hum….tricky one. taylor has a cinderella pillow case that isn’t the prettiest thing and so when i make up her bed i put her monogrammed shams in front of it but she has her “special pillow” to sleep on.
-Shannon Darby pink wallpaper
I would like to say that that tacky stuff wouldn’t bother me too much but just in case it does I’m thinking that I will try to use the art of distraction to resolve this issue (haven’t had an issue yet so I’m looking for any advice on this one myself). Anyway here is how I think it is going to play out in our home when that tackiness creeps in:-) haha
ROLL PLAY
Little Johnny: “Look Mom I just hung up this really cool picture of Barney in my room and I really like it.”
Mom: “Oh little Johnny purple is pretty neat all right but I have this canvas that I would love for you to create some of your fabulous artwork on so that we can hang it in that very spot instead. Your artwork would be even that much cooler then the Barns.”
I am hoping something similar might work in the future.
-Christina Brian full house
I let my children display their treasures in their rooms. I figure, their bedroom is their personal space. If a trophy or figurine is important to them they should be able to display it proudly. I want them to be happy + comfortable in their rooms and if a plaster puppy figurine that was painted at a friends birthday party makes them happy, so be it.
-Danyelle Mathews dandee designs
Luckily they actually have pretty great taste and don’t like a lot of things I don’t like! If they do become attached to something I don’t care for it does stay in the room and we figure out how to make it work. Plus, these items are usually a temporary fascination and they tend to leave about as quickly as they show up.
It’s really important for kids to have some “say” in how their space looks. Sometimes I’ll give them options that are a “win-win” for both of us. Also, I put a huge bulleting board behind the door. They can put up any superhero posters they want as long as it stays on that bulletin board.
-Michelle Hinckley Three Men and a Lady
The only Princess decor in my daughter’s room is temporary. She has a plastic princess vanity that she got from her grandparents for Christmas. No character decor is allowed in Casa De Salmon. My girlfriends were shocked that I actually allow my girls have Disney Princess nightgowns. It helps to display tasteful items that have special meaning to your kids. For example, Elizabeth and I collect seashells each time we go to the beach. We keep those in a jar on her dresser, while all of the princess toys go into her toy baskets.
– Krista Salmon Kiki’s List
My 6-year-old son is a major pack rat. So, I’ve started investing in different glass jars and containers to store all of his little knick-knacks. I am also working on incorporating shelving into my kids’ rooms. Bottom line is even though it makes Mommy crazy, they’re proud of their stuff and their rooms.
Darn good question! So much of it is just plain tacky, isn’t it! I am not ashamed to admit that I actually designed our bonus room {which has the majority of the kids’ toys} around the Fisher Price color scheme! Ridiculous, right. But I couldn’t handle the toys not coordinating with the room. So I used a lot of the warm tones including reds, gold, and dark brown furniture. The toys don’t seem to clash with those color choices. We also use the Expedit in that room with a lot of bins for their toys. Keeps things tucked away. I have a place to display their art as well. I also couldn’t handle things being hung up all over the place {do I sound crazy yet}. So the kids get to pick their favorites to display and we hang them up over their toy area. They love it and I like that it isn’t taking over the house.
-Courtney Fernan A Thoughtful Place 
Well, when i was growing up, my mom did not appreciate my “tacky” stuff that i had in my room. She wanted the room to look the way she wanted…and it always hurt my feelings. So, I’ve embraced my kids “decorating style”…yes, it tends to drive me crazy, but that’s why we have doors on their rooms. I just shut it when the tackiness is getting a bit crazy. I do love decorating their rooms…and I do the basics, and then they are allowed to add their flare.
That is one room I don’t mind having not perfectly decorated. Its his little space that takes more energy to keep well kept than its worth so i let it be:)
-Anna Liesemeyer In Honor of Design
Create a display area that contains the “tacky” stuff – whether it’s something like Pottery Barn’s wall shelving or IKEA’s Expedit bookshelves. Everything looks better grouped … or at least corralled! For those ubiquitous art projects, I love using bulletin boards or art cable displays (basically a wall-mounted clothesline). Frame groupings also look fantastic. Mix in family photos, and make sure you use frames that are easy to remove the back and swap out the picture. I must admit, however, that – despite my best efforts – Charlie’s “pet dinosaur” is currently living in an Amazon.com packing box at the foot of his bed.
***keep in mind… my children are young… so this answer will work well for mothers of small children, just starting school***
We haven’t really gotten into TOO much of that yet, with my kids being so young…meaning… no SUPER scary artwork, or funny looking pottery, LOL… but ONE good way that we have decided to keep our “creations” in check, is to put them in a place where the kids can reference and look at them frequently.
We have a book like this:
Really… as you can see, NOTHING special…(in the looks department, anyways) lol. It’s just a plain ol’ 3 inch binder, with all of my kids’s artwork and creations in there.
I DO try to write a little note at the bottom of each piece that I keep, to remember WHO did it, and WHEN it was done.
As far as “school” work that comes home… at the risk of sounding like an awful mother, to some… I keep about 1 piece of artwork a week, and ditch the rest.
Usually, I’ll keep the weeks work, just in the kitchen, on top of the fridge, or something, and then on Friday… I just pick the ones the girls loved the most, and ditch the rest!
You can’t keep EVERYTHING… so keep the stuff that speaks the loudest about your child, and store it somewhere safe, like in some protective sleeves, so that your kids can enjoy them 🙂
They won’t even remember the silly other little things that you got rid of. Promise 🙂
-Shelley Smith House of Smiths
I keep the toys in the family room in cute baskets and the toys in her bedroom go in the closet when they aren’t being played with. I am always on the lookout for cute toy bins…ZARA home makes the best ones! I hide the big toys like the ball table in the closet when I have guests over:)
I give each of my three kids “free reign” over their bulletin board. Anything goes. They can also put anything they want on their night stands, and each have a “junk drawer” for all of those little treasures that they collect.
– Autumn Design Dump
Luckily, my kids are still young enough that I don’t have to fight this one yet! But I think every one (even kids) should be able to live in their personal space with the things they really love. It reminds me of how nice my mom was to me growing up. In junior high, we moved to a new house and she and I worked together to decorate my (own!) bedroom. It was a beautiful room, but then one day she came home to me hanging up Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins posters! And she let me keep them up! (but she always shut the door to my room first when guest came over) I think I’ll have the same approach when the time comes when my girls will inevitably want to display some ZhuZhu pets on their Draper chest, or a Jonas Brothers poster on their Schumacher papered walls. Get the foundations of the room right, and then let your children accessorize.
– Jenny Little Green Notebook
Creating a gallery wall can be the perfect way to incorporate a child’s personal items. An eclectic mixture of their art, shelving for their favorite childhood toys, and a collage of pictures is aesthetically pleasing and adds personality and charm to the space.
I’d love to hear from you! How do you tackle the “tacky” stuff your kids want to display?
Absolutely loved this! So glad that I'm not alone…
I HATE the way most plastic toys look…eww. I try to hide them as much as possible and offer "cuter" (wooden/classic) alternatives. Hahaha..
Im currently struggling with this. I am working together with my 9 year old daughter to makeover her room. We are slowly educating her in “good taste”. She knew she wanted a pink bedroom and i said yes it can be very pink but then we talked about why i chose the more muted desaturated color sample than the Barbie shade she picked out and after painting a sample she loves it. She has been wanting things to match and is embracing vintage and antique pieces for her room. Then after a visit to my Sister-in-laws she came home with a giant crafted dream catcher made with both silver and gold metal red feathers and chandelier crystals. Shes very excited to hang it above her bed. I loathe it. And we cant very well hang it in her closet aka dressing room since a dream catcher doesn’t work unless it is above the bed. Much advice is needed. All ive come up with is faking a break in. My line:” Dang that thief just really wanted a couple giant purple squishmellows and a sparkly dream catcher.” Help.
Great suggestions!
As far as toy storage; I have loved our train table from PB Kids. Many people have mistaken it for a coffee table.
Fantastic idea for a post and great advice. Thank you.
I've recently taken down a giant poster of my son's face fused onto Anakin Skywalker (thank you Disneyland.) He hasn't seemed to notice that it is AWOL. If he asks for it back I'll give it…but I do still like to edit (a little) what goes in there 🙂
This was such a fun post! I can't wait to be a mommy, too! I'll keep these tips in mind (:
Wow I am shocked by some of the parents, only allowing posters to go on a special board, or things they don't liek to not go in the room??? I would never do that to my son, it's his room and it doesnt need to look like a boring designer room! He can have it any which way he wants it. Of course as he gets older I will help in the design but he essentially has his say.
SI think a lot of you would hate my boys room, it's a messy mismatch of all the things he loves (cars) but I love his room! It's what a kids room should look like.
http://our-own-home.blogspot.com/2010/10/ss-car-room.html
I find that pottery barn kids has great stuff and we use it in every room. Although I am all about letting my kids buy buzz lightyear stuff and decorate our playroom. I don't love it but it's not about me, it's about letting them enjoy their space. My hubs and I always discuss that we want to have the best house for our kids to play in because then they'll want to be home with their friends and we get to share in all the fun with them!
I love Courtney's idea of decorating her room with Fisher Price's color scheme in mind. That's amazing, and something I would totally do!!
I also liked Shelly's binder of art projects. I read an article recently that said you can't keep all of your child's art, so only keep pieces that show growth AND that actually look like something… so no pages with pink crayon scribbled all over, but you'd keep the one that actually looks like a house or dog or whatever.
LOVE that first pictures and all the nuggets of wisdom given@!!!
Really enjoying this series! So many great perspectives!
OMG! Thanks you so much for these great tips!
I have this problem with my 6year old!!! She LOVES this TACKY pink princess clock that her grandpa found for her at the DI. I seriously cringed when he told her to hang it on her wall!!!! I just finished decorating it so dang cute – the darn thing ruins the entire room! My husband thinks I am a freak cause it bugs me so bad!
I love the billy bookcase from ikea. I bought cute baskets at home goods. I store all of their "ugly" stuff in there. It helps for easy clean up too!
fun2bkids.blogspot.com
I am with Emily, my son is a pack rat and I have jars from Ikea to house his collections. Also on his shelving I have baskets that hold all the plastic trinkets he has. Regarding posters, why not frame them like other art and create a gallery wall? I have my kids art framed, mats and all, hanging up all over the house.
Honestly, while I want my home to look awesome, I would NEVER not let my boys put something up in their rooms because it's not "fashionable". Really? It almost seems in a way that we have put so much emphasis on that being the most important thing rather than the child's room being a sanctuary for them, holding the things they love, their favorite place.
I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that people are really this concerned about it. You have kids. They have toys. Collections, tacky stuff. They are kids! Revel in the toys and tacky crap for now! It sure doesn't last long. I know I already miss how excited my 3 yr. old got over his Spiderman shoes that Grandma bought him a year ago. Were they hideous? Absolutely. But he LOVED them. Believe me, I struggle with this issue too. I want my home to be beautiful and have nice things, but I also want it to feel lived in and comforting. My kids live there too. I think this is a great post, really I do! But to hear so many people saying they don't let their kids put stuff up or whatever is just sad! But yes, creative tips on how to store toys, I want to hear all about it!
Oh how the time of tacky Fisher Price toys flies by. My house used to be littered with them, even when we had a playroom with baskets to hide it all. And in the blink of an eye all those toys were handed down to friends with babes and now my kids covet iPods and the like, and I am sorry I ever worried about "hiding" the mess. Now that my kids are 12, 10 and 8 we compromise on the big things like the color of their bedroom walls, the comfortor, etc. but after that – I want them to explore decorating their space in a way that makes THEM happy. I have the rest of the house to play with!
I have a 12 year old girl and honestly as much as I miss her being a baby I don't miss all the plastic things that littered my house that grandma just couldn't pass up and I did things like some of your bloggers wrote about like the no princess stuff for her bedspread etc, I let her wear the dress up clothes and did the pillowcase thing, besides it being hideous it's cheaply made and always seemed to be a fire hazard! I feel like the older she gets the less of a say I have in what she likes and doesn't like so it's a great way to compromise and meet half way, in fact I just finished her room and honestly it's not something I would of picked out but she loves it. Here's a look at it if anyone wants to see it http://housetoyourhome.com/2010/10/05/tackling-the-tween-bedroom/.
This is one of those debates like should you be a stay at home mom or go to work outside the home mom.
I love that first picture! I have really enjoyed reading your series on kids and design. It is 'week of the child' where I live so I have been doing posts all week showcasing design with kids in mind- It's been great to read what other people think about mixing children and decor- a great series!
Love reading about what all the mums have to say!
How do I tackle the tacky? I give them display shelves and let them be proud (in their rooms!).
Happy to be your newest follower 🙂
We gave our daughter lots of colored chalk and let her draw on the walls. As she got older, she washed off earlier work. By the time she was 12, all four walls and the ceiling were works of art.
For artwork, grasscloth wall paper. It is very durable and masks the thumb tack holes.
Generic or solid colored coverlet or blanket but whatever sheets they want
I also allow them to pick out a favorite color from paint chips, I use it in some way. (Oh! You want orange walls? why don't we paint this lamp orange together? lets see how that looks first, ok?)
Too much artwork? Scan a months or a years worth of their pictures and make a poster out of it. You would never believe how cool 50 pictures look in 2.5"x2.5" size
I love that my daughter loves her princess nightgowns! Some of my best memories of my son are of him running and jumping to see the lights in his Lion King shoes LIGHT up! Allow your kids to be KIDS! I hate the junk in the rooms..I let it hang out for a while and then trash it..or if its worth saving..I put it in their own personal box! Good luck people..but, let's be honest they are only young once and someday I can decorate their rooms anyway I want!
Wow! You, very attentive to needs of children who may not be performed by another person like me. You are very attentive to the kids!