Small Living Story: Lots going on in a small space
Author and interior design expert Sabine Stiller knows how to furnish small children's rooms effectively.
The largest room in a home is usually used as a living room. For children's rooms, on the other hand, there is often only a small amount of space. This is understandable. Nevertheless, there should also be space for playing, cuddling, romping, learning and sleeping here. Sabine Stiller is an interior furnishing specialist and author and knows how to furnish small children's rooms. With her planning office "4 Zimmer 6 Räume", she develops solutions for families who have little space and need more.
If the children are small, the size of the room doesn't matter. Cot, changing table, a shelf for picture books and an armchair for cuddling and reading aloud - that's all you need. At some point, however, the cot becomes too short, storage space is lacking and at the latest when they start school, a desk has to fit in the children's room. Or does it? Some items of furniture are a must, others can be dispensed with. Essential is of course a bed, under which storage boxes for toys are best positioned. "Even if homework is often done at school or in the kitchen-living room, a small desk in your own domain is indispensable," says Sabine. This of course also includes a bookshelf: "For books and school materials, but also for creatively built worlds, every child needs an open shelf." Whether it hangs on the wall or is used as a room divider does not matter.
The interior specialist also recommends a rug, which makes building and playing on a hard floor more comfortable. A wardrobe, on the other hand, does not play such a big role in the children's room up to a certain age. Children's clothing does not need much space and can be stored, when space is tight, in the parents' bedroom or in the hallway cupboard.
In particularly high rooms, loft beds
are a great idea. While the children sleep
upstairs, there is space underneath for a desk
or a cuddle corner. But if the room only has
a standard height, a platform is the better
solution. Large pull-outs under this platform
are used for storage: "The large capacity drawers
can be practically divided with sorting boxes.
Tidy-up time becomes child's play with the right
system." And if the bed is to turn into a sofa
during the day, the platform becomes a chill-out area.
Pillows and blankets disappear
meanwhile into one of the drawers.
As children get older, their needs change.
Teenagers hardly need any storage space for
toys, but need peace and quiet from the rest of the
family. "In small teenage rooms, I like to plan
room divider shelves, behind which a cozy
retreat is created." Plus a comfortable
bed, a beanbag and a desk for the
laptop or monitor. "For teenage
hosts I think the STAPELLIEGE is great.
The back cushions turn it into a
sofa during the day. And the storage box stores
blankets and pillows, while there is space
on top for lamp and charging cable." While you
have to struggle awkwardly with an air mattress or a sofa bed,
the STAPELLIEGE as a guest bed in the children's room is always ready.
"A comfortable bed is the most important piece of furniture in a child's or teenager's room."
Sometimes siblings share a room. If they are still young, this works out fine. In small rooms, bunk beds are practical thanks to their small footprint. As children get older, they need their own areas. These can be created, for example, with a wardrobe serving as a room divider. If the doors open one way or the other, each area gains storage space, without wasting much floor area. A tip from the furnishing professional: "But it is essential that each half of the room receives enough daylight.
