Designing a Kids' Room for Two

The solution? Create personal spaces in the shared room. While parents dealing with design drama between two night-and-day personalities may think one space will never make both kids happy, the truth is that getting to that shared utopia is simpler than you think.

Designer Becky Najafi, of De Atelier Design Group, says one of the keys to good design in any child's room is investigating what they want for their space. Even if you think you know what your children want, Najafi says to "Get down on their level. Sit on the floor with them, and just hang out." Do this with both children to get your own ideas about what will work for each child. Even if one sibling is more outspoken or opinionated, talking individually will allow both children to have a say in the design.

Designer Mary Wadsworth, of Blooming Ideas, LLC, says the interview process is essential for parents to begin to understand what will work in the shared space. And if a child isn't forthcoming about what he or she would prefer, Wadsworth says by asking fun questions, parents can get a better idea of what their child will like. "I always like to ask what a child's favorite ice cream is," Wadsworth says. "Often, children's favorite ice cream flavor is also their favorite color."

After parents have "researched" their children to get their design ideas and preferences, it's time to think about how to practically apply this knowledge in the given space. Designer Tina Barkley says all too often, parents want to do something drastic, like physically divide a room with a barrier. "Parents shouldn't try to cut a room in half," Barkley says. "Try to keep the room as a unified place and just create small areas within the room for each child."

Instead, use color as your divider. Wadsworth says complementary palettes can bring even the most divergent decorating preferences together in one space. "Say you have one child who's into soccer and another who is still in that princess stage," Wadsworth says. "Using black, white and pink as the basis for the colors in the room will give each child what they want, and you're still using colors that look great together."