Hi,

When we have a child, slowly our cupboards fill up, our room furniture increases with more storage, our space decreases & we start looking out for various new home décor which would be more about USE than about DÉCOR 

So, here is a list of our most used child room décor:

(1) A small table & Chair.

As my daughter grew older we realized that we do a number of activities which are primarily messy and required a proper seating arrangement. Painting, coloring, writing, clay play, crafts everything needs a right posture for the child. It also helps children get used to sitting in the right way to study.

It is important to get a table & a chair of the right size for the child. The chair should also be of the right height for the table.

(2) Book Rack

We all know and have read the advantages of inculcating a habit of reading. How can we aid this reading habit? Simple, get a book rack. Stack them up neatly & more important, visibly.

An open book rack should be of the right height for the child so that he or she can reach out to a book or choose a book to read. Although, we would prefer a closed book rack so that the books are not dusty, I find that this works very well with us. And every day my daughter chooses which books she wants me to read to her.

Now, that she is three, there are some rules too 😉 She has to keep the books back in the rack after she has finished reading them. She is not to tear any pages or write on any of the pages. If any books get damaged, she has to get them over to me to be mended.

(3) A two-way writing board

She loves role play and being a teacher is one of her favorite roles. This writing board was gifted to her for her birthday. It can be used in two ways – it has a chalk board and a white board. So, she can either use a chalk or a pen.

Sometimes she might allow me to be the teacher too.

(4) A show case string

It is very important to show case your kids work. There are various ways you can do this.

• Use a wall only for this purpose. Use the right sticky partners not to damage the wall.

• Use the fridge with the help of magnets.

• Use the cupboards with the right sticky partner so as not to damage the wood or paint.

We have simply used two nails and a satin ribbon. We got the nails drilled so that they are able to take weight and tied a simple satin ribbon. Now, with the help of crocodile clips, we just hang up most of our activities.

(5) Toy rack

When there are kids, there are toys. Toys that we need, toys that we don’t need, toys of their age, toys for a lower age group, toys for a higher age group, toys which are a mess to clean up and pick up all the pieces, toys which need gentle love. All kinds of toys.

It is important to designate a proper place to keep the toys. Here are some tips which I was able to follow whenever I was sane.

• For younger kids, having a toy basket handy to just (pardon the word but, it sounds just right) dump the toys into it.

• Toys which are suitable for a higher age group can be stored neatly in a closed cupboard. If they are seen, they are exactly what the child will ask for. 

• Toys which are for an age group younger to your child, give them away to relatives with younger kids, donate them or just store them neatly packed in places where you don’t do regular dusting. I wish we all had those attics they seemed to talk about in my story books.

What works for us currently is a toy rack. This was a carpenter’s table which was used by them to reach out to higher grounds. I used it initially as a book-case & a toy case and as you can see our “needs” grew so, now we are using it as a toy rack.

We have stored the games & activities here in most of the packaging boxes so that we could stack them up neatly. Lego is in a huge Tupperware box & so are our activity extra supplies. These are stackable too.

Benefits of the toy rack:

• The child can see all the toys which she can currently play with.

• She chooses whichever toys she wants to play. So, she is making a decision here.

• It is handy to remove toys by themselves but, she has to keep the toys back after playing with them. Of course, she says, “But, will you help me Mamma?” and you can never refuse, can you?

I hope you will try some of these & find them useful too and I am sure each of you moms have found your own solutions too. I would love it if you share some of them with us because as a mom, I am always looking for storage solutions, useful child room decor and in general simple tips which can improve my life & my sanity.

Please do share your tips.

[Written for WordPress Daily Prompts : 365 Writing Prompts aimed at posting at least once a day, based on the prompts provided. The prompt for today was – “Who doesn’t love a list? So write one! Top five slices of pizza in your town, ten reasons disco will never die, the three secrets to happiness — go silly or go deep, just go list-y.”]

Love,

Poornima