MAKING A HOME Your child’s bedroom

Press, 9 August 1976, Page 12

MAKING A HOME Your child’s bedroom

By

PRUDENCE ROTHENBERG

Home is a place where members of the family can recharge their batteries, morally, physically, and spiritually. A home must provide the security that is the right and the need of every child. Children must be able to come home to share their worries and their pleasures, to bring their friends and develop their own personalities. Children like adults need a sense of possession and privacy. In most rooms of the home a child must conform to grown-up routines, but in their bedroom they should be able to relax Impressions The growing mind of a child is impressionable. Therefore your choice of furniture, fabrics, flooring, pictures and accessories is important. Consider your child’s likes and dislikes when furnishing its room. Remember that your child is an individual. What may appear attractive to you, such as humorous curtains or unusual colourings, can be quite upsetting to a child. Paint in a semi-flat enamel is the ideal finish for walls. Blackboards give so much pleasure to children of all ages. Even teenagers can

draw dress designs or plans for model aircraft on them. Paint a dado in a special point on one wall. This will make an excellent blackboard, and a damp cloth is all that is required for cleaning it. Curtains should be chosen carefully in fabrics that can be washed. Avoid elaborate frills as they are difficult to launder. I do not advise buying expensive fabrics with a nursery design, whether it be circus clowns, trains or aircraft. A child’s tastes will alter year by year and will outgrow this kind of fabric. It is much better to have a curtain without any particular motif and add the necessary decoration with pictures. Pictures If a child’s interest is in trains buy some of the many beautiful children’s books with pictures of trains. Cut these out and mount them. Get a large old picture frame. Remove the glass and paint the back. This gives an ideal mount for pcitures, drawings from kindergarten and other children’s interests.

A peg board is useful, as toys, tennis rackets and dressmaking accessories can be hung on it.

A desk is essential from the time a child is quite small. Children become used to sitting at a desk to colour in and do thejr homework in later years. Books improve the decor of a room. Have enough shelves for study and leisure reading. A good globe in the room is educational and adds to the decor. Wardrobes A small child does not require a full-length wardrobe. Adjustable shelves can be fitted into a horizontally notched board to make an adequate place for clothes. As the child grows and requires more length in the wardrobe the shelves can be removed one by one. If rooms are to be shared, have a room divider. In one room I know an old desk with pigeon holes was used as a divider. One child had the desk. The other child’s bedhead was placed against the back of the desk. A bed lamp and shelf were attached. .This unit made a highly functional partition. Furniture When I was in Europe I saw well-designed and functional children’s furniture made in plastic. Bunks were built at angles rather than one above the other, hence it

was much easier to make up the beds. Multiples of furniture were available, such as chests, wardrobes and desks. These could be used in various groups and added to as the need arose. I am pleased to note that this type of children’s furniture is now becoming available in New Zealand.

A young boy’s bedroom I like has been decorated both aesthetically and functionally. The walls are pale blue satin-finish enamel. Natural wood flooring is almost entirely covered by a red rug. The bedspreads are black and white ticking. A large old trunk (for toys) has also been covered in the ticking.

The curtains are red to match the rug. The child’s mother has appliqued a black train with white puffs of smoke and several trucks across the curtains. The desk is white with red drawers. The built-in wardrobe and book shelves are painted the colour of the walls. It is a comfortable and an attractive room, which appeals to the child. And it will pay for itself in the peace and satisfaction gained by other members of the family in other parts of the house.