Children, no doubt, garner the maximum attention in a household they being constantly in the focal point of their loving parents. The same principle holds good to their rooms and living spaces too, which requires special planning and detailing in terms of furnishing them up.

While planning to furnish and decorate one's children room, one's approach should be much different than what it generally would be for the rest of the home. This because, the child is going through that stage of the life when he/she is developing mentally and physically, and while the world is still a learning playground for him/her. The way they feel once inside their dreamy abodes for considerable parts of the day, means a lot in their personality development.

So, what all should the parents, architects, space designers and interior decorators must keep in their minds while planning the kids rooms?

BRICKS-n-MORTAR compiles below the 10 most valued, voted and noted criteria that must be remembered while designing interiors for children room. Take a look herein below and suggest if you have to augment the list with what you think.

1. PERSONALITY TRAITS : Know your child's personality traits and correlate his/her personality with your overall plan and sense of designing with respect to that of the entire home.
2. CHOICES & LIKINGS : Respect the child's likings and dis-likings. Every kid is different, and so is yours! Accordingly, his/her likings and dis-likings will also be different than his very own parents and siblings, let alone the rest of the world. List the observed points and if possible discuss them out with your wards.
3. AFFINITY TO COLORS, THEMES & PATTERNS : Think about which colors of the rainbow or the crayon box amazes your child's senses the most. Observe and ascertain the child's affinity to certain sets of colors, themes, patterns, etc. Is he/she extrovert and charged up thereby possibly liking the bright shades (red, dark brown, bright yellow, etc.) or a sober and introvert kid feeling more relaxed in lighter and soothing shades (sky blue, light brown, fawn, peach, etc.)
4. TALK & DISCUSS PLANS : Discuss your initial plans with your child before taking final decision on 'dressing up' your child's room. After all, whats the point if you happen to annoy them at a later stage when you actually want to surprise them with your very own individualistic choices and decisions? Thats why, its always prudent to share your plans and take the kids' opinion beforehand.
5. WHAT ABOUT GROWN UP KIDS? : In case of grown up children, allow them to select their favorite design theme from his/her imagination and/or the design books, websites or movies. Wiser people will mostly refrain from bullying their own ideas upon the teenagers. And, why not? Weren't you the same way when you were their age??
6. MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DESIGN CONCEPTS : Design your child's room with a viewpoint of making it a multi-functional room as the room shall not only be a place to sleep, but also to study, play, develop, and what not! Provided the overall space and expense budget permits, think of planning the room having a sofa-cum-bed to sleep and sit whatever the case be; a study-cum-computer table and comfortable chair to explore the world and be studious; ample storage space which can take care of your child's most of the utilities; and a few more things which you know best what your child would like to have!
7. VENTILATION & MOVEMENT SPACE : Natural light, sunlight and fresh air are those elements of the nature which bring freshness, health and happiness along with them. Plan the room in such a way that at least one ventilation opening (window, ventilator, etc.) is there in the room which breezes in fresh air and circulates positive energy vibes into the child's abode. A totally walled and closed room is perhaps a source of negative energy, and should be avoided as far as possible.
8. FURNISHINGS, MATERIAL, QUALITY : 'Men will be men'.. the cliche goes, and likewise children will always be children. No matter how sober your child is, there will be times when the furnishings will bear the brunt of their adventures, playful activities, and what not. Wisdom is to choose such material and furnishings that are easily washable and/or replaceable. The paint on the walls in all likelihood be washable emulsion type that could be rubbed of those ink stains or milk splashes.
9. SHARED SPACES FOR TWINS OR MORE : We have been discussing the things considering a one child one room concept as yet. What if the space will have to be shared by more than one child? Obviously, there's no easy answer to that. The parents must take more care into planning such spaces considering all the above points thinking of the individual and grouped personality traits. Sounds a tough nut to crack, isn't it? But, successful parents surely know the answer.. or at least the way forward to plan something good for their wards who are going to share the room.
10. TAKING CUES FROM ONE ANOTHER : Take heart in knowing and believing that no one in this world is perfect. Everyone learns from everyone, and the shared experiences are all the more rewarding, most of the parents say. So, voyage into reading more, sharing more and discussing more among your friend's circle, TV shows, internet guides, interior designers' blogs, etc. etc. etc. Enrich the experience and share with others too.

Do share with us your viewpoints and what other important points can be included in this list of 'things to remember while Designing Interiors for your Child's Room'.

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When decorating interiors, homeowners most often rely on their sense of sight to gauge how attractive a room is. Most, however, forget that there are four other senses that the human body uses and these are as important as sight. The best and most comprehensive room designs are those that are able to engage all five senses and create a space that's best experienced and not just seen.

Sight is where most homeowners and designers start decorating, mostly because it's the quickest and easiest way to judge how a room appears. There are two ways to visually engage a person - with colors and with shapes. While solid colors are the safer choice for decorating a room, colors that contrast with or complement each other make a room seem much more interesting. At the same time, mixing up shapes and playing with proportion can give a room personality and character. They're effective enough on their own, but the best visual effect comes from using shapes and colors in harmony.

Auditory senses should also be engaged by the ideal home. And while a stereo system or a television could provide sounds, none of those sounds say anything about a room. Compare that to, say, the tinkling of wind chimes hung from a window or the gurgling of a small fountain in a corner. Either of those two sounds help set the mood of the room and give the space its own ambiance.

Your sense of smell, which in itself closely relates to the sense of taste, is one of the most overlooked of all the senses. Believe it or not, the olfactory senses are some of the easiest to engage when it comes to decorating a room. A set of scented candles shall be enough to generate some interest with a visitor's nose. Add a pot of potpourri or a small pot of heated aromatherapy oils to enhance the experience and reinforce the ambiance that you want to achieve in the room. You could even combine sight and smell together with, say, a bowl of fresh ripe oranges as a centerpiece for the dining table.

Touch is a very strong sensory element and shouldn't be overlooked in your design. Your skin can sometimes pick up messages that can't be sent through any other sensory pathway, so your design should hold something interesting for the sense of touch as well. Mix up textures with curtains, pillows, various fabrics and the likes. Different materials often feel very different to the touch, so try to incorporate a whole range of materials when designing the room so that guests will be curious enough to explore your little world of textures.

Your floor, in particular, is a great place to add textures because it's most often left as an unbroken and smooth expanse of wood, tile or cement. A simple rug should solve that little issue by breaking up both the texture and the color, giving your floor a whole different look and shape. Whether you plan to use rich and plush rugs or rough ones with short threads, they add a whole new dimension to what would otherwise be a boring room.

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This is a guest post by Joe Griffith posted at BRICKS-n-MORTAR's web-group sometime back this month. This blog however does not claim to have checked the credentials and/or authenticity of the guest author or his/her submission & works. (Standard 'CC' instructions and global disclaimer applies). B-n-M readers may visit his/her/their website at their own will.

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No matter how big one's home or commercial space is, its rather common to find each and every household yearning for additional storage space in their homes and office spaces. Its perhaps an unending endeavor to search for better options so as to optimize and enhance every additional inch of usable space that could be made available for storing the household things... be it for the son's toys & games, or for little daughter's dolls & dresses. Or even for that matter of fact, for storing the enormous numbers of footwear.

Team bricks-n-mortar today would tip their valuable readers to use the staircases optimally, thereby using all the possible spaces available. Here are a few of them:

1. By making customized cupboards under the stairs' waist slab on course to its flight as well as the mid landing.

This is an easy option where the stairs are rising as straight flights (and not the spiral ones). The inclined space made available underneath the waist slab (which means the inclined support made out of steel, concrete- reinforced or plain cement concrete or wooden) is made good for storage by making cupboards of required shape and size. These cupboards can be kept open or can be made closed by suitable framework and shutters.
2. By designing a combination of Option #1 above as well as utilizing the Stair risers and treads

Somebody has rightly said that necessity is the mother of innovation (invention). When planning for more usable storage space, one can even design the risers and treads of the stairs as smaller but helpful storage spaces.
[For letting the non-technical persons understand as what risers and treads are, let us tell you that the horizontal surfaces of the steps where our feet land are called the treads; where as the vertical surfaces of these steps are called the risers]
The steps can thus be designed like drawers which can be made to slide outwards when reaching into and using the storage space.



DO YOU ALSO HAVE AN IDEA? DO SHARE WITH US.
We shall post it here on bricks-n-mortar.com with due credits to the contributors.

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[Filed under "Useful Tips'n'Bits" "home-improvement" "Interiors" "Value4Money" category(ies) By Team Bricks-n-Mortar.com]

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