21 inspiring ideas for creative and colourful kids’ rooms and nurseries (2024)

Havens to dream, play and learn in, children’s bedrooms, nurseries and playrooms should spark their imaginations. These innovative schemes prove it’s possible to create a stylish kid-friendly space, with smart design solutions that can help the space adapt and change as they grow. Treat designing for younger minds as a chance to defy conventional rules – outlandish colour schemes, unusual layouts… Nothing is forbidden.

Children’s bedrooms don’t need to be super-colourful to be inspiring, as evidenced by this pared-back room in Little More Design’s Mayfair project. Although it has a neutral colour palette, playful elements are introduced via soft furnishings, children’s toys and curvy bespoke joinery. littlemoredesign.com

Designed to evolve as the children of the household grow, this playroom by 2LG Studio combines the same dreamy and calming materials and colours used throughout the family home. A pint-sized recycled plastic table and chairs set by Ecobirdy and a playful blue ‘U Pouf’ by NooMa encourage exploration. 2lgstudio.com

Hoping to reduce her four children’s reliance on plastic toys by designing a space that entertains and sparks curiosity in its own right, de Gournay director Hannah Cecil Gurney chose a hand-painted wallpaper that depicts London with a cast of animal characters gambolling up and down the River Thames. degournay.com

For the ultimate child’s playground, look no further than design agency Aubrey Veva Design’s ‘Whimsical Playroom’, a project in Utah where custom-built bunk beds are framed by dramatic orange curtains. The bespoke sleeping arrangement features its own staircase – allowing easy access for parents as well as little ones. aubreyvevadesign.com

Charlotte and Angus Buchanan, founders of Buchanan Studio, looked to their own signature ‘Studio Stripe’ when creating a playful den for their daughter. The bold pattern adorns curtains, the ‘Studio Chair’ and also the canopy above the bed, creating a fun but subtle big-top feel. buchanan.studio

Proof that a teenager’s bedroom can look mature yet still creative is this project by San Francisco-based designer Nicole Hollis, in which a bespoke bed with a bold upholstered headboard is set against an ombré blue wall. A custom-made ceiling moulding and geometric pendant light lend touches of grown-up elegance. nicolehollis.com

An eclectic array of art adds bags of personality and brings this child’s room to life. Devised by Jason Saft, founder of Staged to Sell Home, this space incorporates vintage elements such as the secondhand ‘Swatch Watch’ artwork, purchased on eBay, as well as a groovy paint effect that sees the room split by a crenellated border of orange and blue paint. stagedtosellhome.com

The brutalism of the Barbican’s architecture is perhaps not the most obvious inspiration for a room designed for children, but Studio Ben Allen has taken elements of the building and injected whimsy. Crafted from birch plywood, the room includes a fold-away desk – a space-saving idea ideal for the owner’s two kids. studiobenallen.com

This leafy wallpaper by Rebel Walls might be overwhelming if it were in any other space, but here it contributes to this room’s unique magic. Interior designer Julie Rose for Emily Henderson Design hung a canopy from Burke Decor from the slanted attic ceiling, creating a cosy reading nook that gives children privacy without taking up floor space. stylebyemilyhenderson.com

Designer Bryan O’Sullivan transformed the light-filled top floor of this Chelsea townhouse into a nursery, complete with a site-specific mural by artist Clare Wallis that depicts a dreamy cloudscape extending all the way to this room’s high ceiling. Toy hot-air balloons are suspended above the cot, further accentuating the feeling of airiness in the space. bryanosullivan.com

Studio Giancarlo Valle designed this room in a Brooklyn loft for a young boy, choosing a colour palette of strong red and blue. They used the canopy to soften the bed and create a tent-like feel, but also to cover a beam that sat overhead. ‘According to Feng Sui, sleeping under a beam creates “bad energy” as it puts pressure on one’s body’ says Valle. giancarlovalle.com

This bedroom belongs to Olivia, the daughter of the Melbourne-based Doherty Design Studio director Mardi Ola. Now 15, Olivia was 10 when they moved into their South Yarra apartment, but Mardi’s romantic, rock ’n’ roll scheme meant that the room grew with her. The bed is an antique, the ‘Eden’ rug was made by Behruz Studio and the lightning bolts on the wall were bought at a David Bowie exhibition. dohertydesignstudio.com.au

LA-based interior designer Sarah Sherman Samuel’s son Archie was promised bunk beds in their new family home, so that’s exactly what she made him. Their cocooning feel is emphasised by being placed inside a curved alcove, which is theatrically framed by velvet curtains. Spotted H&M Home bedding and a rug by Justina Blakeney for Loloi lend the space a mischievious feel. sarahshermansamuel.com

The Farrow & Ball team used the ‘fifth wall’ of this room to make a statement, painting it in the style of a circus tent. They opted for diminishing bands of ‘Blazer’ and ‘Wevet’ to recreate the traditional red and white stripes. The ceiling has been counterbalanced with breezy, blue walls in ‘Lulworth Blue’. farrow-ball.com

Soft grey walls (Earthborn Paint’s ‘Cat’s Cradle’) provide a muted backdrop for Farrow & Ball’s joyful ‘Yellow Ground’, which bathes the shutters and floor of this upbeat room in year-round sunshine. The space was created by interior designer Jo Berryman for her daughter and features a Made.com sofa, Designers Guild rug and custom-made coffee table. joberryman.com

For their daughter’s bedroom in their Milan home, furniture designer Francesco Meda and Alessandra Orsi, a creative director and illustrator, devised a light, airy scheme with striped walls – created by Alessandra – and fabrics evoking the deckchairs found at the Venice Lido. dalwindesigns.com

Mother-and-daughter design duo Monica Damonte and Victoria Lacarrieu created this fairy tale-like room for the 18-month-old child of a family living in Piedmont’s Langhe region. They installed two trees that were sourced from a forest in Denmark, then cut and polished by a local lumberjack. damonteelacarrieu.com

Róisín Lafferty of KLD led on this project in Bushfield, Ireland, which included a nursery for the client’s new daughter. ‘We wanted to create a dreamlike sanctuary for her; “head in the clouds” was what we were thinking,’ she says. The room needed to adapt as the baby grew, so the wardrobe was designed to frame both cot and bed. kingstonlaffertydesign.com

Natalie Tredgett designed this bedroom for her daughter in their west-London home. The carpet’s strict geometry creates an intriguing visual tension with the organic shapes in Cole & Son’s ‘Hummingbirds’ wallpaper. A neon-pink Ikea desk is tough enough to take anything that’s thrown at (or drawn on) it. natalietredgett.com