A designated space for kids inspires their creativity, evokes their imagination and lets them be themselves. These tips and ideas for designing a unique space will help you get started.

Other great ideas for spaces are attic eaves, converted walk-in closets, nooks in between windows and even areas where you can wall off a bonus room and create a space just for your child. Marcus Hunt playhouse. Photo by Dena Salman.

When Dr. Randy Pausch gave his famous “last lecture” in September of 2007 at Carnegie Mellon University, he talked about the creative space his parents gave him when he was a teen, letting him paint his bedroom at will, even if it meant they ended up with the quadratic formula on the walls. He implored parents, “If your kids want to paint their bedroom, as a favor to me, let them do it. It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about resale value on the house.”

What Pausch understood and what kids innately know is that children need space that’s theirs, where they can let loose and really be creative.

“Engaging kids in active play to inspire creativity is so important,” says Glen Halliday, founder of Windham, Maine-based Kids Crooked House. “There are so many things in kids’ lives today where their creativity is force-fed to them, that doing anything you can create that evokes that imagination and creative play is key.”

Design for Your Kids, Not for You
One of the first mistakes parents make when creating a space for their kids is not involving them in the process enough. The best way to set out on a project like this is making your kids a part of it from the beginning.

“There are so many times a parent will design a house for their child, and it will have all the bells and whistles,” Halliday says, “but if you ask a kid, they just want the simplest things.”

And giving up a little control can make all the difference in how well-loved the room becomes. “What really makes a difference is when parents allow their kids to conceptualize and pick the colors and textures and have a say in what elements they would like in the space,” says Doug Masters, founder of the design and building firm Masters Touch in Medfield, Mass.

Find the Best Space for Your Child
The average home and yard has lots of spaces that are terrific for kids. Just looking at the world through their (much smaller) eyes can help you find areas for them you might have overlooked before.

When David and Kelli Bercik moved into their Duluth, Ga., home, they transformed an area under the stairs into a playspace for three young children. Dubbed “The Secret Room” by the family, it’s decked out with whiteboard panels on the walls, a ladder that leads up to a balcony reading nook and kid-friendly foam mats over the carpeting.

A finished basement makes a spacious room for kids. Photo credit: Kenneth Wyner Photography. Copyright GTM Architects.

“I tend to be on the creative side, so when I saw this space that was unfinished (in the basement), with the little door, I just knew we had to "create" something for the kids, their own space,” Kelli Bercik says.

Other great ideas for spaces are attic eaves, converted walk-in closets, nooks in between windows and even areas where you can wall off a bonus room and create a space just for your child.

Look Outside for Other Hidden Opportunities
Another great—but often forgotten—space is the backyard. Marcus Hunt, a carpenter on HGTV’s Designed to Sell, turned a friend’s old shed into a playhouse for his friend’s 5-year-old daughter. She wanted to use the area for dancing and performing, so Hunt customized the space just for her needs.

“It was rough 2x4 framing inside, so I used plywood to cover the exposed areas,” he says. “I made a little deck with railing and stairs on the back half, and I added chalkboard paint on the walls so she could create her own scenery.” He also covered the floor in rubber tiles for comfort and safety, made a reading nook under the balcony with pillows and even created a “telephone”—“ I made a little telephone system from the inside to outside using 3/4-inch copper pipe with a 1 1/2 to 3/4-inch reducer piece on either end for the mouthpiece and earpiece.”

If you’re not up for creating your own super-custom shed, giving your children a playhouse is a great choice because kids really treat the space as if it’s their own little home. “I’ve seen kids wait while the house is being assembled with boxes of their stuff, just like they’re moving into their own first place,” says Halliday. “They put up their photos, take toys and pillows…they have such ownership because it really is their own house.”

Color Their World
Paint can be a very evocative substance for kids, who are often passionate about the colors they love and those they can’t stand. Kelly J. Thyen, owner of the Blaine, Minn. -based kids’ design boutique Wiggles N’ Giggles, says parents should consider not only their child’s interests, however, but also the “psychology of color” in choosing the base shade for their child’s creative area.

Kelly J. Thyen, owner of the kids’ design boutique Wiggles N’ Giggles, says parents should consider the “psychology of color” in choosing the base shade for their child’s creative area. Wiggles N Giggles safari playroom. Photo credit and copyright Kelly J. Thyen.

“Blue is a fabulous color for a kids’ space,” she says. “It is a peaceful color that actually causes the human body to create calming chemicals and also make you more productive. Green is another great color because of its calming effect.” Thyen adds that although kids often love colors like red and yellow, using them only as accent colors may make for a more pleasant space. “Red stimulates chemicals in your body that create excitement and hunger, and yellow can have a very unsettling effect; even though it’s cheerful and sunny, it tends to make people loose their tempers and children cry, which is definitely not what you want in your child’s play space,” she says.

Beyond just color, however, paint can be used to delineate a space. “It’s important to remember that for younger kids, their eye level is right around three feet or so,” says Ann McGuire, Valspar Color Consultant and founder of Beehive Studios of Buckhill Falls, Pa. “Think about doing borders along the bottom of the wall like handpainted flowers for a little girl’s garden or a cityscape for little boys who want to play with their trucks or LEGOs.”

And it doesn’t have to stop with the walls. McGuire says when parents are willing, painting the floor adds a whole new dimension to kids’ play. “Painting hopscotch boards, roads for cars or even four-square sets, especially in a basements, where you don’t mind the bouncing ball, can be great for kids."

Focus on Kid-Friendly Materials
When designer Sharon McCormick, principal of the Durham, Conn.-based Sharon McCormick Design, LLC, created a playroom for her clients with a rambunctious 2-year-old, she knew she had to choose materials that were both attractive and durable.

She recommends checking out Flor carpets for soft, modular flooring that can be easily replaced. “We made a checkerboard design, but the number of designs and colors are seemingly limitless,” she says. “By buying a few extra tiles, if one gets dirty, you can take it out and replace it in a jiffy.”

		Different Places for Different Ages Wondering what types of spaces will work best for your child? While each individual is different, experts say you can expect certain phases in different age groups. Kids 5 years old and younger need creative, play-building spaces, Jennifer Hartstein, supervising psychologist at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City, says. “Think blocks, puppets, stuffed animals, balls,” she says. “They need things that can be manipulated and moved around.” She says this is ideal for play for the youngest set, and it helps with motor coordination development, as well. As children get to the 6 to 10 year-old group, they have a tendency to become fixated on one obsession and love to have spaces that coordinate with that interest. “Think High School Musical or other Disney shows,” Hartstein says, adding that kids this age can really get into make-believe, and themes built around activities that interest them will be a hit. Thyen agrees, adding that giving aspiring teachers a “school room” setup with a chalk or white board or setting up a stage with a karaoke machine for an American Idol-wannabe can be great opportunities for creative play. “Children this age love to dress up and pretend their big, imagining what’s to come.” she says. For teens, it really is just about what each individual wants. “It’s harder to create a specific space since the opinions are much stronger at this age. Just ask for input and go with it,” says Hartstein. And if your teen is mainly interested in themselves and hanging out with friends, don’t fret, says Thyen. “A relaxing getaway to study and hang out and just talk, play computers, listen to music, read books and play board games with a group of friends is perfect for them.”

McCormick also chose beadboard wainscoting for the room. “It's tough and much more washable than sheetrock,” she says, adding it’s important to choose high-grade paint that can withstand multiple cleanings before having to be repainted. But even then, having the wainscoting will reduce your work. “Since with little kids, the lower half of a wall takes the brunt of the dings, when it's time to re-paint, you can just re-paint the wainscoting instead of the whole room,” she says.

For fabrics, she chose stain-guarded, relatively inexpensive cottons and rugged denim. And instead of choosing fragile tassels for window treatments, she went with a more practical trim. “We used a braid trim on the bottom of the roman shade and saved the tempting tassel fringe for the top of the valance,” she says.

Don’t Neglect Safety
Creating a room that’s just for kids means they will sometimes end up there without much adult supervision, which is why safety is a key concern in any room you design with kids in mind.

One safety issue parents need to address early is making sure the space is completely finished. “Don’t leave any bare studs or loosely tacked carpeting that the child could get caught, cut or slip on,” says Thyen. “The space should be fully finished.”

Also, Thyen says to make sure any furniture that can be climbed on or that might wobble is screwed securely to the wall. Any large, heavy items like televisions should also be secured. And don’t forget the cords: “Make sure cords are hidden, wound up and secured,” Thyen says. “And cover every outlet.”

Finally, don’t forget lighting safety. “Watch that light fixtures are fully enclosed and that they don’t get hot enough to burn, especially when creating a playroom under stairs or in another small space.”

Worry Less, Play More
Still worried about the resale value of your house if you install that fireman’s pole your son craves or turn your fourth bedroom into a jungle room? So was Janie Glover, who created a deluxe playroom for her daughter Katherine in their former home in High Point, N.C. When the family put the house up for sale, their realtor suggested they remove the room, which had been featured in several local papers and had been a labor of love for the entire family. So Glover decided to wait.

“We decided we would try to feature it as a selling point first,” she says. “We knew that it was a unique feature and felt it would set our house apart. We told our realtor that if a couple was interested and did not have children or grandchildren, we would take it down and repaint the room.”

Glover’s decision was the right one—the house was put on the market on Thursday, and it was under contract on Friday to the first couple who looked at it. “They had been looking for a home for more than a year,” she says. “They had a 2-year-old little girl who spent hours in the playhouse while her parents toured the rest of our home. It was perfect for them and they said the playhouse is what sold them on the house.”


Text by Alyson McNutt English
Copyright BobVila.com © 2008