Getting a ‘big kid’ bedroom is a rite of passage for every child. Whether you’re updating the room for their interests now they’re no longer babies, or upgrading them to a different room in the house, it’s an exciting time that involves a lot of planning.
Our (current) youngest is just about to move out of the nursery and into his ‘big boy’ bedroom, since the arrival of his baby sister is imminent. This means that he’ll have more space, but we’ll need to buy some more furniture to fill it.
I’ve reached the stage of pregnancy where anything – even minimal movement – is kind of a chore. I can’t bear the idea of thinking I’ve finished the room, only to find I’ve forgotten a lot of important things. That’s why I got myself on Pinterest and tried to make a checklist of everything that could possibly need doing, to avoid the horrifying realisation I’ve missed something important.
Decorating the ‘Big Kid’ Bedroom Checklist
Like all list-makers out there, I have included some things on my checklist that I can tick off before I even start (purely so I can feel like I’ve made progress before I’ve lifted a finger). Below is the list of all the preparation I could think of. Hopefully it’s comprehensive enough to help you too!
Get an Appropriate Bed
We were lucky enough to borrow one of those little beds for our son. It’s small and low down and would probably have lasted another year if we’d needed it to. The thing is, now he’s at big school, he needs a big boy bed so that when his friends come and play, they don’t think he’s babyish. A 3ft divan bed would fit snugly into the room we’ve got earmarked for him. It’s long, thinnish bedroom so a single divan would be perfect against one wall. It’ll last him as he grows, and look just the part when he’s got some of his new friends over.
Pick a Theme
We’re so lucky that the bedroom we’ve moving Greg into is already decorated perfectly. It’s got a feature wall that looks like he’s in space and the rest of the room is painted blue. Nothing at needs doing, even the carpet is in good nick. If we’d had to decorate ourselves, we would have probably picked space or dinosaurs (which we briefly considered). If you can’t think of a theme to stick to, then head to Pinterest yourself for some inspiration.
Think of the Storage
Keeping bedrooms tidy is an eternal battle you sign up to the minute you have children. Making it easy to keep things organised is all down to you and what you put in the room. I’m all for cube shelves with storage boxes for books and toys, and chests of drawers for clothes. Be sure to anchor anything tall or heavy to the wall for safety reasons. If you’ve got a small or irregularly shaped room, you might need to get creative with kids storage options.
Can You Hear Them?
I’ve got an asthmatic child, so I like to be able to hear every sigh, snore or cough in the night. If you’ve moved your child to another bedroom, it might be harder to hear them either in the night or when you’re downstairs. We’ve got a camera monitor which gives us some peace of mind. If he needs us he shouts us, and if he’s not well, we know about it. If the new bedroom makes it hard to communicate with your little one, it might be worth setting up a basic monitor so you can stay in touch.
*Collaborative post