Written by Ciara Eloise.
I adore designing children’s bedrooms.
A child’s room can be designed with a lot more slack in the reins of imagination. However- we design homes; Real homes that normal, everyday people like you or I, have to live in. While we love to create novelty spaces, we are aware that the space needs to be able to grow with you, your child and your family in mind so it needs to be tasteful & should stand the test of time. Additionally, each conscious design should add value to your home.
But how will my child grow in to their space?
One of our pillars of design is to design for longevity. With this in mind, we try not to adopt trends too much in to our designs. When designing for a newborn baby’s bedrooms or nurseries, we try to give the “baby pieces” a lifespan of about 7 years, while making sure that the bigger investments in the room stand the test of time.
Examples of “baby pieces” are; bunting; stylised night lights; bed throws or blankets; framed prints, etc. These are smaller pieces with small price tags that can be popped into a storage box & kept for your next child or passed on to a friend. Larger investment pieces in my opinion include window dressings, flooring, larger pieces of furniture & wallpaper. You don’t really want to change these regularly so they need to be considered & lasting as part of the overall design.
When we design rooms for children we try to inject imagination to the design without making it too babyish or childish. We often find that the strongest theme for a child’s room that both parent & child can agree on is animals. We as humans have an inherent nature to want to admire, love & protect the animals around us & father afield. Children feel that they understand animals & that animals understand them. This theme can make a brilliant starting point. Other times it may be a colour palette that the family is drawn to. Many love the theme of travel. Sometimes the entire design is dictated by one heirloom or one piece of art which sets the tone for the room.
Some of our most liked wallpapers are shared here on this page. Just to give some examples, we’ve split the themes between Travel & Adventure; Animals; Ocean/Sea & Underwater; & Monochrome.
Travel & Adventure
Let’s start with a real feature wallpaper! Andrew Martin’s “Constantinople” wallpaper mural is possibly one of the most thrilling papers out there for children’s (& adult’s) spaces. A rich, oversized map to undiscovered places, this will satisfy the curiosities of adventurous little minds as well as grab the attention of older children & adults who love the fantasy genre or who love to travel. The mural is strong so most of the other pieces in the room would be kept simple enough. Window dressings could reference the reds or greens in the mural or you could keep to natural linens or washed out woven fabrics, which would be my own preference. This wallpaper would carry through from newborn right through to adulthood; what sets the tone for the age group is the furnishings & accessories. Available to order from our studio.
For homeowners wanting to stick to the theme of travel & adventure, check out Cole & Son’s “Macchine Volanti” (flying machines) design. With a backdrop of little clouds (read more on “Nuvolette” below) featuring a wide span of sky, filled with hot air balloons, vintage blimps, floating ships & even floating whales. Available in four colourways, soot/snow is shown here. Oh, the places you’ll go!
Animals
A firm favourite in the animal theme for nurseries & children’s rooms is Andrew Martin’s “Ark” wallpaper. This wallpaper comes in three safe, timeless & elegant colour-ways; Sand, Parchment & Cloud. The design is gender neutral, slightly vintage in style & features African animals of varying shapes & sizes. The design is inspired by the exhibits at the Natural History Museum & is a lasting design that children & adults alike will appreciate for generations to come. In the above image you can see that Alexander James Interiors have kept this nursery design monochromatic in colour so it will suit either gender baby. Later as the child grows, they can introduce warm colours if they wish. Available to order from our studio.
Also featured is Cole & Son’s “Zambezi” wallpaper. This design features a small fleet of boats on the Zambezi river, which are all captained by African wild animals. Available in two colourways & on an extra wide roll, the wallpaper displays softly coloured zebras monkeys, elephants, hyenas, crocodiles & flamingos.
The best part about this wallpaper is that the artists were inspired by “Operation Noah”, which was a 1960’s mission led by people in boats to save drowning animals when the Zambezi river flooded. How heartwarming- A design with an actual story of human/animal kindness behind it.
Ocean / Sea / Underwater
Let’s simplify the theme a little & introduce Borastapeter’s “Whales” wallpaper. This wallpaper shows the softest blue backdrop with gentle chalky grey coloured whales, swimming serenely through their underwater world, leaving behind them tiny bubbles of air. Inducing a relaxing environment, this wallpaper will be the perfect backdrop for your growing child to sleep & play. Available in blue (shown) & grey, either can be used for a girl’s or boy’s nursery. The gender neutral colourways mean that if you need to move a younger sibling in to their room in a couple of years, you can do so with no unnecessary stress or cost. Their wallpaper is certified sustainable & it features “Easy-Up” technology which means it’s non woven & you can apply the adhesive directly to the wall. Easy Peasy. Available to order from our studio.
Check out Borastapeter’s “Sailboats”, shown above. Available in dark blue, light blue & grey, this sets the perfect backdrop to a child’s ocean themed bedroom. Perhaps you live in a seaside home & you would like to bring the coastal views & vibes indoors. The sailboats show their crew racing across choppy seas, under the clouds & flying seagulls.
Monochrome
What’s simpler than black & white? This featured monochrome wallpaper is called “Hieroglyph” & is designed by mother & daughter duo, Missprint. It’s quirky, it’s young, it’s cool & its a little scandi-meets-aztec inspired. It’s for the more minimal home & would be perfect with textured layers throughout the room, whether it’s for baby or young teenage girl or boy, or even adult spaces. The best thing about black & white is that the colour combo choices are virtually endless so you can mix things up a little around the room as the child grows. Available to order from our studio.
Cole & Son produce some of the most whimsical & imaginative wallpapers I’ve had the pleasure of putting forward on projects. A popular wallpaper is “Nuvolette”. Nuvolette (meaning little clouds) is a smaller version of the large mural “Nuvole” & is one of the most enduring designs from the Cole & Son Fornasetti ranges. There may be a storm brewing but this paper evokes a sense of calm with its paler colour palette, gentle rolling clouds & etched appearance. It comes in several colour-ways but all are neutral so they make the perfect backdrop for girls’ or boys’ rooms. Available to order from our studio.
All wallpapers featured today may be ordered from our studio. To place an order, find out about costs or quantities or to order a free sample cutting today, contact Ciara Eloise.
Bonus: For more tips & helpful hints on designing nurseries & children’s bedrooms, check out a blog post I wrote in 2016 here.