Think Colors, Not Cartoons, for a Lasting Look
Everyone has at least one friend who went for the “cartoon theme” route when decorating her children’s room or baby’s nursery. It usually ends up looking like Winnie The Poo, Tigger and the gang actually live there instead of the kid. Or perhaps you know the parent who wants to foster the child’s creativity by letting him decorate his own room. Those attempts end up looking more like a patchwork quilt than anything else. (I mean, isn’t this the same kid who wore his plaid shorts with the Hawaiian-print shirt to school that day?)
Thankfully, designers and manufacturers have come a long way in offerings that allow the parents to choose a theme that creates continuity with the rest of the house and at the same time gives the kids what they want.
The most obvious example of this is the Pottery Barn Baby, Kids and Teen line-up. By starting with a few basic color palates and simple, clean design, these websites suck you in with the possibility of creating the “whole room” or going with all of the mix-and-match opportunities. They’re also smart about the themes they offer. With the exception of the long-standing appeal of Star Wars and Dr. Seuss, none contain characters that kids can grow out of or may may go out of style. They stick to the tried and true “been around for years” concepts like surfing, cars, polka-dots, dolls, sports and nautical.
Photo Courtesy of Pottery Barn
If parents have the patience to go beyond the obvious, there are boundless great ideas out there on designer websites, home writer’s blogs and manufacturers sites. In an article posted by A. Hermitt, a freelance writer whose specialty is home and garden, she touts the following tips:
- Tone it down with neutral colors and add a punch of your kid’s favorite color
- Gray is the new black: Avoid the teen years of black paint by testing out shades of gray from silver to slate
- Plaid for playfulness, especially in fabrics
- When in doubt, look in their closets and mimic the “style” of your kid’s clothing – preppy, rugged, frilly, etc.
Renown designer and artist Aaron Christensen, who has designed for Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Posh Tots and more, suggests a resurgence of fabrics and patterns that represent different eras. For example, owls, mushrooms, and the peace sign are coming into play, but not in a “hippy” fashion. This time around it’s more of what he calls a “high style version with great quality, attention to detail and with a dash of handcrafted charm.”
He also believes that we’ll see an evolution to the next decade… and you know what that means, right? Break out the legwarmers.
Check out Christensen’s blog.
