Posted on: August 1, 2005

Cartoons Come Alive for Child Style

‘Shrek’ and ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ are ready to conquer your kid décor. Here’s how to animate your child’s bedroom.

By Sally Farhat
CTW Features

It’s time to decorate your child’s room, and you can’t afford an interior decorator. While it’s a safe bet you can head to the store and buy a prefab kit, how do you do a great job without overextending your budget? And what’s hot in kid décor these days anyway?

It’s no big surprise that cartoons are jumping off the screen and into children’s bedrooms.

“In the eighties, it was about the toys we played with; now, it’s the shows we watch,” says Judy Gaman of La Dame Aux Lavande Designs in South Lake, Texas.

Experts say yellow is hot because of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” light greens are popular due to “Shrek” and the new hit film “Robots” has inspired not only the resurgence of fiestaware-esque colors, but a mechanical look as well.

“There’s always going to be an animation trend for parents who have kids watching these shows,” says Brenda Popritkin of Cache Décor in Miami Lakes, Fla. “You definitely take inspiration from movies and cartoons. The key is to let the child feel like they’re in the movie.”

If you’re not sure what to do, you’re not alone. The difference between rooms for kids and adults used to be the size and color of the furnishings – tiny beds, end tables and chairs – a toy chest and a gender-specific splash of color (which interior designers say is out, by the way).

Then along came the industry devoted to kid style that is producing furnishings so elaborate that parents and their child-less friends are jealous. In the past five years, stores such as Ethan Allen, Pottery Barn and Pier 1 have entered the kid market. There’s even a quarterly lifestyle magazine from “Better Homes & Gardens” devoted solely to decorating rooms for children. Kids’ Rooms magazine celebrates planet youth.

“Kids’ rooms are a chance to go crazy and have fun, for the most part,” Popritkin says. “You’re almost in a fantasy world and can play with color and lighting in a way you wouldn’t with your dining room.”

The key, designers say, is to stay original without being “too cute,” or trying to match everything perfectly. That means if you purchased the Powerpuff Girls bedspread and Powerpuff Girls drapes, you might want to pass on the Powerpuff Girls rug and framed print.

It’s best to buy matching anchor pieces and then shop around for accessories. And remember: Children’s rooms don’t have to fit in with the color palette of the rest of the home; make their area feel like it’s especially for them.

“Parents either want to do something pretty and sweet for the girls and rugged and macho for the boys, or aren’t into decorating at all, and don’t know what to do,” says Min Miles Greenberg, owner of Encore Décor in New York City. “The biggest mistake I see is that they go with stereotypes – pink and lavender for girls’ rooms, rather than light blue.”

Greenberg likes sage green, which she calls earthy and peaceful, as well as yellows, golds and denim blue.

Besides color, you can add depth to your wall design. This gives a fantasy feel to the room. Use contact paper or craft foam cutouts, paint a simple mural over the wall or tack felt flowers in your “garden.”

Popritkin just completed a Bugs Bunny room with a stars-and-cloud scene. “Parents are really into faux painting these days,” she says. “I put Bugs Bunny on top of the cloud and then all the room really needed was simple bedding, since the wall was the focus point.”

While interior designers can do elaborate room scenes re-creating baseball fields, gardens, castles and World War II-era fighter planes, a simple design of matte and glossy stripes can be just as cool.

Another paint trend is blackboard paint – that’s right, you paint a wall and it becomes an instant blackboard. “I’m not sure it’s a great thing to get a kid in the habit of writing on a wall, though,” Greenberg says.

What about furniture? Bombay Company, which is known for its dark elegant wood, is now doing “hippie chick” bedding, a sure sign of a trend. They even have disco-style lamps shaped like handbags with furry zebra print, marabou feathers and sequined trim. Bombay Kids is not alone: Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, Pier 1’s CargoKids, Ethan Allen Kids and Crate & Barrel’s Land of Nod also are in on the boom.

Experts we talked with said they’ve seen a huge shift in kids’ desks: they now have flip-down drawers, space for keyboards and room for toys underneath.

“What used to be the play area is now being replaced by a computer desk,” says Greenberg, who is seen frequently on cable TV decorating shows.

Pieces that have more than one use are becoming more common as well: an armoire and doors doubling as a mirror, for example. Greenberg says you can save money on furniture with hand-me-downs, but that “window treatments are a necessity.”

The real key, Gaman says, is to make the room about your child. Obviously, older kids will tell you what they like, so make sure to ask. Add personal touches like a throw pillow with their name on it, framed family pictures and something related to their hobbies. Having a bulletin board to display artwork and birthday cards is always fun. And remember that cartoon trends come and go, so think hard before spending a lot of money. Regardless of the look, your child’s happiness with his or her surroundings is the number one priority. Happy kids make happy homes.

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