New parents have a lot of things to think about. And all those sleepless nights, bottle feeds and nappy changes make it easy to forget it won’t be long before your little one will be sleeping in a room of their own. That means one thing: you’re going to be decorating.
Long gone are the days when a boy’s room would just be painted blue and a girl’s room would be pink. There are a myriad of colour schemes and themes available, which alone can be a bit overwhelming for a tired mum and dad who don’t have much free time to look at colour charts. Many parents now also wait until the birth to discover the sex of their child, making it even tougher when deciding what colour scheme to use on walls and bed spreads.
‘Parents look for a dream bedroom,’ says Sarah Cleaton, general manager at the Pottery Barn Kids store in Al Wahda Mall. ‘Themes are very popular. Girls are looking for a dreamy bedroom. Flowers and canopies are popular. It’s the fairy tale they’re after.’ And when it comes to the boys, animals and sport are still popular themes. ‘Zoo animals are very popular; from nursery through to the older boys’ ranges,’ adds Sarah. ‘Sport is also big with boys of course, such as football, American football, baseball. We also sell a bed for boys that’s designed to look like a speedboat.’
Of course, every kid’s room needs a colour scheme. ‘For girls, go for pastels with big flowers and paisley prints,’ Sarah says. ‘At Pottery Barn Kids, we’ve got products with stripes as well, but our main focus is on pastel colours with bold flower prints. For boys, the themes are often darker.’ Sarah adds that it’s usually girls’ rooms that get most of the TLC, though. ‘I think mums like to spend money on girls. The girls get more attention, don’t they? In Abu Dhabi, we seem to do a lot more for them.’
One big mistake parents make when decorating a room, according to Sarah, is they often think about the colours before they think about the furniture. ‘You can make a room from just having the bed and working around that,’ she adds. ‘Don’t start the other way round. Start with the bed and work through with the accessories and the textiles.’
Accessories are also a great way to make your kid’s room unique. ‘We’re moving into our Spring collections so it’s time to throw out the old and bring in the new,’ says Sarah. ‘We offer personalised products such as baskets. These are popular and really make a bedroom. Neat and tidy storage systems are also very popular and can be built into walls.’ Pottery Barn Kids also offer a consultation service free of charge to give you ideas to create a really special room for your young ’uns.
Lots of parents these days wait until their baby is born before finding out the sex, which can cause many headaches when deciding on a colour scheme for a nursery. ‘There are plenty of unisex colours. You don’t specifically stick to blues for boys and pink for girls. If you’re not sure you can mix and match with whites, yellows, greens; there are lots of rainbow colours that suit both,’ says Sarah. ‘We’ve got turquoise and grays in our collections that could be unisex as well. And you can also go for basic pastel colours; plain white backgrounds with bold stripes or polka dots.’
Bringing up a kid doesn’t come cheap though, and Sarah’s got some advice for families on a budget. ‘If you pay a little bit extra for products, they’ll last for years. We sell beds you can buy for kids aged five and they’ll still be sleeping in them when they’re 15. You could go for a cheap bed but you’ll be replacing it in two years’ time.’
A good mattress is also very important. ‘Think of kids’ backs, they need a decent one, it’s really important,’ she adds. ‘You can’t give an unsupportive mattress because that won’t help your child in the future. You pay for it when you’re older.’
If you don’t want to waste money re-decorating every few years, go for timeless colours. ‘You’ve always got your pastel colours and whites, which you can enhance with patterns. They never go out of fashion.’
Finally, as they grow up, be prepared that your nippers will want to call the shots when it comes to bedroom design. ‘A lot of parents are dictated to by their kids nowadays, they always have a say on how they want their room. They’re more well informed than ever before.’
Pottery Barn Kids have stores in Al Wahda and Dalma Malls. www.potterybarnkids.me.
