Cynthia John

Rainbow-coloured butterflies flying brilliant blue skies, flitting on the wall. Flowered pillows resting on pastel bedsheets. Children’s room decor can be pleasing, with a plethora of options to choose from. And it can be expensive.
Instead with some imagination, you and your kids can create your own decor to match any mall display. Not to mention the fun and satisfaction it gives you of doing it yourself.

Make a blueprint
Do some window shopping to get some ideas and pick a theme. Decide how you will arrange the room, and what materials you’ll need.

Get the room organised
You can’t start decorating a messy room. Therefore get stuff in order, and figure out what type of furniture you need. Book shelves, cupboards, toy and clothes bins and shoe racks keep the clutter off the floor.

Craft your pieces
Use thick cardboard and acrylic paints to embellish and cut out shapes that you can suspend from the ceiling. Make glass paintings and suspend them near the window or door, to allow sunlight to pass through them.
You could create eye-catching artwork, by using a mix of bright colours and imprinting hand or fingerprints. Or even splashing on paint till you get a good image.
Or choose some attractive theme-related images, print them out on photo paper, and display them on a wall.
Add a bulletin board to display your child’s art and crafts, or creative writing.

Decorate a wall
A plain wall could be made to look stunning with a row of handprints in different colours (draw erasable straight lines using a measuring tape or scale to make sure they are in line). Or, impact colourful handprints on a white door.
Or, make potato stampers and use acrylic paint to stamp a shape on one wall in colours related to the theme.

Make the right purchases
You might need to purchase furniture or racks to store stuff. Check out two-three furniture stores to get the best buys. If you are buying curtains, try to get some extra fabric which can be used on tables, and in other places.
Supervise every activity so you achieve a professional effect. You and the kids must love the room!