childrens bedrooms

[triplets]

Can anyone give me some ideas on where to buy chidrens bedding/accessories etc for my kids rooms. The time has come to split my triplets, Rebecca is getting her own room and the two boys will share. Looking for nice ideas, especially for the boys as we want to try and give them their own space. Rebecca just wants everything pink! On a real budget too!

[emsiewill]

I agree about Ikea - you can get really cheap, but nice (ue not Barbie) bedding there. Also agree about the moans, but still go there, and still think it's great!

[SofiaAmes]

I would recommend Ikea too. They have great beds/accessories and awesome sheets. Dreams has good beds that aren't too expensive. Also, have you tried Loot. I got bunkbeds out of loot for half the price they cost new and they were as good as new. You can always get a new mattress to go with the used bed.

[batey]

BHS have reasonable bedding, a big range of mix/match plain colours which I find works well with 2 beds to cater for.

[sammac]

Tesco are advertising nice childrens bedding for 14.99 in their leaflet this month. My dd was very excited when she saw it.

[Marina]

Triplets, as a Vertbaudet customer I just got a very attractive if limited bedding/decor catalogue through the post, all for children of course. One thing I really like about French bedlinen is that it is always 100% cotton, which we prefer, but seems more colourfast than British linen. The range included accessories and fabric as well as linen.
Can also highly recommend IKEA.

[debster]

Argos actually do some quite nice childrens bedding and co-ordinated room decorations (stick on things etc) quite cheaply. Although the only thing I don't like about the bedding is the fact that it has a high polyester content in it which makes it a little bit sweaty!!

[emilys]

we're in the middle of decorating ds's room (got cowboy'd at the weekend - so v. sensitive subject) - there is a great pine bunk bed for on offer for £100 @ Home base at the moment. Would echo on Ikea for good, reasonably priced, colourful accessories. Remember if you're getting bedding there that they use different sizes (unless they have changed recently). I think that they and habitat use continental bed dimensions.

[titchy]

You could also try toys'r'us, or Boots. I think they do bedroom ranges. Or try a big store like John Lewis that would have say a wall paper border (with paint cheaper than just wallpaper), and some cheapy curtains.

Or you would do what a friend of mine did and painted a sea-scape on her ds' walls. All it is is yellow paint with a few pictures of buckets and spades and crabs pasted on, with blue paint on the top half of the walls with planes and clouds and a big smiley sun. She also found a few pieces of wood and stuck them to the wall to look liek drift wood. VERY cheap but her son has the best bedroom of all of us. and so cheap!

[Jaybee]

I agree with Ikea but you can also get some excellent bits in places like Homebase. Dulux now do 'kids paint' and have a brochure full of ideas for colours etc. I have always avoided character type bedding/curtains etc as kids get bored with them after a few months and want new stuff.
Ideas for girls - pink/lilac/pale lemon - plain lilac quilt cover and pillow case, pale pink sheet and second pillow case - gather pink voile on net curtain wire around bottom of bed (brilliant for pine beds and hides toys etc under bed) - looks pretty too!! Pale lemon light stop roller blind at window - dress window with lilac voile - cheap and pretty!! Buy old bookshelves and paint pink - sponge over with lemon paint - do the same with some cheap pine shelving. Paint ceiling pale lemon, bring this colour down walls a bit (hides uneven ceiling/wall joints) - looks especially effective if you do a scallop edge or zigzag - paint walls pink, draw a few fairly large shapes on the wall and paint them lilac (would only need a matchpot of paint) - buy a few birthday cards with characters of the moment (you can frame these with cheap ikea frames painted lemon - they can be swapped when character goes out of favour).
I will have a thing and come up with something for the boys - how old are they?

[Jaybee]

That should be 'have a think'!!

[Copper]

Jaybee - I'm impressed!

[Willow2]

You can also now buy magnetic paint - it's in one of the catalogues, think GLTC. You paint an area and then cover with colour of your choice - hey presto, you have a magnetic wall. Sounds fun to me.

[bundle]

triplets, I bought some fabulously flowery (a la Cath Kidston) duvet covers/pillowslips from Ikea - about a tenner, I think. Plus a bit of string with tiny pegs with flowers on attached...great for hanging photos/pictures I did at school on.

[slug]

Muji do cardboard furniture, very sturdy and very cheap. You could easily paint them whichever shade of pink her heart desires.

[Enid]

bundle, that Ikea fabric was in fact designed by Cath Kidston specially for Ikea. I've snapped it up too.

[Jaybee]

Boys - I agree that you should try and design their room so they have their own space - if they are having bunk beds this could be done by having the bunk bed at right angles to the wall (the 3ft end against the wall) - put a false wall between bottom bunk and top (this could be thin board or the back of top child's wardrobe and bookshelf) forcing top child out one side and bottom child out the other. If they are not having bunk beds then you could but wardrobes, book shelves or drawers back to back to divide the room, you could even use colour to divide the room i.e. one child having deep blue walls and pale blue bed linen, the other having pale blue walls and deep blue bed linen - stars, moons & rockets are always a favourite and could be painted on walls - could you give us an idea of their age and the size of the room??

[susanmt]

The best thing we did was to paint one wall with blackboard paint - one of MIL's better ideas! It has gone down a storm not only with dd but with everyone up to my 16 yr old sister who have come to stay. You ca buy the paint in Homebase/B&Q etc, in the 'International' paint range.

[threeangels]

Titchy, I love the idea your friend did with the room.

[bundle]

Enid, I was soooo tempted by the double quilted throw...but decided bank balance couldn't cope! feel chuffed though that got a CK original

[SofiaAmes]

susanmt, i'm curious about the blackboard paint....I've been tempted to buy it, but wondered if having a blackboard in a bedroom would be messy. What happens when it gets erased...does it get chalkdust everywhere? And when the kids are using the chalks do they make a mess that gets spread around the whole bedroom? I was thinking about it for an 8 and 9 year old. Do you think that's a good age?

[triplets]

Gosh, what can I say? Very impressed by you all especially you Jaybee, how much do you charge to come and do it?? The children will be five in Jan. Rebeccas room is 9x9 and the boys 13x12 approx. Went to Homebase last Sat and got some pink paint mixed, looked at bedding, saw a lovely gingham duvet and tabard curtain on display then was told they were obsolete! Bought another called Candy Girl which she will like. Sadly my nearest Ikea is 2 hours away, might get a catalogue though, will look it up now. Thank you all and keep it coming!

[Jaybee]

Triplets - would love to charge a fortune and do this full time!! Unfortunately, it has to be spare time only as I work full time already. I have to admit that I love faffing about with paint and have created all sorts of things, especially in the kids rooms - including spare bedroom which doubles as their playroom which is painted in eight different colours - all in diamond shapes - yes, it took me ages - great fun though!!

[JayTree]

Benetton paint range (available from B & Q, possibly other diy stores too) is brilliant. They have "child proof" tough paint, sparkly glitter paints, metallic, special effects paints, green, navy and black for blackboard paints rather than just black etc. etc. They also have great colours of glow in the dark paint and cute stamps. The colours range from cheerful primaries to trendy pinks and lilacs etc. I love the whole range and are good for grown up rooms too!