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A bright and bubbly colour scheme was once widely accepted as the go-to look when decorating a child’s bedroom.

Rooms saturated in vibrant hues were considered more friendly, fun, and playful. But today, muted and earthy tones are gaining momentum.

Stylist Bree Leech has noticed a shift away from using lots of vivid shades to avoid overstimulating a child.

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“More often now, the focus in a bedroom is to be more relaxing for downtime and sleep, especially with younger children,” Ms Leech said.

She chose a pared-back palette for the room pictured, which was all white and felt uninviting before she styled it for Dulux.

The new colour scheme made it cosier, Ms Leech said.

“You want to maintain a sense of calm, but at the same time not be boring,” she explained. “It should also have elements that make the child feel comfortable and easily identify the space as theirs.”

Colour code

Ms Leech said a putty-biscuity tone on the walls offered a soothing backdrop for this child’s bedroom.

Crisp white was used to highlight architectural features, such as the ceiling and fireplace. And hints of soft colour were picked up through artwork, bed linen and a lavender door on the fireplace, which was cleverly converted into a toy cupboard.

Given kids’ bedrooms weren’t typically very big, Ms Leech suggested picking colour that would add personality but not overwhelm the space.

“Proportion is really important when it comes to colour. It’s easy to get carried away and go too far,” she said.

Having a muted or neutral base palette created a restful feel and allowed the room to be adapted with ease as your child grew. Ms Leech said this colour scheme would comfortably relate to the rest of the home, too.

Softly, softly

Ms Leech advised taking a gentle approach when decorating, which meant layering in lots of texture.

When dressing the bed for this room, the stylist piled it high with comfy pillows so it

became the hero of the space.

Adding a rug not only brought in softness underfoot, but helped draw the eye towards the bed.

Be sure to add contrast when applying texture to the space. Too much of the same thing and the look would fall flat, Ms Leech explained.

“You want to mix the textures up a bit and have lots of things they can touch that make them feel good,” she said.

Personal touch

Pay attention to your child’s interests and find ways to refer to them when styling the room, Ms Leech suggests.

It could be they like elephants, and you might interpret this in a wall decal.

“Get your child to pick out a print they love or have an illustrator create something inspired by their favourite story,” she added. “You could even go with something sculptural.”

Elements like these would help your child feel more connected to their room and create points of difference that went a long way towards personalising it.

Don’t be tempted to load the space up, either. Ms Leech advised using a light hand when decorating.

“It’s really easy to put too much into a kid’s room and suddenly, it’s not peaceful,” she said.

Attention to detail

Focal points are essential, but not every wall or every corner needs one, according to Ms Leech.

“If every wall is trying to show you something different, then the space will be screaming at you,” she added.

“And if that’s how you feel when you walk into the room, you can imagine a child will feel even more stimulated.”

She recommended building key moments around the room that would creatively introduce things to make your child smile.

A quirky handle in the shape of a teddy bear face was added to a cupboard door in this bedroom for a pop of fun.

Ms Leech said a similar approach could be applied to wall hooks or curtain tiebacks.

“It’s the little surprise details that bring in touches of whimsy and elevate the room from being too conservative to something more fun,” she said.

dulux.com.au

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Handy hints

● Think beyond the lines of the room. By not painting the walls all the way up to cornice, you make the ceiling appear higher than it is.

● Bring in an occasional chair or ottoman to provide another space to sit apart from the bed.

● Create activity areas such as a reading nook or table in a corner to do craft, draw and build things.

● Soften the look of a window with dreamy drapes. Let them drop to the floor to make a short window feel larger.

Source: Bree Leech, stylist

The post Designing a child’s bedroom: How to create a calming child’s room appeared first on realestate.com.au.

A dilapidated pre-war worker’s cottage in East Brisbane has been transformed into a colossal five-bedroom, contemporary home with a multi-hole putting green above the garage.

Owner and builder Darren Crowe and his wife Laura acquired 6 Heidelberg Street in 2003 after coming across it by accident while going to look at another property in Hawthorne.

“I was on my way home and there was a traffic jam and so I turned up a side street and there it was,” Mr Crowe said. “There was some scaffolding on the site so I climbed the scaffolding and thought ’wow’ look at that view. And I basically went from there.”

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At the time the house was considered to be one of the worst house in the street, but that did not put Mr Crowe off. With the help of an architect, he set about turning the run-down cottage into the family’s dream home.

A labour of love for Mr Crowe for the past 17 years, the home’s crowning glory has to be the addition of a three-hole putting green on the roof of the garage.

A keen golfer, Mr Crowe said he found playing a full round physically taxing, so the green was a way for him to keep his hand in the game by allowing him to practise his putting.

“I think my stroke has definitely improved,” he laughed.

The course is likely one of the best-kept around with Mr Crowe taking meticulous care of it.

“I love golf but I also love my grass, so I get out there with my cylinder mower and look after it.

“It’s also great for the grandchildren, who love having a play around on it at Christmas time.”

Unrecognisable from the poky two-bedroom cottage it once was, inside, the house has vast open-plan living spaces in luxury and contemporary finishes spread over three storeys.

The lower level is taken up by the garage which has the space to accommodate four cars with ease.

On the middle level are three of the home’s five bedrooms, alongside a large dining space and bar, which spill out onto an alfresco area and a saltwater pool with a fountain. A laundry, loo and storage cupboards fill the remaining space. Via an internal staircase or external spiral staircase, you choose, you can ascend to the upper storey. The internal staircase lands you in the main kitchen, dining and living areas, while the external staircase will take you to the upper balcony.

The remaining two bedrooms are also on this floor, at opposite ends of the house, and with the main leading on to a private corner of the rear deck where there is a spa in which you can sit to take in panoramic views of the city and Story Bridge.

If you’re thinking all those stairs sound cumbersome, a dumb waiter services the entire three

levels, so no lugging your groceries up from the garage to the kitchen.

Gunther Behrendt of McGrath Bulimba, who is co-handling the sale of the property with associate Ben Cannon, said the house’s transformation has been a source of interest and admiration for local residents over the years.

“I’ve had several locals tell me it’s wonderful to see the home completed after knowing what was here before,” Mr Behrendt said, “and that the history of the cottage has been preserved for future generations.”

The house is set to go under the hammer at 10am on Saturday, September 5.

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The post Brisbane home has a putting green on the roof of its garage appeared first on realestate.com.au.