A child can learn to make her (or his) house a home by having some say in how that room is decorated. Let them choose the colors, the style, and fill it with the things that make them happy.
I was twelve years old when our family moved to a new town and I had my own room for the first time. My mother allowed me to choose the colors for my space, and I chose bright yellow and orange. (It was the seventies after all! ~smile~) I found the brightest yellow bedspread you have ever seen. I decorated with butterflies, including the string art butterfly I hung over my bed. I sometimes wonder why Mom didn't close the door to my room, but she let me be.
I have tried to allow my own children the same leeway when making their rooms their own. (Fortunately, they have all had better taste than I had. Or maybe it's because they did not grow up in the seventies.) But in our country-style farmhouse, we have at different times had children's rooms decorated in everything from shabby chic to pink with a capital P to animal skulls and nutria pelts. (Yep.) And it's okay.
Children who are sharing a room may have to work a little harder to have a space that reflects their individual personalities, but it can be done. Kristin and Kati shared a room for seven years...and there is a thirteen year age difference between them! One side of the room had a Fisher Price doll house and stuffed animals and a poster with the numbers 1 to 10; the other side had a CD player and posters of contemporary Christian singers. But they had matching quilts and eyelet curtains and a bookshelf with both classics and picture books, and it worked (with an occasional request from Kristin not to buy Kati any "big toys").
Children who are sharing a room may have to work a little harder to have a space that reflects their individual personalities, but it can be done. Kristin and Kati shared a room for seven years...and there is a thirteen year age difference between them! One side of the room had a Fisher Price doll house and stuffed animals and a poster with the numbers 1 to 10; the other side had a CD player and posters of contemporary Christian singers. But they had matching quilts and eyelet curtains and a bookshelf with both classics and picture books, and it worked (with an occasional request from Kristin not to buy Kati any "big toys").
So what about you? Do you give free reign to your kids' expression in their rooms?
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We had all four of our girls in a room at one time! Our oldest girl is 13 years older than our youngest girl, as well. That was challenging but it did work for a time.
ReplyDeleteWe let them have quite a bit of say in their rooms. My oldest son wanted to paint his room black once - that was a no go - so we settled on a grey, with black accessories. It is there home, too. Not surprisingly they have strong opinions about it - and we want them to have practice making a home. I teach all of them (in time) to paint and how to pull things together.
Another great post Cheryl!
Deanna
Cheryl, I have been here a few times and have read a lot in your 31 Days Series. What a great job you have been doing with it. I wish that more people knew about it. Is it linked somewhere?
ReplyDeleteYou and I were both allowed to select our own colors and we both chose the same ones! Too funny. I am not so much a fan of orange these days, though I don't hate it. I have remained very loyal to yellow.
As for my own children...yes, they were allowed to decorate their own rooms. My daughter selected a rosebud wallpaper when she was four years old and never wanted to change it. I think she'd choose it all over again and she's much older than four. My son decorated all in black and still says it's his favorite color no matter how often his wife tells him it's not a color. Ha!
Thanks for visiting me and for giving me a head's up about the word verification. ☺ Dare I ask why you use it?
Hmmm...I still tend to stay away from large toys and space isn't even a major issue anymore. I think I am allergic to toys in general. :-) I'm also allergic to clutter.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl!
ReplyDeleteI think my Mom had a similar experience with my room... In the middle school years I had neon yellow-green-pink-orange wallpaper that would make you dizzy if you looked at it too long. Then I went into my Art Deco-blue iridescent-Sad Clown (Pierrot clowns?) phase.
Thankfully, my girls had better taste in decorating their rooms! :-D