Expert Advice: The Child's Room Grows With Your Child, Look for Flexible Solutions When Designing the Space

A child's room is often much more than just a room – it's a world of its own that grows and changes with the child. Liven's Creative Director Alina Kester recommends planning a children's room so that it can be easily redesigned as the child grows.

"I've learned from my own children that home is not just four walls. Once at a playground near our house, I said, 'Children, let's go home!' and got the answer: 'Mom, but we're already home.' That moment has stayed with me even when designing homes," said Alina Kester, Creative Director of Liven AS, who believes that children perceive the world more broadly than adults, which is why their spatial awareness is particularly important in children's room design.

Planning children's rooms requires flexible thinking to reconcile parents' vision with the child's wishes, says Liven's Creative Director Alina Kester. In addition to functional design and stylistic compatibility, one must also take into account the child's needs and interests, she says.

"A small child often plays on the floor and needs both space and lighting that reaches lower. That's why it makes sense to get a child a bed of appropriate size and replace it with larger models as needed. As the child grows, most activities move behind a desk or onto the bed, and the importance of floor space decreases," explained Liven's Creative Director Alina Kester.

When there are multiple small children, rooms are sometimes used according to function rather than dividing them between the children. One room can be designated for sleeping and another for playing and studying. This approach is particularly good for children who have difficulty falling asleep. When the child leaves the playroom behind in the evening and goes to the bedroom, it's easier for them to calm down and switch to sleep mode.

"In this case, it's also easier to plan furnishings and lighting – the playroom can be more colorful and bright, and games can be left unfinished in the evening to continue from the same place in the morning," said Alina Kester.

In a teenager's room, privacy and self-expression become important, so according to Alina Kester, it's worth taking the young person's own wishes into account in the design, even if they don't completely align with the parent's overall vision. The opportunity to have a say in how their room develops helps the teenager feel more ownership of the space and strengthens both the sense of home and a trusting relationship with the parent.

The appearance of a children's room is easiest to change with colors – colored walls, bedding, and accessories bring liveliness and joy to the space, while calmer tones help create a more restful mood. According to Alina Kester, when planning a children's room, one should not base it solely on furniture and colors, but start with the room's layout and lighting solutions, and only then make furnishing choices.

Tip: RGB bulbs can be added to light fixtures, which children can control from their phone and, if desired, spend time in their favorite color lighting.

"Personally, RGB-LED lighting solutions are not really my preference, but I've allowed them in children's rooms precisely so that children feel that it's their room and their decision. This solution is a cheaper and more practical way to experiment with color than, for example, painting the walls or ordering built-in furniture in their favorite color, which would be much more difficult to change if the child's wishes and preferences change," shared Liven AS's Creative Director Alina Kester.

"My simplest recommendation for lighting is dimmable ceiling lights, a proper desk lamp, and a reading or bedside lamp next to the bed. It's possible to add lights to the ceiling, move them, direct them, and adjust the light intensity – this way you can adapt the entire room's lighting solution according to the activity or furniture arrangement," said Liven AS's Creative Director Alina Kester.

"In addition, it's worth paying attention to the ease of maintenance of materials in a children's room. For walls and furniture, it's worth choosing solutions that can withstand cleaning and minor scratches. You should also prefer surfaces that can be easily cleaned or refreshed with less effort if needed," said Alina Kester.

When planning storage, it's important to remember that the amount and type of things in a child's room change rapidly over time. Alina Kester therefore recommends preferring solutions that can be adapted as needed. So drawers can be suitable for toys today and for something else later, and the height of shelves and coat racks can be adjusted as the child grows.

"Large floor-to-ceiling wardrobe doors may not be the most practical solution in a children's room. Although they look visually clean and minimalist, they are often too large and heavy for a small child and rather cumbersome for a teenager to use. It's much more sensible to divide the cabinet into separate drawers and doors so that it's easy and natural for the child to use," said Alina Kester.