Childrens Rooms - 10 Ideas to Transition the Nursery to a Toddler's Room

Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend and managed to have a rest and enjoy some family time.  Today I am thrilled to welcome Ursula from Room to Bloom with a fantastic guest post, helping you to make the tansition from nursery to toddler room.  I will leave you now in the very capable hands of Ursula.

Ten ideas to transition your baby’s nursery to a toddler room

Hi everyone – my name is Ursula, I’m an interior designer specialising in contemporary kids spaces over at Room to Bloom, and I’m really happy to be guest blogging for Zoe & Drew today.

One of the things I am often asked for are ideas for transitioning a nursery to a toddler room, so I thought I’d share some with you here.

In terms of practicality, the three biggest changes that you will make to your child’s bedroom between the age of 18 months and 3 years, are the transition to a big-kid bed, the addition of storage, and putting a number of safety measures in place. These include covering unused electrical outlets, putting blinds cords and trailing wires out of reach, fitting window catches and securing any freestanding shelves to the walls.

Style wise you’ll introduce elements of play that will stimulate your child’s imagination and support their development. This is the stage that your little one wants bring their favourite cartoon character into their room or develops a sudden infatuation with certain colours. If your toddler’s new found decor faves hurt your style sensibilities, there’s no need to throw your arms up in despair. There’s a few decorating tricks that can help strike a happy balance, so let’s have a look at some ideas:

1. The key to creating a room that will grow with your child – one that doesn’t need to be redecorated often – is to keep it simple and not too themed. A single colour background with grown-up yet child-friendly curtains or blinds, rugs and lighting allows you keep the backbone the same, whilst interest can be added with more age-specific accessories, such as toys, wall art and bedding.

2. Once your child has outgrown their cot, they are ready to transition to a junior bed (or a standard sized single). The key is to make their new big bed as cosy as can be with pillows and toys to create a safe nook to lay their head. Ramp up the ‘cosiness’ factor by having a bed built into a wall or as part of built-in furniture. This is a great way to make use of awkward spaces and will be a guaranteed hit with your child’s friends.

3. Children’s bedrooms are often not the largest rooms in the house yet it can be tempting to fill them with cute stuff and toys. Think hard about the things your child really needs to do in their room and stick with what’s required for that: sleeping, playing and reading. Try to leave as much floor space clear as possible for play by providing good storage for your child’s possessions.

4. If you enjoyed a rocking chair in your nursery, it’s time to move this out of the room as soon as your toddler starts to climb onto things, as it’s unstable and can trap little feet. If you have room, bring in some comfortable floor cushions, small mattresses or a bean bag for reading and building dens. 

5. Provide plenty of easily accessible storage to encourage the habit of tidying up from a young age and keep floor space free of clutter. A mix of open and closed storage works well and allows you to return parts of the room to calm at night to help your child sleep.

6. To encourage drawing and artistic expression, you could paint (part of) a wall or one side of a large piece of furniture with blackboard paint. It can look very stylish and satisfies little boys whose favourite colour is black.

7. Maps or vintage charts offer colour and educational interest at the same time, whilst peelable wall stickers allow a quick update without the need to redecorate. Toddlers love personalising their space, so use lettering to spell their name or find ways to hang their artwork as a decorative touch.

8. Use bedding to provide colour and pattern, and mix it up to add a sense of fun. A plain bed turns into a princess bed with differently patterned bedding piled on. Don’t forget little boys love a cosy nook too.

9. If your child is into a particular action hero or has another obsession, there’s no need to deck out the bedroom in themed wallpaper with matching freezes, bedding, curtains and lighting. To ensure longevity of the room, pick out a shape or colour from your little one’s objet d’amour and use this as part of the decor.

10. Love it or hate it, a lot of parents with little girls will see pink creep into their lives. Here’s three ways to do pink without the twee: bold and contemporary, zesty pops against white, grown-up powdery pink with vintage accents.

(images:  1. 101 woonideeen, mokkasin  2. isak, vt wonen, house to home, kidsfactory  3. skeppsholmen,   milk  4. anorak, serena & lily 5. kidsfactory, amsterdam cupboards, stil in redning & design,  101 woonideeen  6. onszelf, mademoiselle astuce  7.  sally conran, unknown,  mr perswall  8. mokkasin, freshhome  9. cottonbaby, le klint  10. vt wonen, a few things from my life, 3 suisses )

Happy decorating!

Ursula x

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