your child’s first junior bedroom - creating the perfect space for sleep and play

It feels just like yesterday that you were busy planning your baby's nursery and getting everything ready for your new arrival, and now all of a sudden, your little one is hitting junior age and you need to create a bedroom that's more reflective of their growing personality. Designing your child's first junior bedroom is a fun yet certainly challenging experience, but by getting a little creative and making sure to involve them in the process, you can achieve a space that's the perfect place to play and sleep. From child-friendly bedding to clever storage ideas and creating the perfect sleep environment, here’s some super handy tips and advice for your child’s first junior bedroom.

super cosy bedding

Children usually sleep better when they have their own bed, so it’s definitely worth investing in good quality, child-friendly bedding, including pillows, duvet and a comfortable mattress. Choosing a duvet with a weighted feeling, such as the Silentnight Healthy Growth Calming Duvet, provides your child with cosy, soothing comfort throughout the night. The duvet is generously filled, providing a hug-like feeling to promote deep sleep and to maintain comfortable warmth.

A comfortable pillow is important for ensuring your child gets a restful night’s sleep too. One that’s breathable, like the Silentnight Healthy Growth pillow, helps to increase air flow and maintain a comfortable sleep temperature. What’s more, both the Healthy Growth duvet and pillow are approved by the British Allergy Foundation - ideal if your little one suffers from asthma and allergies.

Of course you’ll want to pick out a bedding set that’s colourful, fun and provides a cosy feel for your child. Choose a cotton bedding set, which is naturally cooling and breathable, ensuring total comfort as they sleep.

the perfect sleep environment

Your child’s bedroom not only needs to be a fun space, but one that promotes calm and restful sleep too. Just like adults, children sleep best when their bedroom is cool, dark and quiet, and even making sure the space is tidy can help with relaxation, helping them to fall asleep.

To help your child drift off into the land of nod, their bedroom should be nice and dark. Bright lights from electronic screens, household lighting and external lights, can delay the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, making it harder for your child to fall asleep. So, make sure to remove any electronic devices from the room and block out external light with blackout curtains. Ideally the bedroom should be as dark as possible, but understandably, some kids are scared of the dark, so consider a nightlight to add a sense of security and to avoid switching on the main light for those night time bathroom trips. A nightlight keeps light levels to a minimum, reducing stimulation and helping them to fall back asleep in no time. And when it comes to room temperature, your child’s bedroom should be on the cooler side for bedtime.

the best mattress for your growing child

While your child is growing, they will need a mattress that can keep up with them. Most modern adult mattresses are zoned for better spinal alignment, however this zoning doesn't offer the same benefit to a growing junior as the distance between head, hips, and feet are changing every day.

The best mattresses for children should not be zoned, and are made to support throughout the growing years, so will remain suitable throughout the mattresses lifespan. Our Healthy Growth range ticks both boxes, offers great temperature regulation, are easier to clean, and are strictly made without foams or any chemical treatments.

a tidy bedroom for better sleep

From toys, books, games and clothes, kids have a lot of stuff, and a bedroom that’s full of clutter and untidy doesn’t help to promote a good night’s sleep. So, to help your child be a good sleeper, teach them to associate bedtime with relaxation. Encourage tidying away at the end of the day as part of their bedtime routine and clear away items that can distract them from sleep, even better if you can remove screens to reinforce the message that bedtime is for sleeping.

If you need a little help to organise the clutter, make sure to incorporate plenty of storage into your child’s bedroom. A bed with integral storage space, such as the Maxi Store Divan Base is a unique and clever way to keep toys and games hidden away yet easily accessible. It boasts five times more storage compared to a two drawer bed, helping to maximise storage in even the smallest of bedrooms. 

design tips for your child’s bedroom

When it comes to decorating your child’s bedroom, it’s a good idea to keep the decor simple and furnishings to a minimum, which creates more space for what they love to do most - play! You also don’t want to be decorating every few years, so stick to a neutral look and instead choose accessories that are easy to update as your child grows up.

A good design tip is to break the room up into different zones, for example you could add a beanbag chair to create a cosy reading corner, a desk area for arty projects, a rug for playing on the floor and even an area to play dress-up.

Idea gathering for your child’s bedroom is the fun part and they will certainly love having their say. A style that suits their personality and ties in with their hobbies will help you to design a space where they will love spending time playing and sleeping. 

sleep guide for kids

Download our kids sleep guide, written for parents and teachers.