Unpopular Opinion: A child’s room should reflect who they are – not your Pinterest board

Interior designer Natalie Jahangiry is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on decorating a home to suit a busy family life while sticking to your aesthetic values, too. See the rest of her articles here.

I'm a design fanatic. I live and breathe creativity from the moment I wake up to the minute I go to bed. Whether it’s branding, packaging, websites, or interiors, design is at the core of who I am. Looking at where I am today, the career I’ve built, and how that’s shaped my interiors business Design and Refine, you could say this path was always in the making.

With that in mind, it’s probably no surprise that I live in a constant state of flux thinking “this needs to look beautiful” whether it’s online, in print, or throughout the rooms of our home. But with two girls (Lily, five and Rosa, three), our house has become a daily balancing act: creating something aesthetically pleasing, finding smart storage solutions, tidying up an endless stream of toys. And now, we’ve entered a new phase… navigating the battle of the wills. Two mini creatives with big opinions about what our home should look like. Sound familiar?

Looking back I’ve definitely fallen into the “must make the girls’ rooms Pinterest-worthy” trap. It’s so much easier to create a space that aligns with your own aesthetic, one that fits seamlessly with the rest of the house, than to genuinely design around what your kids want (and arguably need). I learned that the hard way in our old home where I started off on the wrong foot. Lily was only about two, but she had a very clear idea of what she wanted for her bedroom. I sort of listened, but ultimately pushed through with my own vision - a cute, hazy purple, beautifully designed space that looked great to me (above), but landed like a lead balloon when it wasn’t the shade or particular style she wanted. Don’t get me wrong, she liked it. But did she love it… no.

Learning from my past mistakes, I decided to give the girls more freedom to express themselves, with a helping hand, of course! However it’s their space, and they deserve a say in how it looks. A place where they can relax, feel safe, have fun, and be proud to call their own.

First on the agenda was deciding whether they wanted to share a room or have separate spaces. Luckily, they both agreed they definitely wanted each other’s company, a great place to start. We then tackled colours. Of course, pink was their top pick! Though I fought the urge to suggest a beautiful dusky pink accompanied by a classic like F&B’s Sulking Room Pink or a more gentle setting plaster hue, I let them look through my swatches and give me their ideal palette before gently guiding them into the right direction.

The thing about colour palettes in bedrooms is that they need to feel calm, something that helps the brain wind down for sleep (more on colour theory coming soon). So, I encouraged them away from full-on bubblegum pink with barbie pink accents and instead, we landed on a compromise: tones that weren’t too candy-sweet, but still bold enough to make the required statement.

Then Lily asked for a stripy pink wardrobe, so that’s exactly what we did, decorating it together on a rainy afternoon. It was wonderful to see how happy she was with herself for both her involvement in the design idea and helping the creation come to life. Next came the beds. I would have preferred a delicate daisy rattan headboard, similar to what Lily had in the first design of this very room (yes, you read that right, I’d already painstakingly decorated and styled this room once before). But no — they both wanted bold matching pink velvet beds from Dunlem, so that’s what we got!

After that, I gathered all the little bits and bobs we’d collected over the years, pictures, books, and trinkets, and laid them out on the floor so the girls could choose what to hang on the walls.

There were a few items I chose to bring the room’s flow together, but only with the approval of the mini creatives first. These included Little People, Big Dreams books, which not only look great on the shelves but also serve an educational purpose. We added polaroid pictures taken over the years, artwork lovingly created by my auntie, sentimental prints and some bold personalised art from Lorna Freytag, since they love seeing their names showcased throughout their space. To complement this, I incorporated some smart IKEA Trofast storage that we painted pink to match the walls, along with small Sostrene Grene stackable crates to hide ‘stuff’, and created a cosy reading nook to house all their beloved books.

Finally, the cherry on top was letting them each choose their own bedcover. We originally had matching Frozen bedsheets (a phase we’ve clearly moved past!), but recently they decided to switch things up. Lily went for a subtle red-and-pink Hello Kitty spread, you could even say she’s on trend with her colour choices here, while Rosa opted for a bold and cheerful Squishmallows design.

Is the room exactly what I would have chosen? Not quite. But is it what they wanted? Definitely. And whenever their friends come over, they race upstairs to show off their space and, of course, have a good bounce on the beds to celebrate.

And the question on everyone’s lips... do they sleep? Absolutely. Well - sometimes.