Staging a kid’s room certainly has its challenges (understatement). They can be very emotionally attached to their things and/or may feel insecure about the impending move.  At the same time, kids’ room design tends to be the least neutral of the entire home. Hence, the challenge! First, you need to gain their cooperation, and then you have to figure out what to do!

Let’s get started with negotiation tips! If your kid’s room is typical, there is probably a fair amount of what we grownups call “clutter” (your kids may call it treasure).  Here are some ways to negotiate with you kid to stage his or her room, whether your kids are little or teens.

Little kids:

Pre-pack one-third to one-half of the toys in the room for safe keeping until the move.  Depending on the age of your kids, you can either stealth in and do it when they’re not looking, or involve them in the decision making. In my own experience, I’ve found that kids often don’t notice that toys are missing (but each kid’s different). Bonus—the toys will feel new again at the new home.

Toys that remain should be organized out of sight, if possible. Purchase some inexpensive cloth cubbies to store them in a bookcase. Makes pick up easier and the toys are well hidden. Laundry baskets on the top shelf of closets may work as well.

If your child is resistant, consider negotiating a special “transitional toy” as a trade for their cooperation. Be mindful, however, that their reluctance may be out of fear of what is going on.  Be sure to listen to them.

Teenagers:

If you happen to own teenagers, this may be a bit tougher. They’re old enough to reason with, but their also old enough to push back harder. If they are not agreeable to the necessary changes (or to maintaining them temporarily), an old-fashioned non-financial bribe may be in order.

How about putting your teen in charge of selecting the paint color for their new room? Or let them rummage through some Pottery Barn Teen catalogs and have them cut out ideas they like?  The more forward-thinking they become about the whole process, the more help they’ll be now.

If your teens room is a “bold” color, let them help paint their room (use extra drop cloths!). They may enjoy taking on more responsibility.

Bonus—when teens are involved in planning their room, they’re more likely to keep it picked up.

Staging Tips for Kids Rooms:

Now that you have achieved family harmony, here are some staging tips for kid’s rooms:

• If the walls are a bold color, paint them. This may sound like a lot of work, but a gallon or two of paint can really pay off in the end. Select a soft, neutral color such as dove gray or warm beige. Blues can work well too.
• If the bedspread has a busy pattern, buy a plain one at a discount store. Busy patterns will make the room look much smaller.
• Too bland? Add a pop of color with a couple accent pillows for the bed, or hang a simple piece of artwork on the wall.
• If the room feels crowded, remove a piece of furniture (remember, it’s only temporary).  You can also store a dresser in a closet if there is enough space.

Here are two examples of kids’ rooms that were only mildly tweaked, but with big results. In this first case (a teen room), simply de-cluttering and a new bedspread made the difference.

Here is a young boy’s room that felt cluttered and small. By editing furniture, neutralizing the bedspread and clearing out some toys, this room shows much larger. Yes, the walls are still busy, but it’s much better than it was!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 11:14 am and is filed under Staging / Home Prep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.