Jan 9, 2012 1:03 PM
With children’s bedrooms—arguably more than any other room in the house—it is startlingly simple to fall into traps when it comes to design, furniture selection and motif.
Recently, Residence caught up with a few East End designers—husband-and-wife team Jennifer Mabley and Austin Handler of Mabley Handler Interior Design in Water Mill, and Sag Harbor-based Betsy Nichol of E.N. Interiors—to learn the do’s and don’ts behind the definitive children’s bedroom.
Trap number one, when it comes to furnishing a children’s bedroom, is buying everything in the picture, Mr. Handler said.
“A room that looks great in a catalogue looks great in a catalogue,” he said during a conference call with his wife. “But in real life, it doesn’t feel like it has a personality. It makes a room look generic and doesn’t give it much personality. It’s important to infuse your personality, but more importantly, the kid’s personality, into the room.”
To avoid this common mistake, Mr. Handler suggests mixing and matching—but not immediately after bringing the baby home from the hospital. A child’s bedroom should evolve and gain personality as the baby develops, he said.
But starting out, there are undeniable must-haves, like a bed. For a nursery, the Water Mill designers suggest investing in a crib that can be converted into a toddler bed. They run from $400 to $1,000, and the conversion kit usually costs a couple hundred dollars, they said.
Oftentimes, the cribs are matched up in collections that also include a dresser, changing table and storage for clothes, diapers and supplies, they said, like those by Pottery Barn Kids and Restoration Hardware Baby & Child, as well as the store ducduc in Manhattan, which offers styles with a more modern and funkier edge.
But the key is purchasing a set that will evolve with the room over a number of years and also be appropriate for the child’s age.
Another piece that can move with the room is a comfortable upholstered chair, preferably one that rocks, Ms. Mabley said. She likes disguised gliders by The Land of Nod. They range from $800 to $1,200.
“Gliders have gotten a bad name in the past because many of them
look so generic and don’t have a ton of style,” she said. “I suggest buying a very comfortable reading chair scaled to the child’s room. Read there, nurse there, whatever you need to do, in a fabric that’s going to go with the look of the room. It’s a good investment that keeps on going.”
The room should be as simple and worry-free as possible, Ms. Mabley said. Stay away from standing lamps and small pieces of furniture that children could pull over as they’re learning to walk. Build a low, wide bookshelf rather than a tall, stacked one for books and trinkets. Buy shades over curtains, and make sure they don’t have loose cords in the back that a baby could get tangled in.
As much as the bedroom is for the child, it is also for the parents, particularly in the infant stage, the couple pointed out. Install wall-to-wall carpeting to avoid cold areas on the floor, both for barefoot adults and crawling children. Use low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint and keep neutral, calm color schemes on the walls and furniture to create a soothing atmosphere, they said.
“So much change is happening. When you go into that room and everything feels soft and easy on the eyes, and there’s comfortable, cushy places to sit with the baby, that’s what makes a relaxing environment for all of the parties involved,” Mr. Handler said. “As the child’s personality develops, pull from that and make more of a statement in the room.”
As a toddler grows into a young child, it’s time to invest in a twin- or full-sized bed with a trundle or storage space underneath, Ms. Mabley said, as well as a larger dresser. The new bed can cost anywhere from $400 to $1,000, she reported.
Make sure the mattress is correctly scaled to the bed frame, she said, especially with bunk beds. If the mattress is too thick, it will push the child up too high and negate the railing system, her husband pointed out.
“This furniture, if you play your cards right, will last until the child’s early teens,” she said. “Don’t buy something so subjective that within three years, it’s too babyish.”
Children, as they get older, may want to change the color of their room or furniture, Ms. Nichol said. But she emphasized that a child should not have free rein.
“The design of a child or teen’s room should be compatible with the rest of the home’s design, since the child is part of the larger family unit and the entire home expresses the family’s values,” she said during a telephone interview. “Say a child says they want a purple room, you would not paint the furniture purple. Put the purple in the accents, in the artwork and flooring. If you buy purple furniture, the child could get tired of it.”
