Help - desperately need ideas for decorating a toddler bedroom

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Sorry - I don't think this is the ideal place to post but couldn't see another, more appropriate area either.

New baby due in Feb, need to sort out a lovely new room for DD who is almost 2. It's quite a big deal because she is being ousted from her room and most likely cot too and because of a building project it won't be possible to move her until a few weeks before DC2 is due.

I'm not keen on cutesy pink or very girly stuff, want something simple and striking that will be easy to match furniture too. It's a pretty small room so I think I'll have to steer clear of dark colours otherwise it'll start to feel even smaller.

What sort of furniture do you need/is nice in a toddler room? Any tips for making it really cosy/fun and something that we won't all get sick of really quickly.

Any suggestions very gratefully received!

There are some really amazing wall murals on ebay - I think the small ones start at £20 and the large ones are £45 (approx 3x2metres).

The one I'm getting for DS has an underwater picture with reeds and bubbles. I'm doing his room with a fish/riverbank theme, so watery silver floor with a rug that looks like grass, a grey furry beanbag that looks like a rock, ceiling dark blue with glow in the dark stars, and lots of fishy pictures, mobiles, bedding etc. When he's a bit older we'll mount a fish tank in the wall. Dunelm Mill had loads of lovely cushions, blinds and other bedroom bits.

What a lovely idea, Cuppa - it sounds great. I don't think the room is big enough to carry a strong theme that well but thanks for the Ebay tip. I'll have a look. Another idea was to paint just one wall (it's a rectangular room with a window at one end and a door at the other) but just can't decide on a colour that isn't blue or pink, will lift the room and won't be v limiting when it comes to other furniture

What about golden yellow? It goes with all shades of yellow, orange & red. You could paint the other walls cream.

Send in toddler and paint and brushes.
Open door an hour later.
Voila!

have a look at vertbaudet homes and ikea

Don't be too obsessed with keeping everything light though. Small areas of dark colours make the other colours look lighter - have you seen that optical illusion where a grey circle looks much lighter on a black background than a white one?

You could do the skirting boards, picture frames, cushions etc in a darker colour to give some contrast and brighten up everything else.

I have painted murials on the walls really cartoony but easy to do we did a bright blue base coat a catapilla on one wall (with ds' name in the body) grass underneath and big clouds in the sky and a snake on the other with sand under and a big cacti behind it we then put some bug wall lights (ikea) ans painted a chalk board on the other wall.
I is bloody fantastic if I say so myself!!

Yellow paint . Bright and happy.

keep all furniture white. 1 bed + 1 set of drawers or bookcase + toy baskets.

this sort of athmosphere:

www.chicshack.net/proddetail/product/528/

Have one touch of solid bold shocking pink (beanbag?), 1 item in a patterned fabric mixing ping/white/yellow (lampshade? or bedcover) + a couple of matching patterned cushions.

I used the fabric on the armchair on the link below for DD's room.

www.designintervention.com.sg/product_children1.html

some great bold fabrics in IKEA at the moment.

get thee to ikea. i've done dd's room in 'fabler' which is lovely and not pink and froo froo ish. ds's bedroom is also fabler, but the more boyish version.

I hung bright bunting round DD's room. The furniture is white (Ikea), the walls are actually blue (never got round to repainting) and it looks fun - we've got quite a few red accessories/toys, which help keep it cheerful and kiddyish.

These bunting stickers would look pretty in a white room - but is that too girly for you?

love the stickers

Some fantastic ideas here - thanks, ladies.

Looks like yellow is a good bet - might bring in the suggested splashes of darker colour with some wall stickers - have just found some quite nice classic alphabet&animal ones on thelinenstore.com - would that be enough in terms of wall colour? (I'd have a crack at drawing something myself but I can't manage much beyond stick people.)

Thinking also of deploying some fairy lights along a shelf that runs along the top of one wall - the one that I'll most probably be painting yellow. Warming or naff?

naff but SHE will love them.

Make sure she can't reach and pull the cord though.

xposted with a few people there - love the bunting idea too.

If I were to go for golden yellow on one wall with some colour through duvets/accessories etc, what colour curtains would work? (I have no eye for these sorts of things as you may have gathered...)

Slim - good point, I guess I could get some of those wire clip things and get the wire tacked onto the wall.

What bed will you have?
If it is a small room then I'd strongly recommend a todler bed rather than a full size. They are cheaper, smaller and the bedding is much more practical (duvet easy to wash etc).
Both my boys have ones made by saplings that I bought on ebay and are fab.

another vote for stickers.
I've seen cute one at GLTC, next and aspace.

muddleduck good question! I'm nervous about moving her from her cot before the baby arrives because she'll only be 26 months when he/she is born and I don't want to be dealing with her midnight wanderings as well as a newborn. Plus everything else in the room will be new so might be nice for her to have one thing she's used to.

BUT DH reckons we'll have to get a bed at some point anyway so we might as well do it now and the baby can have the cot bed. The toddler bed vs full size is another discussion altogether but thanks for your thoughts!

I've had both white and yellow in a kid's room and actually prefer white, as colours stand out much better against it. Wall stickers are great, can go on furniture too.

I also really like the Ikea Expedit shelving as it can hold a range of stuff and is easy to get to. The different sections make it easy to keep things in order (well in theory anyway). They do a range of sizes and colours as well as doors and drawers you can add, and they won't "grow out" of it IYSWIM.

I think a table and little chair is good in a kid's room.

Get a toddler bed, you will get years of use from it still and save space meanwhile. Ikea (sorry) do a really cheap one.

Thanks Sputnik - I'm thinking of only doing one wall yellow so it wouldn't be too overpowering with any luck but will give some thought to keeping it white and adding colour.

Any thoughts on curtain colour to match yellow if I do go with that?

What about orange on the wall where the window is, as in this picture here?
You could then have curtains that were basically white with a colourful motif.

that does look v cool but there's actually very little wall on the window where the wall is. Still, it could work, just a kind of frame of orange - I wonder if you can get white black-out curtains!

Sorry, that made absolutely no sense...

There's very little wall around the window if you see what I mean. The window is at the end of a narrow, rectangle room. But yes, it might still work. Thank you!

My DD has this bed It is a large toddler bed, so I use normal single bedding with it and it should last her until she is 5 or 6.
My dd's room is quite small, I chose pale green for the walls and have gone with curtains that have lots of colours in them so that they go with her Night Garden bedding at the moment, but will also look ok with Disney Princesses or whatever she's into next!

DD has a small room but was definite in her was of cerise pink in her room, so we compromised and the wall with the window is bright cerise pink and the other three walls are pale pink. Her furniture is all painted white with cerise trim and she has Charlie and Lola decals stuck on the walls - she loves it!