When do you let your kids decorate their own room?
When do you let your kids decorate their own room? That is the question I, as a designer and mom, want to know. Balancing my love for pretty interiors (and maybe a little OCD at times) and my desire to develop our kids’ creativity and independence is such a hard thing for me. Our twin girls are 5 years old and are obsessed with organizing and re-decorating. I have to grit my teeth when they re-organize my curated and styled shelves, perfectly re-styled, in their eyes, with their favorite princess books and Barbies on display. I have to laugh when I hear them in their room late at night still gabbing away with purpose, when we said goodnight hours ago, only to find that they have rearranged their room to their liking, including the art on the walls.
They’re doing EXACTLY what I did my entire childhood. I remember dreaming about furniture arrangements and waking up needing to rearrange my bedroom immediately. (This has not changed by the way, ask my husband). I was reminiscing with our girls one day about my childhood bedroom and the different ways I had it set up and mentioned that I had a rainbow painted on the wall at one point. Who remembers when Rainbow Bright was the big thing? Well my room reflected my obsession with a huge bright rainbow along with matching bedding and canopy. I cringe thinking of all the matching boldness that was my room but I’m sure I adored it when I was young.
So here’s the dilemma, do I allow our 5 year olds to dictate how they decorate their room? How much control do I give them? In the past I would make the decision and sell it to them with genuine excitement and they wouldn’t question it. That’s not flying these days, they have opinions, and ideas, and they want to do them right now. Do I allow them freedom and just close the door when I can’t handle their design choices? Or do I try to maintain some sort of control over the decisions?
I’d love your opinion on this topic; in the meantime, I’m browsing these adorable girls rooms that I’m trying to unsuccessfully sell to our 5 year olds.
