Can you help us with a bedroom idea for our 3 year old son?

Question

Hi!
We are moving into our first home this week. :o) And we were wondering how we can design our 3 1/2 year old's new bedroom. He is speech delaid so he really can't tell us what he wants.
We had 3 ideas.

1: A zoo theme: He loves to watch the Croc Hunter and we have pictures and posters of the croc hunter.
If you like this one: How would you design it. What colors would you use? What kinds of sheets would you buy?

2: Nemo: We would put in a 29 gallon saltwater tank in. And we would buy Nemo sheets.
But, other than that we are open to other ideas.

3: Cars, the movie: Right now he is really into this movie. We watch it at least once a day. I know we can buy the sheets at Wal-mart or Target.
If you like this idea how would you design it? What colors would you paint the room?

We are also opened to any other ideas. We would like a room he can grow in for the next few years ( at least to age 10.)
Thanks
Jennifer

Answer 1

as a former zookeeper, i'm partial to the zoo theme.

does your son have a bathroom for your to decorate too?
the nemo theme would be a lot of fun there too!

the zoo theme will grow with him, and can be adusted to an african safari or asian theme later in life

definitely paint the walls, with wainscoating along the bottom.

you can get safari themed wallpaper boarder for the room at walmart, in the bath section, by the themed bathroom decorations, they have trashcans and cups to, if you need stuff for the bedside table

mosquito netting for hanging over the bed is available at pier one, and presto, he has his very own tent for camping!

for a tent-ier tent, use the mesquito netting, and add panels of canvas, tacking it to the four corners of the bed

for sheets, go with solid colors, and if you feel the need, stencil the pillow case edges and the top part of the flat sheet that get folded back, the bedskirt,
if you go with orange or yellow sheets, you can stencil in black to silowhette the animals/trees against the sunrise/sunset

for wall color the greens and blues are over done, for something not bold (it won't match the wallpaper boarder) put the sunrise/sunset theme on the wall in a simple mural paint in mountains and trees, and serenghetti animals against the sunrise/sunset colors.

or go with an asian themed wild animals! in a rainforest

shelving with pictures in safari frames and animal figurines.

check with your local (nearest) zoological parks they often have behind the scenes encounters for you to do with your son on special occasions, these will be the best pictures for a safari themed room

yes, i know my spelling is atrocious (sp?) the spell checker is working

Answer 2

I would go with the nemo theme if you want a room he can grow up in. If you buy nemo sheets and bedding you can always replace those in a few years (they will need it anyway). To go along with the aquarium and bedding you can do a nautical theme. Get life preservers and hang on the wall as picture frames (which you could put the croc hunters photos in) and you can take heavy rope (like anchor rope) and wrap around a bed side lamp (around the stand). Place a shade with anchors on it on top. Use blues in the wall color. You can even go for the shipwrecked theme...I can see a ten year old boy still loving that theme. Make it fun, build a hanging chair from a fishing net in one corner from the ceiling. Good luck!

Answer 3

Hope this helps, You said he can't tell you what he likes but you seem to know what he likes. Start showing him all sorts of pictures and objects. I personally stay away from anything that has to do with movies and characters. They are what you call a fad , in and out tomorrow . The fish tank thing ,sounds neat but might be kind of high maintenance. I have salt water fish. I really like your idea on the animal theme , Plus what kid doesn't like animals? you said he loves the croc. hunter. Go from there and get wild!!!!!!!

Answer 4

I would go with the zoo theme. He might grow out of Nemo and cars to quickly. For the zoo theme i would use a lot of brown and greens and make it kind of safari-ish. You could also use a fish tank for this theme as well and you could put turtles in it. Painting his favorite animals on the wall would look neat. I don't recommend wallpaper, its a hassle and not easy to paint over or take down.

Answer 5

Hi
my son is 3 1/2 and loves the cars film. He bizarrely calls all the characters i-cars. We finally got him to explain he means EYE- cars, because they have eyes. Anyway, Cars would be my choice, and my sons.
I would suggest pale blue walls, you could paint on motifs of the cars from the film, or buy decorative friezes - thing strips of paper round the top of the wall (sorry don't mean to be patronising, wasn't sure if you use the same word in the US). That way if he gets tired of it, you can take the pictures and frieze down without redecorating the whole thing.
You can buy all the duvet covers and pillowcases, and I have seen some big soft toy Cars, they would be good for the bed.
If you have furniture already, how about buying replacement handles/knobs on a cars theme?
You could get a car rug for the floor, or how about one of those playmats that has road layouts on, my son loves pushing his cars round those?
You could add a lampshade, night lights, bean bag.
Have fun.

Answer 6

The Zoo theme would work better because you can change things up, but in regard to your other two ideas, once they're outdated the entire room will need to be changed.

Answer 7

Find the sheets and comforter first and then go from there.
Use the colors that are in the bedding to enhance the theme.

All your idea sound fun.
Enjoy your new house.

Answer 8

Just another idea for you to think about. I think train themed rooms are adorable. I like the zoo one too.

Answer 9

The ideas are great. But I would stay away from the fish tank...