Room For Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play

Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play, the new book by Susanna Salk and published by Rizzoli about wonderfully creative children’s rooms has come into my hands just in time. I love looking at design books, regardless of what’s going on in my life, but right now seems to be kismet or something. Or maybe because I was lusting after it and the folks at Rizzoli were kind enough to send it to me.

You see, it just so happens that with the arrival of our second daughter we have to re-do a few rooms to accommodate the growing family. We have a guest room (read: junk room) that has to be emptied and readied for the wee one. Since our first daughter’s dresser is actually the changing table, looks like we’ll have to put some thought into her room as well.

I have a very clean-lined aesthetic and am stumped when it comes to anything other than artwork. Oh, I eventually get a room together and looking nice but it takes me awhile to settle on the “look” of the space. This might sound totally kooky, but I think a room can tell you a lot about the design/decor that will look best in it if you just listen. (Yes, I DO live in California, land of the crunchy nutties, as my Dad would say)

That’s why I love looking at Room for Children! First off, it shows off kids rooms from all over. You get to see how so many other parents make room for their kids.

There are rooms fit for a princess, safari-themed dreamlands, trains, planes and automobiles. There are maps on walls, huge stuffed animals, pillows galore. Everything you can imagine, there seems to be a room in this book for it.

And secondly, looking though Room for Children is like spying on other families. Let’s face it, I’m a looky-loo at heart. I go to open houses just for the fun of it. So, perusing all these kids rooms is totally fun. Fun to gawk at, fun to aspire to. Just fun.

Now, back to the serious business of actually incorporating ideas from this book into reality, well, that’s a different story. I’m not saying that I want it to be one big product catalog. It’s just that when there is a stand out design element, I would like to know more about.

Take, for instance, the room on page 88-89. It’s a bright green room with a blue and green dot rug and white lacquer furniture. On the walls are four Andy Warhol prints of Marilyn Monroe. In the blurb about the room, the author says that the room was inspired by nature’s own colors (will someone please show me where florescent green occurs in nature?) with a Pop-Art quartet on the wall.

Granted I know a thing or two about art so I recognized the Warhol prints right off. But C’MON..the prints are of Marilyn Monroe…by Andy Warhol. Doesn’t that at least warrant a mention?

That said, these rooms showcase an unending variety of ways to decorate your kid’s room: simple, natural, frou frou, over the top. You name it, it’s there. Color plays a major role here, too. Sometimes as punctuation, sometimes as the whole story.

If you’re in the mood for some inspiration for your own kid’s room – check out Room for Children.