Toddler Room Ideas

[BabbyO]

We are expecting #2 and for logistical reasons we'll be moving DS from his current room/nursery to a new room. We've decided to keep his crib for him and get the new baby his/her own, so his bed won't be changing, but his room will be.

The nursery is decorated in Dr. Seuss. Each wall is a different color (pale yellow, lt green, lt blue/teal, and periwinkle purple. On each wall is a mural from Dr. Suess books. We have the Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham, Fox in Sox and the Lorax. His dresser has One Fish, Two Fish...painted on each of the 4 drawers. It is a super fun nursery and I'm kinda bummed to be moving him from it.

Does anyone have any ideas of ways we can decorate the new room for DS. He will be 26 mo when #2 arrives, but we'll probably move him into the new room near or just before his 2nd birthday. I just don't quite know what to decorate. He's into SO many things...he loves music and dancing, he's discovering his colors (green seems to be his favorite right now), he LOVES animals and is the most gentle kid I've ever seen with animals, he loves his trucks (had a ball at the car show 2 weekends ago). I'm just feeling overwhelmed with ideas. We'd probably decorate similar to the nursery by painting murals and an old dresser.

TIA

[boilermakermom]

Trains or trucks. Fire trucks/police cars too. Are you and your husband spots fans? We are big Chicago cub fans. There is a ton of super cute wall decor, etc. for kids rooms.

[BeachBum]

I think I'd leave him in "his" room and just make a new nursery. To me, the Suess theme is very toddlerish (in a good way). It doesn't seem like it's something he's outgrown, but actually is just growing into. It could certainly last him into his preschool years if you wanted it too.

I'm not much of a theme decorator myself. But I've been working on a toddler room for my boys. We just converted their cribs to toddler beds and I'm using it as an excuse to redecorate and freshen up in there. I started with a rug (bold) and drapes (stripes and solids), and solid bedding, striped bedskirt. I'm looking for some fabric now for throw pillows/ bolsters for their beds, and figure I can change those as their interests change. If anything the room is a nod to nautical--with the main colors being bright yellow and navy. The walls are pale blue.

My older son's (5yrs) room is similar, but uses primarily red with navy. It's been great to swap in and out themes (firetrucks, sailboats, madras). His walls are pale, green. I've been able to update and change things with just accessories, and art displays on his bookshelves and inexpensive quilts I've picked up at homegoods.

Have fun!

[kedss]

I agree to keep him in the Seuss Room, any reason not to?

[Dr C]

I'm going to guess that there's a reason you're planning to switch rooms, though I agree with PP that Dr. Seuss is a great idea for a toddler room!

Assuming you are going to make the switch, I'd go with something that will last him at least until early elementary school. You're not going to want to repaint the nursery with two little kids underfoot, KWIM?
So, I'm thinking about things that my 4 y.o. would still like:

Racecars
Sports
Dinosaurs
Legos?


I feel like he's mostly outgrown construction and trains. He LOVES animals but I don't see him wanting them for his room a couple years down the road (too "girly"). Fierce ones like sharks or alligators might be ok, but then I'd worry he might get scared at night when your little "tough guy" isn't quite so tough!

I love the idea of doing another room from children's literature but can't off the top of my head think of anything that he won't outgrow too fast. Eric Carle and Curious George or Beatrix potter come to mind but I don't see a 7 year old boy tolerating that (or even a 5 y.o.!) Anybody have any better ideas?

Could you do another Seuss room with the books for older kids--like the Sneetches and Horton, and Thidwick the good hearted Moose, and the 500 hats of Bartholomew (what's his last name?)?

If you wanted to do a Disney theme there are some good choices for a boy. Cars comes to mind.

Have a great time with it!!

[Nyfeara]

DS just turned 3. We moved him into his new room on Christmas morning, big bow on the door and all. We have DS2 coming along in July, so we moved DS1 out of the animal/safari nursery (smaller room) into a larger room.

We painted his walls a denim blue on bottom; with red, white, denim blue, white, red horizontal stripes a little more than halfway up the wall; then a medium blue on top. It goes great with the Target transportation theme bedding. We did the wall decals this time around. When we did the nursery, I painted the animals on the walls but we didn't want to do anything that elaborate with his current room. We wanted to be able to change the theme easily as his interests changed. The colors go well with most boys' bedding we've seen. We were shooting for something that could easily grow & adapt with him. We'll just change up the decals, bedding, and other decor as he changes interests.

[MSWR0319]

When we moved into our new house, DS was just about 18mo. I didn't want to do a baby theme just to have to turn around and do a toddler theme, so we picked a color theme and then will change accessories as he grows. His walls are a "mud" color, with a large blueish/tealish stripe and two smaller brick red stripes on either side. Very classic looking. Then I got an animal bedding set and some wall decorations that would match. When he gets older we'll just change decorations,etc and not have to repaint.

[BabbyO]

I agree to keep him in the Seuss Room, any reason not to?

Well, I was thinking ahead...but not quite clearly when we had that room decorated. I was thinking all the bright colors would be great for baby stage plus he'd grow into it. And it was gender neutral since we didn't know if it would be a boy or girl.

However, it is the SIGNIFICANTLY smaller room and it doesn't make sense to put the baby in the larger room AND have to decorate that room too. If we end up with 2 boys, as they get older they'll share the larger room and the smaller one will go back to being a spare or office. If we don't...well, we'll figure it out as we go.

Moving DS into the larger room will also allow him to have toys in his room and space to play in his room. Right now the his room is SO small he rarely plays in there.

I'll admit, I'm kicking myself for not having the larger room done in Seuss.

ETA: Dr C - I LOVE the lego idea.

I'm also starting to think about maybe trying to incorporate sensory items on the walls or maybe something like chalkboard or magnetic paint....

[kedss]

I like the Eric Carle idea. Maybe do a mural on one/two wall (s) different Carle animals, then a wall of chalkboard paint?

[ohiomom1121]

I love the Eric Carle idea too. There are tons of items on this site that you could use.
http://www.carlemuseum.org/Shop/Art_...ns_Wall_Decals

There's also a few books with his artwork made to hang.
http://www.amazon.com/Eric-Carle-Dec...9629597&sr=8-1

or you could paint a big caterpillar on the wall and use the colors with solid bedding pieces, pillows etc. Could be really cute. I have a few of his posters framed in our playroom that look great.