SPACES FOR KIDS
For those who have children, it can be a challenge while renovating to figure out spaces that will grow along with them. The following are some of our thoughts and approaches to create kids’ spaces that feel playful, personal, and multi-functional to last them through the years.
A kids room with playful wallpaper in our Bloor West Village project.
DEDICATED PLAY AREAS
Areas for play are necessary for kids! With toys, crafts, and other hobbies, it is only realistic to allow room for your little ones to play in and to personalize. However, it is important to remember that when toys get traded in for books and computers, play spaces may need to adapt.
We think these types of spaces are best tacked onto living rooms and bedrooms. When in a living room, the play space can evolve into a homework area for parents or kids, or can end up allowing for future expansion of living room furniture. After all, this is the room where the family is all together, and so it makes sense for the play area to be a part of it as well.
One design move we like to employ is to define the play area within the living room with a rug. This helps to define different zones within the same space, which has a tendency to make any room feel larger, even when you are cramming more functions into it.
Images from Lay Baby Lay showing two sides of the same living room space.
Play area in the living room of our Ritchie Rowhouse project.
When the play spaces are part of a bedroom, the same types of design strategies can be employed – rugs, storage, display, etc. However, because bedrooms are more private spaces, these play areas can often be more informal and casual. The most important consideration for bedroom play areas is how they can eventually evolve to accommodate new functions: work areas for homework, more closet space, sports equipment storage, etc.
Image via Lowes showing the ever-popular loft bed, a space saving and multi-functional piece in many a child's room.
PERSONALIZATION
As you make choices about finishes for kids' spaces, we suggest you invest in styles that can grow along with them. Flooring and wall tile is difficult to change, so make choices that you know you can live with for at least a ten year time period. Paint and wallpaper is easier to change, but is still done less frequently.
Furniture, art, decor, are easy to replace over time and each have their own life-span depending on how they are made. You can be creative with adding colour and personality with pieces that are interchangeable - pillows, art, decor, rugs, lighting, etc. Instead of painting a chalkboard wall, consider a large format piece, like the one in the image below by Studio McGee. They created an oversized chalkboard piece that can be removed once the kids in their project have lost interest in drawing on the walls.
Image via Studio McGee
In our Ritchie Rowhouse project, we used adhesive shelf liner and cut it out into cowboy shapes to give some life to this otherwise plain dresser. Once our child outgrows this design, we can easily peel it off.
It is important to get input from your kids - if they have some say in the space, they are more likely to take pride in the final outcome. However, we find it best when parents shop for items without your kids until they narrow down the choices and make sure everything will both fit in the space, and fit the budget.
