How to Decorate a Shared Boy & Girl Room

This post and series is brought to you by one of my favorite places to shop for Kids, Land of Nod! 

My friend Lisa is living in a two bedroom house right now. Her 3 year old boy's room was already small to begin with so she had quite the challenge ahead of her when she found out she was pregnant with a girl! Somehow she had to tackle the task of creating a space for her baby girl and her toddler boy in a small room with a small budget! 

Decorating a shared space can be very difficult. Lisa loves pink and refused to have a nursery for her baby girl without some girly elements which leads to my first tip:

1 //  Don't be afraid to use blue and pink. 

There is no reason a room for both genders needs to be gender-nuetral. Her sons' nightstand houses toy and book storage and it also has a blue lamp with a pink "love" sign. The key is not to make one or the other the main color but use both as accent colors. You can see Lisa used green as the main color in the room with pops of pink and blue. 

2 // Along with tip #1 tip #2 is: Incorporate girly elements with boyish elements. On her gallery wall she has a girly print and a print just for her Roman. They look great together and neither make the room feel too girly or too boyish. 

Tip 3 // is to give each child their own "space". While I don't think you should draw a line down the center of the room and paint one side pink and the other side blue I do think it's nice to give each child something of their own. In Lisa's room she made sure Roman's bed had a more masculine feel while Norah's crib was definitely meant for a girl. 

Don't be afraid to use florals either! Lisa picked a great floral that had all the right colors in it for her daughter's crib. 

She made the wood sign herself and also sewed all her own bedding and window treatments to save money. 

4 //  Incorporate lots of white. White is a great neutral balance for a room with lots of color. While this dresser may feel feminine a coat of white paint allows it to work with either a girl or a boy. 

Lisa doesn't have a playroom so this small room has to store most of her kids toys. This fire station is loved by both of her kids and although it feels more fit for a boy Norah can easily play with her dolls in here when she gets older. 

Lisa created a room for her two kids that feels fit for a girl and also fit for a boy. She also was able to make all the changes to the room for under $500! She already had most of the furniture and what she did buy she got for free or on sale. 

I often pin spaces that will work for girls or boys to my Kid's Spaces and Products Pinterest board. Here are some rooms I've pinned lately that would work for both genders. 

This room uses a lot of white to balance out the many colors that are going on. A boy or girl would feel happy in this room and I love how the parents incorporated a monogram over each bed to make the child feel like they have their own space in this shared room. 

This room also does a terrific job of giving each child their own space. The silhouettes and monograms are a great touch! 

image via The Land of Nod

No need to shy away from floral headboards as you can see from this shared space! 

image via Stephmodo

Find a fabric that has blue and pink in it and take it from there. You automatically create a space for both genders by doing that. 

This room could totally work for a girl and boy. The blue and bright orange make it feel a little more masculine but you see sweet girly touches as well. The lotus lamp, butterfly print and cute doll make you think a girl sleeps here as well! 

image via The Land of Nod

This room works well because the two sides are identical just with different colors so it remains unique but also cohesive. 

The Jenny Lind style is a classic that is sure to be around for awhile. Land of Nod now brings you the Spindle Jenny Lind bed in an array of great colors! This bed would work well for your boy or your girl! The Land of Nod also has an adorable trundle to fit snugly under your Jenny Lind bed. 

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Good Design With Kids in Mind and Sweet Little Peanut

Throughout this series I wanted to take some sneak peaks into blogger's real homes and get a feel for the solutions that work for them.  Megan from Sweet Little Peanut is giving us a peak into her art corner in her home. Not all of us have playrooms and we have to make do in a small space. I love her solution for her little boys' art corner. 

We live in a town home like many other young families and while it's a pretty decent size home we don't have the luxury of a play room and our boy's rooms are upstairs. For us it just inst realistic to keep all of their toys and stuff in their room since we spend the majority of our time in our main living room and kitchen. So we have found ways to be able to keep some of their favorite toys and activities in our living room and also keep it looking stylish and put together.

I grew up with a love for art and spent a lot of time painting with my older brother. I wanted to pass on my love for art and creativity to my kids so for Christmas we got our boys a cute art table and chairs. We debated on where we should put the table... if it should go in their room or if we should put it in our living room. We ultimately decided that it would get more use if it was in a place that we were all the time as a family so we created a little "art corner" in our living room and it's now my favorite part of our house! 

This kids space is also the perfect area to store some of their toys! There are so many great options right now at almost any store from Pottery Barn Kids to Target to Ikea when it comes to storage bins so it's easy to find something that fits the style of your room. The art table is also the perfect for hiding toy bins under! My favorite thing in this corner would have to be the little art lazy susan from Pottery Barn Kids! It's perfect for holding + keeping organized all of those crayons and markers which helps to make art time a little less messy!

- Megan from Sweet Little Peanut 

This Easel-does-it easel is sturdy and stylish! One side allows your child to paint and create and the other side allows for practicing numbers and letters. This is a quality piece that will last for year to come. 

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What Are the Best Storage Solutions for Toys?

image via The Land of Nod 

My first question for my panel of experts is:

 How do you keep toys from taking over your house?

&

 What are your favorite storage solutions for toys.? 

It's nothing revolutionary but boxes and bins, pretty much all over the house, have been a life-saver for us.  To me, the key is to keep things accessible so the kids will want to engage with them, but to also be able to hide them away later when you have company.

In our living room alone, we have two bench ottomans with bins (6 total) plus an IKEA (expedit style) 10 cube shelving unit for toys.  In the play/art/dining room we also have lots of baskets and we try to find ways to repurpose or upcycle things.  So art supplies are stored in mason jars and our old changing table now serves as a shelving unit for craft supplies, toys, and play food that goes along with our play kitchen.

By far, my favorite storage solution has been our "art center".  I created it with IKEA supplies and a $70 budget and it's the perfect thing for keeping messy art supplies out of reach but still visible so the kids will remember to use them.

- Stephanie , Modern Parents Messy Kids

We live in less than 1400 square feet with two rowdy boys!  Our secret is a large screened in back porch and a huge back yard.  We have a playroom but it is upstairs and very seperate from the rest of our house.  They play up there some but honestly its the storage place for toys in rotation.  The "rotation methods" works great for us.  When they are no longer playing with the train table or big wooden ship or Melissa and Doug castle, it goes upstairs. When they spot something upstairs they want to bring down we switch things out.  The same with books. My oldest has also has secret boxes on wheels for his lego creations he can slide under his bed or other hiding places from his brother. We just put rolling casters on old soda crates for this storage. 

- Holly Mathis, Holly Mathis Interiors

We are fortunate enough to have a playroom which has really helped keep control of the toy situation around our home.  We keep all toys within the playroom, rather than stored in individual rooms.  By doing so, the kids have a fantastic place to play and the rest of the house stays tidy for living and entertaining.  Although, we are fairly laid back around here so if the kids would like to play in other areas of the home, we give them a thumbs up to bring their toys to the kitchen table or living room floor.  And our rules are fairly simple, they can keep their builds and messes out in the playroom, but not in other areas of the home.  This promotes more play within the designated play space.

I don't expect the playroom to ever look perfect; in fact, a mess shows me they are happily using their space.  However, we do try to pick up the miscellaneous toys after each play session, and the current cities, Lego builds and train tracks are free to stay out for the next round of play.

There was a time in which I would just pick up on behalf of the kids... You know, because I could do it better and faster and it was one less battle.  But when we updated our playroom and added designated toy storage, I decided that I would hand over the ownership of the room to the kiddos.  That meant creating super simple storage solutions for their belongings, which mainly consists of baskets and picture labels.  When it came to the mounds and mounds of Lego blocks, I asked the kids to select their preferred method of storage, and they decided to go with sorting by color.  By getting the kids involved, although it wasn't necessarily the system I would have picked, they understand it and maintain it with ease.

My biggest suggestion when it comes to kids and toys, is to really assess what the kids are interested in, and what they gravitate to time and time again.  We found that the boys were less interested in the single, random toys and more interested in the items that created larger play sets {Lincoln Logs, Legos, GeoTrax, etc...}.  By knowing this we were able to really purge out a variety of random items and focus on a few of their favorites to grow and expand on.  This was also helpful during birthdays and holidays, as we were able to let friends and family members know which toys would be the biggest hit with the kids, and reduce the chances of getting miscellaneous play-sets that we would need to create new storage for {or send off to Goodwill}. By limiting the different "kinds" of toys to a few favorites, it becomes easier to simplify the storage, and give each type of toy their own basket/bin/area.

When it comes to furniture in the playroom, we didn't want to invest in anything too expensive, yet we wanted function for a solid chunk of time.  IKEA is great for inexpensive items that can be "hacked" to look unique and custom, and we scoured Craigslist for a great solid oak entertainment center which we painted and swapped out the hardware.  This way, the investment is low, and if something should happen to the items over the years, tears won't be shed.

We haven't always been blessed with a playroom, and during those times we had to get a little more creative with the toy storage, but I ultimately found that there are all sorts of ways to seamlessly integrate toys into specific play areas around the home.  Storage ottomans or low cabinets in the living room, a sideboard in the kitchen and under bed drawers or baskets in the bedroom, are all ways to create quick access to toys, yet keep them concealed away during adult time.  When our space was more limited, I found I was rotating toys around more often, keeping some in storage and others in our living areas.

- Jen , I Heart Organizing 

Luckily for me, my girls aren't really into playing with massive amounts of toys. They would much rather do an art project, or play outside.  So I dont' have loads of them. I do keep 2 storage totes in each of their closets for toy storage, but that's it.  I also have a rule that everything needs to fit in them and if they get a new toy they need to give one that they don't play with anymore away. 

-Mandi, Vintage Revivals 

I have a three-year old son (James) and live in a two-story home with all the bedrooms upstairs.  James certainly likes to hang out and play with his toys downstairs in the living room, and I like having him near me too.  But, we want the shared living room space to be comfortable for the child and adults.  I found two inexpensive toy boxes at Wal-Mart (Sauder Shoal Creek Storage Chest).  They have a safety lid (that will remain open until you close it) and space for little fingers. The dimensions are 35.2 W x 15.2 D x 18.9 H.  I put them on either side of our media center and, because they are the same color as the cabinet, we barely notice them.  And one of them is hidden behind a chair!

We mainly keep the bigger items in the toy boxes, but have baskets for organizing smaller things like cars and puzzles.  The baskets fit nice and neat inside our end table.

 Creating labels with words and pictures make it easy for James to know where the toys belong when it's time to clean up.  I used clip are and a laminating machine to make the labels.

- Megan, Honey We're Home

Kids these days have SO MANY toys. Between holidays and birthdays, every parents I work with is struggling with how to get toy collections under control. STEP ONE: EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. If you have older kids (ages 6+), asking them to give up 2-3 toys before their birthdays and the holiday season serves the dual purpose of making room for new additions and teaching a valuable lesson of charity. Children under 6 have a much harder time understanding the concept of “giving away their toys” so for them I recommend parents pull some lesser used toys out of the rotation. If they ask about a particular toy that you’ve pulled, that toy can magically reappear after a nap. But if after a week they don’t make any mention of a toy, I think it’s safe to donate. STEP TWO: SELECT A STORAGE SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR YOUR SPACE AND WITH YOUR KID'S TOYS 

My 2 go-to toy storage solutions are the IKEA EXPEDIT. I love the flexibility of these units! Most kids have a mix of small and large toys and I find the EXPEDIT perfect for holding both. LEGOS, toy cars, Little People, etc can be corralled in bins and baskets. I like mixing ITSO bins from Target with Land of Nod's Top Box Storage Collection.The ITSO bins fit the EXPEDIT cubbies so snuggly, it makes me giddy - zero wasted space. And the Land of Nod Top Box bins are colorful and transparent, making it easy for kids to find what they're looking for. Larger toys can sit in the EXPEDIT's open cubbies.

If you don’t have room for a stand-alone storage unit just for toys, provide your child with a few dedicated baskets that you can lineup along a wall in your family room. Some of my favorites can be found here. Whichever storage solution you go with, I think it’s important to store like toys together and label bins (use pictures for younger kids). This helps empower kids to find what they want and facilitates easy cleanup.

- Dina, Honey & Fitz

I'm still working on this one myself.  With four little ones it is one of my biggest challenges.  I find that going through toys regularly is key.  Every few months I find myself doing a bit of a purge.  However, I do find trying to keep toys in one certain room almost impossible to do (at least while having toddlers in tow).  One of my solutions (or ways to manage) is to have some type of storage in every room.  That way picking up can be super easy and fast should guests just pop over.  Baskets and bins are my favorites for quick organization and clean up.  Some of my current faves are 

Crunch Can by Umbra (also great as a hamper)

Down to the Wire Storage Collection

Dotted Storage Collection

- Trina, La La Lovely

At our house, we have a little bit of toy storage in almost every room of the house- EXCEPT OUR KIDS BEDROOMS- because toys inevitably seem seep into every space.  In our great room, we have a couple of old wooden boxes on shelves where a few toys are kept. In our backyard we have one of those big boxes for outdoor toys and I love that thing.  In the kitchen, I’ve designated a drawer to crayons & art supplies and we also have a little “play” kitchen in the real kitchen which I love because it really occupies the kids while we cook & clean.  Only their “kitchen” toys are allowed here and I find it’s really important to keep certain toys in certain areas if things are to stay organized. In my bedroom, I keep a small basket under my nightstand to corral “left” toys & books into.  When it fills up, we take it to our main toy area and clear it out.  Our upstairs loft, which is basically a family room, is the main toy area.  Our boys’ bedrooms are right off of it so we don’t keep any toys in their bedrooms, which has been LIFE-CHANGING.  Their rooms are so easy to keep clean now that there are no toys in there.  They bring toys into their rooms to play every day, but when they clean up, the toys go into the baskets in the hutch in our family room. 

This room gets trashed pretty much every day because it’s their main play area but the baskets keep things organized.  (And I’m a bit of a Nazi about how many toys they can keep in the house at once.  We have a couple of bins of toys in the garage so the boys can swap out toys every couple of months or take out something special every now & then but we try not to keep very many toys in the house.)

- Lauren  Liess, Pure Style Home

In my own life and with client work I have found that the majority of people don't have a designated playroom due to lack of space. Personally I'm in the same boat as many of my clients and here are some tips I give them. I make sure to have toy areas for Hudson in every level of my home. This way I don't have to move things back and forth where I will inevitably lose something and add more clutter to my home plus this way Hudson can always be entertained. Now in a nursery it's natural to have toys out in the open and they just add to the cuteness factor of the room, but who wants to see fisherprice splashed all over the rest of your home? In order to help hide the toys I have a couple of go to storage solutions. 1. A storage trunk: Many of the options out that are let's face all wood and boring! What's the best part of wood? You can easily paint it and give it new life. 2 cans of spraypaint should do the job for most trunk plus you can add a more design touch by getting a piece of foam cut to size and add a cushion on top of the lid. Now you have extra seating and a disguised toy storage solution. 

2. Hampers and planter baskets are no longer just made out of plastic. I find them all of the time made out of pretty weaving with bold colors. I use them in living rooms constantly and just fill them to brim with toys. They add a great source of a texture to a room and no one ever notices that they are filled with toys just how pretty they are. 3. Multifunctional coffee tables:  There are now many storage upholstered ottomans that you can use as coffee tables so that is always a go to option, but a lot of times I just like to work with what I have in the space. In my own personal home I switched out all of my design books with children's books and my trays now hold paper and markers for art time. Everything is out in the open so it's easy for Hudson to grab what he wants, but it's also easy for me to straighten out the books and once they are lined up no one really notices if they are design books or kids books.

 Another great tip for those of you that spend a lot of time in your kitchen area is to empty out one of your bottom drawers and fill it with toys. Hudson loves opening and closing drawers and this way he can be entertained taking toys out and playing on the floor while I cook dinner. 

- Camila Pavone, Effortless Style 

Want to read through the answers to this question from the last Good Design with Kids in Mind series? Go here! 

Looking for a great storage solution for all of your toys! 

I love so many things about the Land of Nod bookshelves. The Bankable Bookcase in particular is one of my favorite solutions for toy storage. I love the bottom built-in storage compartments! This is perfect for all those bulky items like large cars, race tracks, huge balls etc. The nice thing about the bottom bins is that there are no lids so kids can easily get to their toys when they need! 

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