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26 Kids’ Bedroom Designs

Get design and decorating ideas for children’s rooms, from fun color palettes to clever storage solutions

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Plan for the Future

When it came to furnishing their 6-year-old son Clinton’s room, Anna Smith looked for durable pieces, like a mid-century-style nightstand and a brass bed frame that can last into his teens.

More: How to Renovate a Home on a Budget

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Embrace the Bunks

The designers thought of the bunkroom “as a 3-D world for kids, with a combination of ladders and beds and storage,” says architect Steve Hoedemaker. But homeowner Hilary Richmond confesses: “Adults like to sleep there too.” Each guest gets a cubby, night-light, and plaid camp blanket.

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Dote on the Details

A small room adjacent to the master bedroom was utilized as this couple’s closet until it came time to carve out space for their daughter, Ada Craft. The original shiplap walls and ceiling, repainted in a glossy white, lent the room a subtle character worth highlighting. So they layered on minimal accessories, such as a found spool chair that they repainted, along with a handmade mobile and, for a touch of texture, a string of bright yarn pom-poms.

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Design by the Book

Michelle McCormick created a pattern on the shelves by organizing the books according to binding color.

More: How to Decorate in a Maximalist Style

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Make Room

Instead of fleeing for the suburbs when their daughter was born, homeowners Erin Feher Montoya and her husband, Danny, tweaked their compact setup to make room for three. To double the square footage of their bedroom, Danny, a professional woodworker, built a sleeping loft accessed by a ladder and nestled their daugher's nursery underneath. The crib for 1 1⁄2-year-old Orion, also designed by Danny, has storage bins below to make the most of the space.

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Embrace Nostalgia

This vacation-home guest room, above the master bedroom, reminds homeowner Kristin Hall of the cozy cabins of her childhood summer camp. Architectural interior designer Michelle Burgess stained the birch ply panels with a soft matte stain. Playful European textiles outfit the guest bed, and a modern white desk offers a place to write letters or sketch.

More: Summer Camp–Inspired Home

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Grow Up

Gray walls make a sophisticated backdrop for Ella and Siena’s room. “They’ll thank me for it one day when they realize their room has grown up with them,” Eric Olsen says, laughing. A grid of modern animal prints keeps the room playful.

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Try Storage That Flexes

In lieu of a separate bookcase and toy box in the nursery, these modular cubes made out of maple plywood to house both. Each box is singular and can be reconfigured based on what they need to store and where it needs to be stored.

More: 15 Genius Space-Saving Room Ideas

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Find the Right Fit

These custom beds recall the efficient bunks of working ranches–but with plenty of room to spread out.

More: The New Ranch Home

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Chalk It up to Fun

In one corner of this attic bedroom, clothing-designer Jenna Wilson applied a chalkboard paint—a tried-and-true kid favorite—to the walls to encourage creativity.

More: 14 Fantastic Ideas for Finished Attics

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Know Your Audience

Jason O'Dell sorted through more than 100 bunk bed options for the kids' room before dreaming up his own built-in design. The double bunk beds, constructed of plywood, include a middle console ideal for toys or an iPad and also feature a smart pair of inset, square cup holders. A white powder coated steel rail and ladder ensure the kids can get away with a little monkey business.

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Up the Eco Factor

This eco-conscious room uses sustainable resources like no-VOC wall paint and organic cotton bedding to create a healthy place for kids to play. In terms of decorating, an eco-friendly design concept should withstand the trends of time, so that rooms don’t have to be redone as styles change and children grow. In this girl’s room, the palette is neutral, though punches of color appear in transient accessories like the rug and a stuffed animal.

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Craft a Clubhouse

Adhesive cork squares allow for changeable wall displays, while the round table and chairs are easy to move for games or other activities.

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Use Your Own Heirlooms

To decorate with your own heirlooms, be inventive. Here, a homeowner updated the dresser she used as a kid for her own children’s room by updating the handles with yellow spray paint.

More: Decorating with family finds

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Be Bold with Color

This girl's bedroom is a cheerful orange—a happy hue on rainy days.

More: 16 smart strategies for small-home décor

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Go for Unplugged Fun

If limiting children’s time on electronic devices is a priority, make analog toys and activities take center stage in their room’s look. In this boys’ room, stacks of books and toys like marble runs and wooden cars line the shelves, adding color and excitement.

More: Tour an unplugged home

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Add Pops of Brightness

The children’s room has its own bathroom and, in keeping with the overall feeling of the home, tons of natural light. The neutral palette allows for bright pops while maintaining the home’s clean, modern style. We built color-blocked cube shelving as an easy storage solution for toys and books.

More: Tour the Breezehouse, our prefab Idea Home

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Make Wallpaper the Centerpiece

In this girl's bedroom, playful wallpaper graces a single wall—a nice technique for a small space.

More: 16 smart strategies for small-home décor

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Personalize the Look

For kids’ changing tastes, inexpensive style is the way to go. In this teen boy’s room, the album headboard is made of plywood, plexiglass, and vintage album covers found at a recycled books store. The window shade is from Ikea, dressed up with vinyl decals from BLIK Surface Graphics. Customization tip: The plexiglass face on the album headboard can easily be removed to change the album art or insert photos or fabric.

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Think Outside the Box

In need of a space-saving sleep solution, but don’t fancy the idea of a bunk bed? Trundle beds work well for older kids and help maximize a small space.

More: 20 design tips for small bedrooms

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Curate Your Kids’ Artwork

Unite kids’ drawings as a collection by using a common color scheme and a grid of frames. Scan sketches and drawings, and then use a digital graphics program (like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop) to add color backgrounds and swap some of the dark lines for white. (You can create a similar effect with colored construction paper and pens in white and dark ink.) White Ribba frames from Ikea ($6.99 per 7- by 91/2-inch frame; ikea.com).

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Pare Down the Materials

Like having too many colors, having too many textures and finishes on the floors and other surfaces can segment a space rather than tie it together. Limiting the number of materials also helps the room feel spacious. In this kids’ room, the bamboo shades and orange vinyl love seat provide enough of a contrast while still feeling harmonious.

More: How to decorate in a modern beach style

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Add Instant Cheer

A sunny yellow paint, Benjamin Moore’s Soleil (AF-330), paired with white furnishings creates youthful cheer in this girl’s room. Collage art from Petit Collage and curtain fabric from Sunbrella add bold pops of color. White floral decals from BLIK Surface Graphics are easy to apply and remove. They allow you to add instant, affordable art to any wall with vinyl graphics.

More: A distinct interior in Menlo Park, CA

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Keep it Chic

This room is child-friendly without seeming childish. That means fun elements and colors, private nooks, and areas for kids to express themselves. Flexibility is important in decor as well as function, ensuring that a room isn’t outgrown too quickly. Young kids share a room with a pair of bunk beds for easy sleepovers. Drawers under bottom bunks provide extra storage for toys, games, and clothes.

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Go High

Let’s face it: Beds are the space hogs of any kid’s room. Reclaim that important floor space by lofting their sleep station. Once the mattress is off the floor, the framed area beneath can be a play area or reading corner for younger kids or a homework zone for older ones. (For safety’s sake, most manufacturers suggest waiting to loft a bed until the child is six to eight years old.)

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Under Your Child’s Bed

Turns out there’s a lot more than monsters hiding under your kid’s bed—there’s also plenty of unused storage space. Spotted in a tour of a beautiful 1950s home on Wit & Delight, a shallow wooden tray with wheels turns an ordinary train set into a trundle playset. To make your own, attach small casters to the bottom of a large wooden tray or bin. During playtime, your little ones can wheel it into the center of the room. When bedtime rolls around, they can simply stash it under the bed for easy cleanup. To make building a wheeled storage bin even easier, check out The Heathered Nest’s tutorial for adding casters to an IKEA basket.