Are any of your rooms themed or is this insanely naff?

[ComradeJing]

Just bought a large painting of some bright fish for DDs bedroom. Thinking vaguely of continuing a nautical/underwater theme through her bedroom but there is a part of me that is pulling this --> face.

DD is 16 months so won't give a chuff but I'm trying to make our rented house feel more like a home as we've just moved to a new city and not loving it. DDs room is the smallest so I'm starting there.

So, are your rooms/ your kids room themed or do you just pick naice colours that look good together.

ds room has a union jack theme from last year.....it is just painted white, blue carpet and accesorised it with paintings, artwork and bedding....i prefer a blank canvas and then accesorise a theme as they grow older etc....

It's more cost efficient to have neutral colours and using accessories to style. This also makes it easier to adjust as your child out grows each theme :)

No. None of my rooms are themed. I like nice plainly painted walls (with the odd picture hung up)

Is it naff? I don't know. I wouldn't like it but I'm not arrogant enough to think that because something isn't to my taste that it's naff.

Why not go for it - you're trying to make it homely and lovely for your child.
We're not house of theme(s) but then I'm not known for good taste or fashion sense! DS's room is covered with his artwork and the millions of certificates they get at primary age.

So long as you don't go around referring to it as 'the nautical room'.

A few years ago my mum redecorated her front room and filled it to the brim with wooden tat treasures from my stepdad's time working in various parts of Africa. Now she insists on referring to it as 'the Africa room'. It makes me cringe to even think of it. It's not a stately home; it's a 3 bed semi in suburbia.

I would happily theme a child's bedroom, but would probably stop there.

Nautical is a great theme though

Our DD's (5mo) is grey, with green accessories, and I love it! Until she can ask for what she would like it as, it stays how I like it.

Ds (5) has a space themed room, not overboard just curtains, light shade, bed clothes and hamster cage .
He has been given some rocket stickers and glow in the dark stars for his birthday but they're not up yet.
When we moved him into the bigger room to make his old room into the nursery we wanted him to feel like it was his. He loves it!

I can't paint the walls, the floors are dark wood and I Cba to buy new curtains (which are neutral anyway) so it's really just the accessories and furnishing that I can play with.

Thanks everyone. I'll go bonkers in DDs room but def leave the theming there.

No 'Africa rooms' here

One of my DDs would like to have a Disney Princess themed room. She can have it in her own house when she's an adult. That's all I'm saying on the matter. Other than that, they had a kinda farm animal theme when toddlers, but then we moved and spent a long time renting so no. I can't imagine any other kind of theme, it's just not me ifswim

We viewed a house with a princess themed bedroom. They had the word 'princess' in pink wooden letters hanging above one of the windows. The way the EA had taken the photos it looked like it said 'incest'. DH and I will always think of that as 'the incest room'. Not the impression they were hoping for, I'd imagine.

The people before us themed each child's room.

We now refer to them as the 'soldier room' (guards border & matching curtains), the 'fish room' (a sea/boat theme) & the 'bear room' (a polar bear pretending to fly...).

Of course visitors have no idea what we're talking about, especially the bare room

I do intend to get rid of it all at some point but the cost of replacing the curtains puts us off.

I think it's better to have a plain room, then 'theme' with replaceable/cheap stuff.
Though I draw the line at any TV theme, and definitely princesses.

The people before had bedding & furniture to match so it looked even more themed than it does now with our hodgepodge of handmedown furniture and mismatched bedding.

Ha! I have a purple disney princess room for dd1 age 4 and a pink Peter rabbit / Beatrix potter room for dd2 age 14months.

And I'm not hanging my head in shame over the Disney princesses!

Good for you Gemma - see nothing wrong with themed rooms for DC - the main thing for me is not to get too carried away with it as they grow out of these things quite quickly - but plain Walls floor curtains and themed bed clothes and perhaps bits and bobs - it's Childs room they will be more likely to spend time in it ( sleeping would be great) and looking after it if they feel comfortable and that it is 'theirs'

But then I am common have a 'themed' kitchen, as in 'Mexican' as we love Mexican food and regularly eat it at home - have cacti on window ledge, DH (arty) has painted a picture of a Mexican for wall and we have a collection of sombrero's on hooks that we wear during themed parties. Wall are 'terracotta'. Have a string of chilli shaped fairy lights draped across top of cupboards. It is our house and we think it is 'a laff' - if it's 'naff' too all the better.

But no, we do not, and never will, refer to it as 'the Mexican room' :o

DD's room is themed to an extent. When she was little it was pink and princessy - it is what she wanted. Then it was pink/lilac with flowers, butterflies, and other wall art stickers.
She is now 10y and it is white walls with black accessories and film strip paper on the wall with Harry Potter pictures int he film strips. And she has film type wall art stuff in her room. Again - her choice.

It is DD's room so in our house that means she gets to choose what she wants. It is mainly just paint and stick on stuff, so very easy to remove and change every 3 or 4 years.

I get my choices (very neutral, white walls, pretty modern) int he rest of the house.

Those wall stickers are a godsend I think for kids rooms, go mad with some big princesses when they are in that stage, then swap to something else when they grow out. So in that sense I'll allow pretty much anything that they want as it is their room.

I'd be very hesitant about actually painting/wallpapering in a theme though, until they are older and realise that it's a long-term decision.

So OP, given it's rented so you probably aren't thinking of major works, go for wall stickers, possibly curtains (cheapish though) and have fun :)

Also - if you have a Factory Shop near you (though I'm sure you can get them other places) those gel stickers for the windows are nice to add some colour, the kids seem to like them too well pulling them off and sticking them to the carpet anyway :)

I'm another fan of wall stickers. DS1 has space ships and DS2+3 has jungle ones as they're only babies. Themed rooms other than bedrooms and toilets/bathrooms? Not for me. Rest of the house (when we get round to it as just moved in) will just be painted or papered.

A girl I used to be mates with her mum was a bit mad and the whole of the house had an Ireland theme with all the downstairs rooms painted in the flag colours and flags all over the shop.

I think themed rooms for children are fine, but would be a little odd for me anywhere else, however, each to their own.

I shared a room with my sister when I was a child and we had very different taste so we both always had to compromise.

My sons can therefore have pretty much anything room wise that they want. I wouldn't want someone dictating what I could have.

Ds1 had a space theme, then cars now it isn't themed (he is 9) but it is painted lime green, it picks out an accent colour off his duvet cover. Ds2 had wall stickers of an underwater theme, I painted a blue sky, darker blue ocean and sand sea bed floor. He was a baby so it was all for me

He currently has a scary dinosaur, not a cute one. He is 6. He also has lime green walls, again picked out of the duvet cover.

The rest of our house is duck egg blue, jasmine white and mid grey. Their rooms literally glow in the sunshine but they are happy.