Kids' Rooms: A Hands-On Decorating Guide - Hardcover

Kasabian, Anna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1564967719 ISBN 13: 9781564967718

Publisher: Rockport Pub, 2001

Synopsis

Kids need room to grow and rooms that grow with them. Today's parents are looking for design ideas to enliven, organize, and give identity to their children's rooms that can evolve as their child grows. Here are imaginative room designs for infants, toddlers, and kids that are fun, durable, and flexible. Each chapter offers full color photos of fresh and innovative design ideas for children's bedrooms, bathrooms, playrooms, and studies. Information on fabrics, wallpapers, wall murals and other accessories like curtains, chairs, night lights, table lamps, and rugs are all presented with information on what works for kids' rooms throughout childhood. Interviews from experts in this area of design as well as insight from actual parents and children who have created successful spaces at home are included to guide parents as they create the right decorative style and elements for their child's space.

About this title

About the Author

Anna Kasabian has 29 years of experience as a writer, editor and communications professional. She writes about interior design, food, garden crafts, home and garden preservation projects, and architecturally significant properties.

Anna's byline appears in Country Living, Cook’s Illustrated, Metropolitan Home, Country Home, Coastal Living, Home Magazine, Yankee Magazine, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardener’s Companion, Better Homes & Gardens Garden Rooms, Woman’s Day Special Interest Magazines, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, New England Travel & Life, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardener’s Companion, and Boston Elegant Wedding.

She has been featured several times on HGTV and National Public Radio’s Boston affiliate, WBUR. She has been a featured speaker at House Beautiful and the Boston Design Center’s Design Days, and The Boston Center for Adult Education. Her latest book, Kids’ Rooms, has been featured in Time Magazine, Parents, and Better Homes and Gardens.

Her new monthly column, DesignWise, An Ongoing Dialogue with Top Interior Designers will be featured on cDecor.com shortly.

Her other books include: Designing Interiors with Tile; East Coast Rooms; Dream Kitchens; Kids’ Rooms; The New Home Color Book; Modern Nostalgia; and First Impressions. Her eighth book (co-authored with Tommy Hilfiger), due Fall 2003, is entitled New England Style.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Making Rooms: Infants

The best way to develop a design plan for an infant's room is to think through the big picture of your family life. Is this room likely to be used by the same child for several years, or will it always be the new baby's room?

If your family is growing and this is the first of several children you plan to have, consider designating it the infant's room. This way, you need to decorate and furnish it only once for at least a few years. For flexibility, choose yellow as a main color, and keep decorations themed to accommodate both boys and girls.

You will spend a lot of time in your baby's room, so in planning it, take into account your activities, style of organization, and the everyday needs of babies. Infants use bedrooms mainly for sleeping and having diapers and outfits changed. You'll be going in and out of here a lot, tending to these tasks, so storage, lighting, and flooring must be carefully considered.

If possible, choose a room that is not too far from your bedroom so that late-night feedings and diaper changes can be attended to quickly without disrupting the rest of the family. Also, you'll be glad not to run down a long hail or climb stairs when you've just woken up.

In addition, if you've got the luxury of space, choose a room away from where your toddlers sleep. A new baby's fussing can be disruptive.

This chapter on infants' rooms will help you think through design options and offer tips on choosing a theme and accessorizing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rockport Pub
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1564967719
• ISBN 13: 9781564967718
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 143