The Ultimate Guide For Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom

Styling shared kids bedroom cam be a challenge. It’s hard enough putting the perfect room together for a single child let alone trying to coordinate a shared kids room with different ages/sex/likes in one space!! But as with anything in life, break down the big task into little tasks and outsource as much as you can – no, no, no. Don’t outsource, but do break it down.

With any space you decorate there are some fundamentals that need to be decided before you can move on. Grab a pen, paper (or two), measuring tape and lets get scribbling and jotting. (Also goes well with a vino…. But technically that’s not a designing fundamental)

In short here are the things we will cover in the guide for creating a shared kids bedroom

Who are you deigning for and what do they need?
What is your ideal style of the room?
Plan the lay out of the room
Decide on 3-5 colours for the room
Choosing furniture for the shared room
Choose the décor and room accessories for the room

1 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom – Who are you design it for and what do they need?

Grab a pen and start jotting down some answers to the below. This is where you decide on needs versus wants as well as realistic view of what you physically have to work with.

Who are you designing for? What do they love, what makes their little heart skip a beat? What are their favourite colours?

image source: loomwell

What needs to go into the room – is it beds, bedside table/a, drawers, desk/s and play area or just beds, bedside table/s, drawers? How far off are the kids from needing desks and will there be room? Focus on the needs not the wants at this stage.

The size of the room will determine a lot – how many beds, the kinds of beds – will you have standalone beds or bunks? Keep in mind some basic sizes: A single bed and frame is about W103 cm x L205cm, King single W118cm x L220cm; a cot is L163cmxW75cm Obviously the frames can differ but this is a good starting point until you choose yours.

image source: style curator

2 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom – Find your style

Three approaches you can take for a shared kids room:

SAME SAME – the same beds, the same coloured linens, same desks, chairs and a uniform or single play area

image source: project nursery, ignant

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT – similar beds, maybe even the same bed head but different colours; complimentary coloured linens; individual decorated parts of the room matching the individual child’s likes and need. This is my favourite look in a shared room – there is some common style with complimentary colours but is still has the individual kids likes/needs in their respective areas of the room. add pinterest images

OPPOSITES ATTRACT - Complimentary but different colours, beds, art work, play area… A more eclectic look. add Pinterest images

Regarding the styling of the room, you also need to have a think about what style you have throughout the house and do you want this to follow through in the kids or do you want something different? What is the style you are going with in this shared bedroom? hamptons, boho, ecelctics, scani, modern etc.. What are the colours, patterns, materials and basic décor that define this style?

Before getting into the nuts and bolts, take a minute on Instagram, in your fave mags and Pinterest to find some inspiration, and start to create your own mood board. Don’t go too far though, the only thing you need to do at this stage is just find some rooms that you like, that match your notes from #1.

You will keep building on your mood board as you go through the room decisions. If you start adding everything you like it will just end up confusing you.

3 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom - Plan the lay out of the room

Measure the room and put it on paper or computer so that you can play around with furniture options before you get it into the room. There are also some online options if you prefer.
Make sure that you add, windows, door/s, closets, power points, add the direction that doors open
Use your plan as the base for different furniture options as you move through the furniture decisions.

The Ultimate Guide For Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom

4 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom – Make your Colour Choices

You need to choose 3-5 colours that will be your direction. You need consider the colour/s are the things that are not changing -i.e. floor colour and maybe wall colour. If they are not neutral then you need to include them into your colour considerations. Are they warm or cool colours?

Colour 1 will be your main colour, this is the colour that is dominant in the room and may well be the wall colour. Colour 2 will the second most dominant and then and other 2-3 for accents.
Add your colours – base colours (ie walls and floors), main colour/s and accent colours – to your mood board.

The colours you choose are going to determine your furniture, linen and accessory décor decisions.

If you want to mix your colours but are not confident with colours have a look at Camomile London and Numero 74 – whose colours are very harmonious but different. If you want to get a lesson in combining all sorts of colours then have a look at Kip & Co. They use the most amazing colours that I would never have the guts to match but when they do it its amazing. Very different approaches but two ways to mix colours in a room.

A colour wheel is a great place to have a look as well. Check out Pinterest for lots of colour inspiration.

image source: emily peterson studio

5 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom - Choose the Furniture

Unless you are going for a very specific look, keep furniture, i.e. long term, expensive buys as simple as possible with as much scope for growth with your child as possible.

Have you made the important decisions – bunk or individual beds? What’s is the max size frame/s that will fit?

How many bed side tables can fit? Do you go 1 or 2? Shared or individual? What is the ideal size?

Do you need to fit one or two sets of drawers into the room? What is the ideal size?

Do you need desks? How many? Built in or stand alone? What is the ideal size?

You can start adding furniture options to your mood board. Check measurement s (and recheck). You are looking at style and fit.

6 Creating A Shared Kids Bedroom - Make the Room Pop with the Décor

If you have decided on neutral floors and walls and have fairly neutral furniture then the décor is where the personality of the room will come to life. And honestly décor is a lot easier to change than furniture and floors so its an easy way to define the rooms.

The direction you take with décor will depend on how you answered: 1) Who are you designing for? What do they love, what makes their little heart skip a beat? 2) What is the style (and colour) you are going with in this shared bedroom?

Where can you add personality: