Kids bedrooms on a budget

From the Resene decorating blog

Redecorating your children’s bedrooms can seem financially daunting, but they don’t need to be.

On the one hand, kids’ bedrooms offer a great opportunity to be playful, colourful and imaginative in your design choices, but you might also be hesitant to throw money into an elaborate look when what your children need or want from their bedrooms can change quickly, as they grow.

What they need in their bedroom as infants, will change by the time they’re toddlers, and again by the time they’re at school, and again as they grow to be tweens and teens. The good news is with some well thought-out hacks you can create an engaging, personalised space for your kids without spending a lot of money.

Focus on the foundations

If you have used a neutral wall colour throughout your house, like popular Resene Alabaster or beige-toned Resene Half Fossil you may want to keep it on the walls of your kids’ bedrooms. It can be a cheaper option if only because you’ve probably already got the paint on hand and, of course, neutral walls are versatile when it comes to adapting to the changing needs of your children.

That doesn’t mean you can’t add colour and design features to personalise the neutral foundations of the room.

A simple drop of wallpaper framed, or hung over a mounted canvas, can immediately set the foundations for a colourful or even themed kid-friendly space. The classic camouflage patterns of Resene Wallpaper Collection 3694-06 sets the scene for a fun action or back to nature theme or try the butterflies of Resene Wallpaper Collection 93634-2.

As your children become teens these removable design features can be updated for more grown-up prints like the MC Escher-style print of Resene Wallpaper Collection 480610 or the jewel-toned animals of Resene Wallpaper Collection 99346.

With a neutral foundation to your room you can also opt to add painted colour to your furniture, which is easy to update as your kids’ tastes change. A baby blue book shelf or bed head in Resene Dream Big can be updated to playful primary blue Resene Wet N Wild for school-aged kids, and again to the purple-blue of Resene Black Doris for teens.

Transplanting pops of colour on pots, wardrobe doors, stools, frames or even wooden bed bases, and replacing bedlinen and cushions to match, should allow you to keep evolving your kids’ spaces as they grow without having to completely reinvent and renovate them as they grow from loving dinosaurs and mermaids to music, sports and other interests.

Get creative

If you don’t have a neutral colour palette you’re trying to stick to, the world is your oyster when it comes to creating a fun, personalised kids’ space. Painting or wallpapering the walls are among the most cost-effective ways to give any room a completely new look.

If you’re worried your child’s current obsession with a particular cartoon or book character is just a passing whim, look to incorporate those things in easily update-able accessories like wall art or bedlinen.

Invest in a number of different, inexpensive picture frames that can be frequently updated to showcase their new favourite things – or their own artwork – and paint them in a range of your child’s favourite colours. If your child’s favourite colours are bright yellow, purple and orange, and you’re hesitant to go that bold on the walls, paint your frames and other small areas like drawer knobs or wall hooks in bright bursts of Resene Light Fantastic, Resene Showstopper and Resene Adrenalin. Then paint walls or even the floor in a more subtle, timeless shade like the pink-toned beige of Resene Contented.

Painting simple circles or other geometric shapes is another simple way to add bursts of favourite colour to floors, walls and even ceilings. Simply mask the shape out to get crisp lines. If you're confident in your artistic skills you could also paint your own mural, free-form or floral design.

Top tip:  Tie a piece of string (the length of your circle radius) to a pencil and attach to a drawing pin for a make-shift compass to create your circle outlines, and paint carefully using a cutting-in brush to get a clean edge.

Painting the floor or ceiling of your child’s bedroom is an unexpected way to add a bold block of colour if you want to keep your walls more neutral. There’s the tried-and-true classic option of a deep blue like Resene Ocean Waves with stars and moons in Resene FX Nightlight glow-in-the-dark paint. Alternatively try dreamy shades like Resene Abbey Road, Resene Half Pale Rose and Resene Cosmic to soothe youngsters toward sleep.

Play up the classic “the floor is lava” by painting swirling patterns on the floor in piping hot shades like Resene Hot Chile, Resene Sebedee and Resene Vesuvius with stepping stones in Resene Kia Kaha or Resene Thunderstorm.

It need not be lava. Try painting a river through the centre of the room in blue greens like Resene Calypso, Resene Boost or Resene Deep Teal – perfect for any kids going through an Avatar: The Way of Water phase!

Add space within space

One creative way to add colour to any child’s room is to create blocked out zones. Not only can you get pops of different colours but it can help bedrooms or play rooms feel larger and more dynamic.

Paint out one corner of the room, including a section of the floor and ceiling, in botanic greens like Resene Wabi Sabi or Resene Aquamarine, add some plants, painted, real or faux, to create the beginnings of a magical forest or a Tarzan-style jungle.

You can also use this colour blocking style to frame out quiet zones filled with beanbags, cushions and throws, or frame a desk and chair for a study or creative art area.

Experiment with cool paint products like Resene FX Chalkboard Paint, which can be tinted to a range of Resene colours and can be drawn on with chalk just like a blackboard or Resene FX Magnetic Magic to create memo-boards and art spaces around study and play areas.

The main things to remember when you’re making-over kid-friendly spaces is to keep the focus on creating a fun space that is creative and engaging. It doesn’t need to be designer show home perfect. Focus your budget on where you get the biggest bang for your buck. Small colour changes and accents can add immediate personality.

Top tip for affordable kids bedrooms from Resene senior architectural representative Rebecca Long:

“It’s incredible how much colour can impact your space, even in small doses. Start small and paint decorative shapes with a few Resene testpots on small pieces like pots or a shelf, and as you build your confidence, try upcycling an old dresser or painting a decorative bedhead on the wall. Small doses of colour can easily be changed or painted over in no time.”

Top tip:  Visit www.habitatbyresene.com for fun DIY projects you can work on with your kids that can add colour and fun to their bedrooms.

January 27, 2023

For help choosing colours to suit your projects, visit your local Resene ColorShop, ask a Resene Colour Expert online or book a Resene Colour Consultation.

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