Brilliant bedroom for happy kids with Dulux

When we found out we were expecting our first child one of the things we were most excited about was decorating the nursery for our little bundle of love. As both Lee and I are artistic we let our creative juices flow and designed and decorated a jungle theme nursery with the walls adorned with a hand-painted mural.

Bug loved his jungle bedroom and was sad to say goodbye to it when we moved. For a long time in our new home his bedroom was dull and very magnolia! When we found out we were expecting our second child we decided to help Bug get used to the idea of a new baby in the house and make him feel like the big boy he has beautifully grown into by decorating and revamping his room to be a fun and colourful room fit for a big brother.

So that he felt special and part of the process we decorated the bedroom with Bug’s help by getting him to help decide on the theme, colours, furniture and accessories. He loved helping create his new big boy bedroom and the experience was lots of fun and a lovely way for us to spend together for some extra special bonding time before our new addition arrived and he was no longer an only child.

Bug was over the moon with his new bedroom and proudly had to show it off to all who visited! To this day he loves the room and often talks about his decorating decisions and what DIY he did in the room. He loves spending time in his room playing, reading books and drawing which I think is in part due to the fact that he helped create the room he wanted.

The positive impact of involving kids in decor decisions - Dulux research

As we loved getting Bug to help decorate his bedroom nearly as much as he loved it and saw the positive benefits of doing so it comes as no surprise to me to find out that Dulux who recently partnered with Child Developmental Psychologist Dr. Sam Wass (seen on the Secret Lives of 4,5 and 6 year olds) found out that decorating their bedroom is more important to kids than other popular summer activities such as watching their first football match, or riding a bike.

When looking into the benefits of involving children in the decorating process Dulux’s research found out that an overwhelming majority of children value being part of decorating their rooms and whopping 92% of children surveyed said that they would spend more time in their room if they could help decorate it.

The study also noted that children found decorating with their parents a positive experience, with 65% feeling happy and 58% feeling excited at the idea of helping decorating their bedroom with their parents.

Parents of the children surveyed said that decorating together helped to increase their child’s sense of pride and ownership of their room along with giving them an opportunity for creative expression. Some parents remarked that involving their children in decorating their bedroom inspired them to keep their rooms tidier because they wanted to show it off to their friends and family.

Commenting on the research findings, expert Developmental Psychologist, Dr. Sam Wass, says -

“It’s vital to children’s development to sometimes let them be in charge for a change.

"Children typically create little things, but the bedroom is the first real, permanent thing that they can influence. Involving a child helps them to establish their own inner space and the image that they want to project to others. And for parents, having a chance to work together with their children can really help to establish a stable, respectful relationship.

“This new study by Dulux confirms this. Children, when given a chance to be in charge of their bedrooms, respond positively: they feel a sense of pride, they spend more time in their bedroom, and they become more inclined to keep it tidy to show it off to their friends. For these reasons, and more, I think it would be wonderful if more parents involved their children when decorating their bedroom".

Creative design wishes for bedroom makeovers

Children are creative little beings with impressive imaginations, allowing children to help in designing and decorating their bedrooms unleashes children’s creativity. The Dulux research found the top 10 design wishes for a bedroom are as follows - 

1. A treehouse theme

2. A slide

3. A Narnia-style wardrobe

4. Swing

5. Trap door

6. Glass ceiling

7. A stage

8. Jungle

9. Space rocket

10. Pirate ship

Kids’ Bedroom Summer Workbook

To help parents bring their children’s imaginations alive and turn them into a dream bedroom as well as inspire children Dulux has created a Kids’ Bedroom Summer Workbook. The workbook is designed to help guide children through their bedroom project from start to finish with sections such as favourite things, inspiration board, room colours and shopping list.

Six on trend kids bedroom themes

Dulux has developed six easy to achieve bedroom looks to help parents create a fun and exciting space for their child. The bedroom themes include Space, Sport, Jungle, Circus, Storybook and Superhero. You can explore each trend in detail at on the Brilliant bedrooms for happy kids page on Dulux.co.uk

As Bug loves Superheroes we love the Superhero bedroom.

With Jelly Bean already showing a true love of animals - he adores all animals and gets super excited when we visit the zoo and farm animals at Folly Farm - I am tempted to follow the Jungle bedroom design for his room and enlist his big brother’s help when doing so.

Helpful guides and video tutorials

If decorating your child’s bedroom seems a bit daunting and the themes look impressive but too hard to recreate don’t fear Dulux have lots of helpful guides and advice to help you through the process. To help you create brilliant bedrooms for happy kids Dulux have produced how-to guides on each of the six bedroom design themes above along with helpful decorating advice so you can create the bedroom of your child’s imagination with ease.  Dulux has also created a range of fun YouTube videos to inspire parents and children.

Dulux’s Endurance+

This range is the perfect paint for a kid’s bedroom makeover – it’s 20 times stronger than normal emulsion, so when you’re tackling sticky fingers and mucky paws (inevitable with most kids) it’s a great solution, allowing you to wipe away the stain and not the paint underneath, meaning your walls stay as fresh as the day you painted them!

So if your child’s bedroom is in need of a makeover get your child involved in the process to allow them to have a dream bedroom that they are proud of creating with your help. Download the Kids’ Bedroom Summer Workbook to get your children started on designing their dream bedroom and help them learn the process of decorating a room. For design inspiration and helpful guides remember to check out the brilliant bedroom for happy kids Dulux page where you can also find out more about the research.

* Post in collaboration with Dulux *