Designed by Stacy and Adam a fun and fanciful bedroom won Sunday night’s kids’ bedroom on The Block NZ’s room reveal.
Ideal for both boys or girls, siblings, and sleepovers - there is a great feel about this bedroom with its well-defined play area, themed wallpaper and soothing lighting.
The couple used cute toys plus beautiful styling, bedding and accessories to create the ultimate kids bedroom. Highlights include an eye-catching swan on the wall, lego art and teepee play space.
Newshub spoke to experts from Farmers, Città and Resene about the latest kids’ bedroom themes and trends.
1. Escapism, inspiration and imagination
Escapism can be a fantasy theme for a bedroom, or an area within the bedroom where children can play out their adventures with toys, siblings or friends.
Farmers manchester buyer Debbie Tiplady says the winning room makes clever use of sheets and fairy lights over a canopy to create a tent where children can play, hide or just relax.
She suggests using large floor cushions or ottomans for a comfortable base and adding touchable cushions in faux fur or velvet, and fun novelty kids cushions as accessories.
"Cotton is the best kind of bedding for kids as it’s a natural, breathable fabric that washes well and gets softer over time," she says.
"Create a neutral room to grow with your child. Colourful duvets and accessories can easily be changed out as your child grows. Don't be afraid to mix patterns and colours, kid’s rooms are where you can have some fun. Use storage baskets to store toys, these can be moved easily from room to room."
Imagine a typical Kiwi childhood and you’ll no doubt remember sharing a bunk bed with a friend or sibling. Città interior stylist Federica Contardi says the first rule for bunk beds is to choose the right size duvet cover or sheets, so there isn’t too much fabric to tuck in or leave hanging out. A tucked in style has a tidy, cleaner look. For the pillow selection, "it’s better to aim for a simple, clean look with not too many pillows."
2. Top toys for playtime
Classic kids toys are still popular in Kiwi homes with kitchens, doll houses, car garages and train sets still remaining favourites according to Farmers toy buyer Stuart Gray.
"Wooden toys give a nice aesthetic to a stylish kids' room and are becoming more and more popular due to the popularity of the Scandinavian look," he says.
"Farmers' Our Generation doll range is also proving to be popular," he says. "With large role-play items such as ice-cream trucks and veterinary rooms - the range enables children to use their imagination as they play."
3. Nature and sustainability
In 2019 natural tones will become more popular in children's interior design, and it's all about using sustainable and eco-friendly natural materials.
Federica Contardi, Città Interior Stylist says with an increasing trend of smaller living solutions, a shared bedroom for siblings is becoming a need.
"Neutral tones such as sand, beige and nut brown or cannoli cream pantone hues are a perfect choice for a unisex space," she says. "Children’s rooms designed with an earthy, neutral colour scheme in mind, with small accents of greens, mustard, white are a perfect example for this purpose. The focus is on the earthy, calm feelings and not the gender."
4. Unisex bedrooms
Many parents now decorate in a gender neutral way, but a child’s room provides a great opportunity to play with colour and try design ideas you might not feel bold enough to attempt in your living room or kitchen.
Unisex rooms can be updated as children age and then turned into guest bedrooms by adding artworks and accessories.
Resene marketing manager Karen Warman points out kids today are able to draw from a much larger source of inspiration and colour choices for their bedrooms and play spaces.
"Greater internet exposure means even quite young children often have very clear ideas about favourite colours, hobbies, interests, videos, books and movie characters - to inspire the room of their dreams. If they've had a hand in coming up with the design, your children will likely love their rooms," she suggests.
Karen's guide to achieving sibling harmony-
• Give each child a separate area of the room to decorate, so they both get a say in how the room will look.
• For a cohesive feel, consider getting two of the same items for key furniture pieces - such as bunks, beds, desks and chests of drawers.
• Reversible duvet covers can be flipped to a different side on each bed so each has a different pattern but the overall colour palette of the room stays the same.
• Add cushions and patterned pillowcases to mix up the bedding.
• Use toy boxes to keep a shared room tidy and paint them according Stacy & Adam’s theme.
While Stacy and Adam's winning kids' bedroom won the judges over, more style ideas from The Block NZ teams’ can be found at The Block NZ Fanzone.
To create The Block NZ trends featured in this article in your own home, visit Città, Farmers and Resene.
This article has been created for Città, Farmers and Resene, partners of The Block NZ on Three.
