It turns out you can actually save yourself a lot of time and money in the future if you pick items that will easily transition with them through the various stages of growth. Believe it or not, the items you buy when your child is an infant could still work for that child when they are a teenager. When designing a great room that will easily accommodate your child at different ages, you have to consider the bed first. This is often the attracting feature that draws the eye when you walk into a room, and it needs to be the most welcoming aspect of the room.

The tips presented here should help you pick bedding that gives a more original spin on your child's room, and which can easily be used at different ages and stages of development. Combine Colors Uniquely: One mistake that parents sometimes make is to use one solid color as the basis of all decorations for a child's room. Not only can this get quite boring with time, but children often do not feel content with the color choice as they grow older. Therefore, an alternative idea is to find a nice color combination that is unexpected and easier to work with long term. As an example, you might choose a combination of navy blue and white with yellow accents instead of plain powder blue for a little boy's room. As he grows older navy can become more of the primary color
for his more advanced personality.

Also, consider finding one bedspread or larger item with a colorful pattern and combining it with solid colored accent pieces to balance and pull it all together. Play with Patterns: One way to really make a bed pop out in a room is to play with the patterns and shapes of the items on the bed. For instance, you could choose stripes on the bedspread with stars and moons on throw pillows. You can either find different pieces with different patterns that you think work well together, or go with bagged bedding sets that already have different patterns on opposite sides of the comforter.

Where is the law written that every little boy has to have a blue room and every little girl needs to be surrounded by pastel pink and white? Get creative! Think of what your child may like as they grow older and combine colors and patterns in interesting ways. Not only will it be more enjoyable of a project right now, but it will be a more enjoyable room that requires less redecorating down the road. If your child is small you need to think long term when picking out their bedding. For older children, allow them more involvement and let them have fun picking out coordinating pieces that only their little minds would ever come up with!

Annie Deakin is a journalist, fashion and furniture expert and editor at mydeco.com who is currently interested in beds, corner sofa bed and nest of tables.