Designing Children’s Rooms to Grow With Them

I have always loved the idea of designing rooms for children that feel joyful, imaginative and full of personality, without necessarily looking like a children's room.

Good design is an investment, of course, but I think there is something more important behind it. We are invested in our children. We want to create spaces where they feel safe and happy, where they can play, dream, read, make things, retreat and grow. Colour, texture and pattern can all play a part in creating that feeling.

And while some things in a child's room are naturally temporary, there are pieces that can stay with them for much longer.

A favourite fabric on a pair of curtains. A beautiful chair. A stripe on a headboard. A piece of art that has been there for as long as they can remember.

These are the things that can quietly become part of a child's story.

Children's design doesn't have to be childish

I don't think a room needs to become more grown-up simply because the person living in it is getting older.

There is nothing wrong with a room full of colour and fun, but I also love patterns and colours that leave a little room for interpretation. A star doesn't have to mean nursery. A stripe doesn't have to mean traditional. Pink doesn't have to mean little girl.

Sometimes it is the combination of colour, pattern, texture and the things around them that gives a room its character.

The idea is not to create a room that never changes. Quite the opposite. It is to create a room with enough personality that it can change around the child rather than needing to be completely replaced as they grow.

Here are three schemes that explore that idea.

Ensueño in Olive Green

Ensueño was inspired by childhood, but Olive Green gives the design a quieter, more grown-up quality.

The pattern has stars, small details and geometric layout, but there is something calm about the way they are arranged. The olive green ground takes away any sense that this is a pattern that belongs only in a young child's room.

I particularly love it as curtains.

The linen and cotton fabric has a lovely strength and a canvas-like character, which works beautifully with the olive green. There is something slightly boyish about the combination, but I don't think that makes it limited to boys. It feels relaxed, graphic and timeless.

For this scheme, I paired Ensueño with four Little Greene colours: Lead White, a sophisticated neutral; Olive Colour, a deep green that picks up the stars and dots; Sage Green, because there is always room for another green; and Heat, which adds just the right amount of punch.

I added Rayure in Lemon as a stripe for a little extra energy. I can imagine it as a headboard, on cushions or used in another small upholstered detail.

And then there is the artwork: Braintree Station by Edward Bawden.

The train and station give the scheme a wonderfully boyish quality, but the print itself doesn't need to belong to one particular age. It could be enjoyed by a six-year-old, a sixteen-year-old or, for that matter, someone who is 106.

That is what I love about bringing different kinds of pattern and art together. They don't have to match. They simply need to belong together.

 

Ensueño in Twilight

The same design takes on a completely different character in Twilight.

Here I have used Ensueño to cover a softly curved, modern armchair. It would be equally easy to imagine this shape as a headboard, which is part of the reason I chose it.

I love furniture with a simple silhouette when working with pattern. The shape gives the fabric space to be seen, while the pattern brings warmth and personality to an otherwise simple piece.

Rayure in Lemon appears again, this time adding a little spark against the darker palette. Stripes are always a useful companion to pattern: they bring rhythm without competing for attention.

Behind it, a chunky navy linen and a dark red rug introduce more texture and depth.

The paint palette comes from Mylands: Boathouse and Walpole bring soft, watery blues; Pure White gives the eye somewhere to rest; and Verdure Yellow introduces a gentle mustard warmth.

And because there is always room for art, particularly in a child's room, I added For the Zoo, book to Regent's Park by Charles Paine from 1921.

The bold graphic quality of the vintage poster works surprisingly well with the softer colours and patterns around it. It makes the room feel eclectic and collected rather than overly coordinated.

That is something I particularly like in children's rooms. They don't need to look as though everything was bought at the same time.

A favourite piece of art, an old chair, a stripe, a new cushion or something collected along the way can all find a place.

 

Coco in Pink on White

The third scheme takes the idea somewhere completely different.

Coco in Pink on White is a softer, more obviously pretty colourway, but it doesn't have to become overly sweet.

Here I have left the fabric simply draped. It could be a curtain, but it could just as easily become upholstery, cushions or another element in the room. And because Coco is also available as wallpaper, the same design can be used in a completely different way.

I paired it with Rayure in Ocean as a rectangular cushion.

The blue stripe immediately takes some of the pinkness out of the scheme and gives it a more sophisticated balance. It is a small example of how a single contrasting colour can completely change the feeling of a room.

The paint palette is from Edward Bulmer: the new Blossom is fresh and crisp; Hector is one of those wonderfully useful colours that sits somewhere between grey and beige without really being either; and Celadon and Welmish Blue bring in that beautiful meeting point between blue and green.

The result is colourful and feminine, but not overly precious.

And, importantly, it doesn't feel as though it belongs to only one particular age.

 

Let the room change with the child

Perhaps the most important thing is that these rooms don't need to remain exactly as they are.

A child might start with a room filled with favourite toys, books and little treasures. A few years later, those things will change. The bedding might change. The artwork might change. The colours around the room might become deeper or quieter. A small chair might become a reading chair, and a play area might become a place for music, studying or simply being alone.

But the curtains can stay.

The wallpaper can stay.

The headboard can stay.

The fabric that has been part of the room for years can become part of the memories attached to it.

This is why I think it is worth choosing children's fabrics and wallpapers with a little longevity in mind. Not because everything needs to be sensible or practical—far from it—but because joyful design doesn't have to have an expiry date.

A room can be playful and still feel beautiful. It can be colourful without being overwhelming. It can have stars, stripes, trains, flowers and all sorts of wonderful things, while still feeling like part of the wider home.

And perhaps most importantly, it can belong to the child who lives there.

That is what I hope these schemes demonstrate. You don't have to choose between a room that makes a child happy and a room that will grow with them.

With the right pattern, colour and a few things that can evolve over time, you can have both.

Ensueño, Rayure and Coco are available as fabrics and wallpapers in a range of colourways. Samples are available directly from Lizzet Frausto or through selected showrooms.