broken.   Now all you have to do is remind them.

It goes like this:  ‘Unfortunately we agreed that…… Now the agreement is broken this means I will have to (withold pocket money until remedied?)

This must be fair, consistent and clearly agreed in advance and this choice of wording will remind them it is a fair cop!

10.  Kids Bedroom Ideas:  Shut the Door and Don’t worry!

As long as you are reasonable most of the time, your child is likely to grow up into a reasonable, functioning adult too.  What was your bedroom like at 13?

And if all else fails – you can always keep calm and go shopping 😉 Here’s our home page – where you can also see our other blogs – many of them about family activities.

Main Picture Credit: www.kidspot.com.au

Want more?  Another great blog on the subject is:

Chrissy Halton writing in Organise My House .

Thank you for inspiration!!   Want some shopping therapy now ….?  Click to browse.  Enjoy!