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
