Bright Creative Renter Friendly Kids Room Decor
I'm hoping today's post will fill you with inspiration if you're looking for some creative renter friendly ideas for kids rooms. Given that it's newly decorated and I haven't as yet shown you the reveal, here's the kids room which is shared by my five year old son and two year old daughter. It's ok, I asked their permission and they were totally fine with me sharing it.In my usual fashion, it's taken me months to get this room finished! I've had some of the decor in my possession for almost three years since moving here so typically some items have been discontinued and I don't actually have any before shots, but if I tell you 'Magnolia' walls, grey carpet and not much else, you get the gist!The biggest stumbling block in putting their room together has been the standard restrictions of living in a rented property. There are the things we definitely can't change like the flooring or anything structural, so we focused on what we could. Luckily our landlord is pretty hands-off and we're allowed to put screws into the walls and paint, so I was more or less free to create a room that was bright and colourful (for once) without too many stumbling blocks.Here are some useful tips to get you started...
Be Clever With Colour
We're lucky in that this room gets a lot of light during the day, so I started with a clean base of white on which to build up the colour. If you're able to use coloured paints on the wall, think beyond the fully painted block wall and introduce shape instead. Using Frog Tape, I marked out and taped the angle before applying the paint with a roller in two coats. In doing this I've zoned the bedroom without any physical dividers - see how the angled touch of soft green on the wall cleverly separates my daughter's side from my son's?As a temporary alternative, try hanging colourful garlands like these by Engel or think about using wall hooks - a functional piece for hanging up clothes and other bits and pieces that look fun too. I've installed five matt coloured porcelain wall hooks made by Danish ceramicist Anne Black, in fact I loved the green design so much that it inspired the accent colour for the whole room.
Customize + DIY
Choose pieces of furniture that you can customise with a key colour or pattern to hold the look together. I love the raw plywood look, so plumped for two IKEA Rast chests of drawers that I painted with a black trim and simple design on one drawer. Pinterest has tonnes of Rast drawer tutorials if you're stuck for inspiration too.The rag rug was a brilliant find (I'll tell you where from next) but if you wanted to create something similar, try stitching three inexpensive runner rugs together. A large rug or collection of several layered up will break up any boring carpet - I love the shots of woven orange from the rug that are picked out in the organic cotton bedding by Lulu & Nat, my daughter loves the neon bunny rabbits!
Shop Savvy Accessories
The accessories are really what makes a room if you're limited with what you can do with it. Don't overlook charity shops when you're shopping for kids decor. The absolute star buy in this whole room is the rag rug, which was ex-Zara Home display, discovered in my local Oxfam in Rochester, was £200.00 and I got it for £20. And the little black and white footstool by my daughter's cot bed, which I think is a handmade piece was just £10. Not bad eh?
No need to say that they both absolutely love spending time in here together now, although bedtime usually take hours as they're far too excited to sleep!Looking for more kids room decor ideas? Try my Pinterest board which helped inspire this look. And I'd love to hear your thoughts, particularly if you're renting too and found this helpful?Shop The Look:Wall paint: 'Swan Dance', Valspar | Wall prints: Cat by Michelle Carslund from Mini-Mi Rochester, Tipi and Dreamcatcher poster by Wild Boys & Girls | Storage: Rast chest of drawers, IKEA, Book shelves (spice racks) , IKEA | Wall chart: Corby Tindersticks, Amara | Superliving DK Nesting Dolls bird family, The Kid Who | Metal Bed: Livy Home at Tesco Direct | Bedding: Black and white grid bedding, IKEA |