Kids room feature - Top tips for transforming a room without breaking the bank

Here at Hope & Jade we're thrilled to bring you our first kids room feature blog. Each month we will be showcasing some of the best nurseries, kids rooms and play rooms on the gram. Join us each month as we are joined by some wonderful interior stylists who share their top tips and tricks for creating magic in kids spaces! 

Welcome Michelle @mystylemyloves

For our very first blog feature we would love to introduce you to Michelle, the Scandi loving mum of two from Melbourne who has a passion for interior styling and home organisation.

Michelle with her husband Glen and their adorable kids Ryan and Grace.

Welcome Michelle, Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

I’m a Melbourne based wife and Mum. My husband, Glen, and I got married in 2015 and it was on our honeymoon in Hawaii that we found out we were pregnant with our first baby. Fast forward to now, and we have a 3 and a half year old son, Ryan, and a 1 and a half year old daughter, Grace. Among the chaos of the kids we have just about finished renovating our house and we’ve both loved the process. We like to keep busy so we are always looking for little projects to do and ways to modernize our home. When we are not working on perfecting our home interiors we are doing the complete opposite and camping around country Victoria (definitely no beautiful décor pieces there).

When did you first get interested in kids interiors?

When Ryan was born we were in the process of selling and buying our home, so his room was kept very basic. Then we didn’t even up finding a new house before the settlement of our first home so we had to move back into my parents. Whilst we continued hunting for a new home,I was still not able to really make Ryan his own room. So when we finally found our forever home and had moved in I desperately wanted to create him his own space. It was the first project we took on and I loved every minute of it. It was here that my love for kid’s interiors really began, and it is definitely still my favourite type of interiors to work with and possibly my most requested design service.

Contact Michelle for styling and design services via Instagram @mystylemyloves or email michelledalton89@hotmail.com

What styles or themes inspire you?

I am a big fan of Scandinavian design with slight vintage/retro touches, and that’s the design style you’ll find through the kid’s rooms and the rest of my home. I am however inspired by so many styles and I love getting the opportunity to work with different styles.

What has been your favourite room to style to date?

That would be my son’s toddler bedroom. I’ve loved designing and styling this room and bringing in touches of his own personality whilst tying it into our home décor. I love doing baby nurseries too but I do like to think of the practicalities when you have a nursery and ensuring you can easily access all the bits and pieces you need with a new baby. Once they transition into a toddler bedroom you have a bit more leeway with the space and their own personality to draw inspiration from.

Michelle takes a practical yet stylish approach to designing babies nurseries

What challenges have you faced when styling kids interiors?

Prior to undertaking a bit of study, I ran into a few issues with furniture sizing and pieces fitting the way I had visually planned as a result of the lack of proper spatial planning. I now always draw to scale plans of a space to ensure everything will work. The other challenge and very important factor when styling kids rooms is safety and ensuring the space is child proof with only age appropriate pieces.

What is your go-to place for inspiration and ideas?

Instagam!! Its full of inspiration and I’ll often search hashtags such as #kidsinteriors #toddlerbedrooms etc to really draw in on specific ideas. I also use Pinterest a lot. It’s such great resource for interior inspo especially kids interiors.

What is your favourite feature in your kids room at the moment?

Ryan’s room would have to be his wallpaper, pendant light and his new Tiny Harlow dolls house cabinet. I am in the process of planning Grace’s toddler bedroom so you’ll have to watch this space to see my favourite feature and the piece I am most excited about.

Michelle's favourite features in Ryan's room is the wallpaper, pendant light and doll house cabinet. 

How have you successfully blended your design ideas with your child's interests in their room?

I add my children’s interests into their rooms quite subtly, but it’s always enough for them to see and love it. Ryan loves imaginative play and going on “adventures” so his snowy mountains wallpaper which features soft grey's and whites was the perfect way to blend my style in with his adventurous personality. I also love adding their interests in through bedding or wall art. These are great ways to blend styles and there are so many stylish prints and patterns for kids around these days that can be easily tied into my own style.

How does your child's room represent their personality? 

Ryan’s room is a dreamy and calm space with a touch of fun which is a great representation of his personality (most of the time). His bedding and beside décor is forever because like most 3 year olds his favourite thing are constantly changing so I often mix and match different pieces from the playroom or around the house. That’s the beauty of buying pieces for the kids room that tie into the rest of the home.
Grace’s big girl bedroom will be a little more bold but very girly to represent her cheeky and outgoing little girl personality.

How did you decide on a theme for your kids room?

I usually start with one or two décor details that I love and plan the space around that. It’s usually a big ticket item (piece of furniture, wallpaper, large artwork etc).

What are your top three tips for someone planning a nursery or kids room?

1. Planning, Research and more planning; this will help ensure everything you place in the room fits well together and doesn’t become mismatched.

2. Keep your big ticket items (beds, dressers etc) neutral so they serve as a blank canvas for the decorative items that will change with little ones forever changing interests.

3. Have fun with it! And if it’s a kid bedroom let them pick something for the room so they really feel like it’s their space. Wall art for example is a great one for them to pick. You can pick a few that you really love but then let them pick their favourite from the bunch.

Michelle suggests keeping big ticket items neutral to create a blank canvas for the decorative pieces. 

Thank you Michelle

A big thank you to Michelle for sharing all your tips and ideas with us. To connect with Michelle or to hear more about her styling and design services be sure to contact her on Instagram or via email.

Michelle Dalton - https://www.instagram.com/mystylemyloves/

michelledalton89@hotmail.com