Not Kids' Play [Designing Children's Bedrooms]
This exemplifies perfectly my belief that children's rooms should feel organized, maintained, well-designed--and freeing. Hang a low chalkboard. Paint one wall with chalkboard paint. Paint a room white and let the walls become your children's canvas. You can always paint over it. [But, warning: you won't want to!]
Who knows what clutter lurks behind the dresser to the right, but this room seems to have organization down to an art. Literally. The rug (an important element for hard flooring--for cushioning bodies AND sound) adds the perfect aesthetic detail. Bunk beds could easily replace the bed and desk here.
A well-designed room obviously doesn't need to be overly-elaborate. Here, this interesting bed and dresser is enough. [Note: Ikea sells a somewhat similar-looking architect drawer unit with sprawling, shallow drawers that I have used for my own children for art supplies they can access any time they want to. I supply the clear jar of crayons as requested.
The success of a well-designed children's bedroom displays itself when children love their room enough to want to independently spend time in it--giving them healthy playtime, and the parents healthy down-time. Many elements in this room invite children to hang: the aesthetically clean and low couch, the sprawling rug with bean bags (that don't offend the eye), the long desk. And note the simultaneous lack of clutter and carefully-placed play things for hours of fun.
Storage is key. Storage that is not clear or is inconvenient for kids translates into more clean-up time (usually for parents, bleh). I would organize such a space by placint art supplies, games--anything that must be supervised by parents--in the above cupboards. Books, displays, stuffed animals are great for the open shelving. I would save the lower pull-out drawers for the things you want to empower your children to access on their own.
When room allows, parallel twin beds flanking a single night-stand table gives a room a clean symmetry, and can serve, especially with same-sexed siblings, as the room's layout for years. The shared lamp, ability to chat facing each other, the same nighttime vantage point, create an aesthetic closeness while still giving each child their own space.
Here is Graham Brown's "Frames" wallpaper, if you can't get out of your head your mother's voice that "Writing on walls is a no-no!"
Q