3 Interior Designers Transform The Same Kid’s Bedroom

[Narrator] These three interior designers

have been given a photograph of an empty kid's bedroom.

They have free reign to design it in any way they please.

My name is Jenny Kaplan.

My design style is color forward, thoughtful

and a little weird.

I'm Darren Jett

and my designs are full of life and full of fantasy.

My name is Chiara De Rege

and my design style is warm, modern and eclectic.

[Narrator] No clients, no restrictions, just blank space.

My first impression in the original rendering

it's a simple wood bed frame and nightstand.

So the world is your oyster

to do whatever you want with this space.

Right now it feels a little bit like a monastery.

There is really no particular architectural details.

We're working within basically four walls

and it looks like we can have some fun.

[upbeat music]

In the original rendering,

the twin bed, is smooshed into the corner

of the room with where the window is.

So I decided to bump up the bed

and make it more of a full size,

more to the front of the room

and designed a built-in situation for the bed

in this beige color created this kind of cozy nook.

I really think in a bedroom,

no matter if it's a kid's bedroom or an adult's bedroom,

you really want the bed to be the center of attention.

And if we do that here

and create sort of a niche,

we could actually have closets flanking on either side

for all the storage that this child might need.

And then underneath the bed we can actually build

slide out drawers.

So what I'd like to do

is to have a day bed situation,

and we would actually lacquer the bed

in a sort of green color.

So right now I'm looking in this range here

and I'm thinking about going in a sort of aquamarine world.

It's very lonely, just a little bed and a slide table.

I would move the bed to the center.

I might also even wanna make it a full-size bed.

I just think centering it gives us space

on the sides to do more.

So with the bed, I'm planning on sourcing an antique

or vintage wood bed, maybe Gustavian

or carved, something with detail and interest to it.

For the bedding, I went with linen fabrication.

I just think linen for bedding is very modern

and it's comfortable

and it's soft and it feels good on your skin.

And color-wise, I went with a navy,

this is a kid's bedroom

and my intentions with the room

were to create a space that was gender neutral.

So with the bed, I really wanted to approach it

by being something that was slightly whimsical,

something that was all enveloping.

I like the idea of enclosing it fully on three walls

and then having a curtain on the three walls around the bed.

I love a fabric like this that is a sort of sea foam color,

but actually when you hold it up, it's pretty sheer.

[upbeat music]

For the window treatment, I would do curtains

and I would hang the curtains as high up as possible

to really stress the height in the room.

And I would maybe do like a beautiful leather hardware

that would return into the wall

and just like a traditional French, pleated curtain

Right now, the window feels a little small to me.

It also just feels kind of insignificant.

So if we have the window here,

letting in a ton of light into the bedroom,

imagine if we have a desk

or some sort of situation beneath it.

Just make it a bit bigger.

Make the room brighter.

This is an exterior wall, it's a house.

I think right now we're just trying

to push the design a bit further

and I think if we can do it, let's do it.

So for the window,

I'm keeping it in the original orientation,

I just went with a really beautiful linen-pleated shade

in this ecru color,

you can't go wrong with a cream linen shade.

It will inevitably match,

whatever changes you will make to the room down the road.

In every room, you wanna soften a window visually.

And I really love this stripe from C&C Milano.

It's actually a linen, which is perfect.

And instead of doing a Florida ceiling curtain situation,

I don't think that's a good idea in a kid's room generally,

when they're very young they might be yanking,

they might be pulling,

you can have something that's hung above the window itself.

In this case, we could do a Roman shade?

[upbeat music]

I do the focal point,

the wall that the headboard is at in a wallpaper.

And I co-founded this line called Maison Sea,

and this is one of my favorite patterns.

It's called Prairie.

This is Prairie in Midnight.

And I find it so fun

because it's young and whimsical, but can also grow.

Originally the room felt a bit bland, it had no character.

So if we think about that millwork,

actually including a baseboard along the bottom

and also a crown molding along the top,

we can make that whole room feel very considered.

I wanted to do a wallpaper

and I chose a wallpaper by my friends at Calico Wallpaper.

It's subdued yet bold at the same time.

It has this clad motif to it.

And there's this really striking cobalt blue

mixed with the ivory.

And I decided to paper the entire room

rather than doing an accent wall with paint

just to make a really bold statement.

In general I try to avoid doing thematic rooms

but I think in a kid's room it's a lot of fun

just to lean into it.

Kids have their own interest.

In this instance, I was really thinking

about this room being my own when I was a child

and I just loved anything that was involving

underwater, aquamarine life.

And there's this fantastic wallpaper by De Gournay,

and it can come in any colorway that you want.

I particularly love this sort of pearlescent colorway

with lots of greens and blues and it's just full of life.

It's full of corals, it's full of fish,

it's full of seahorses.

[jazzy music]

I would actually probably do cork,

but I'd do cork in a beautiful herringbone pattern.

The great thing about cork is that it's absorbent.

If a child falls, it's pretty soft.

It's also sound absorbent, [chuckles]

which is really nice as well.

We are going with these floor tiles with floor.

They come in squares that you can cut

to fit your flooring perfectly

so it's basically like a wall-to-wall carpet situation

and they're super kid friendly

because if you spill something on a tile,

you can easily just rip up the one or two

or how many squares are tarnished

and replace them with a fresh one.

I think they're also priced

at a really appropriate price point For a kid's room.

I'd like to provide a bit of softness,

especially when you're dealing with a child

and we're going in a sort of aquamarine, bluegreen world.

If we could just cut through that a little bit

and do something that's a little bit

of a yellow, sort of green here,

that works wonderfully with the curtains.

So for the rug, I really wanted something neutral

but interesting enough to work well

off of the pattern on the wallpaper

and also soft and durable.

And I chose a Doris Leslie Blau Kilam.

[upbeat music]

I think every child's room needs to have a desk

or at least a surface where they can do work.

Child will grow up, they will go do homework,

they will go to school.

I would like to have a desk underneath the window,

just to really let in all of that extra light.

This particular desk, it is by Maison Leleu in any color.

I like tying that color into the bed.

It has these angles

and these lines that come out.

It's very amorphous in a way, which to me it reads kid,

and it also reads underwater.

With the desk, I'd love to pair it with a really fun chair.

This particular chair is by Frank Gehry.

So when I was a kid I had a ton of fish.

I think having a little fish like this is a great way

for a child to develop a little bit of responsibility.

And it's also just fun.

For the built-in couch,

it's an extension of the bed frame.

Similar frame.

I went with a velvet seat covering,

actually an indoor-outdoor friendly ivory velvet.

And I painted the frame the same color as the bed frame

so everything just blends in really seamlessly.

I would switch this existing bedside table out.

I would love something with a pop of color,

a little bit more of a traditional scale.

And I chose this Serato Livia side table.

And it's in this really fun yellow, which I love.

And then it has this really subtle

but beautiful pattern fabric behind it.

I love a classic Scandinavian easy chair.

I love it in the sheep skin.

I just think these chairs are so transitional.

You can put them in any environment.

The room itself is not too small.

It's actually a pretty good size.

And I think if we're creating a zone for play,

for hanging out, it would be great

to have something that the child can just pull out,

plop themselves on, read a book.

So why not have some throw pillows

on the floor that are pretty big, pretty substantial,

but in that clam shape.

I actually really like the idea of this vintage oak,

wall mounted bookshelf that I placed over here.

And it's just a simple pale oak

which looks really nice off of the paper.

I think a mirror is really great for any room,

especially across from a window.

It really bounces all the light into the room.

It really makes the room also just feel a bit bigger.

And this particular one, I really like the idea

that it could be completely ensconced in shells.

Placement wise, the desk is facing directly across

from the built-in sofa, and this was done intentionally.

So whatever kid is habitating in this room can hang out

on the sofa, maybe play a video game, watch TV.

The desk, the bottom, the cabinets are made out of a walnut.

And for the surface, I went with a really fun terrazzo.

I thought it was really playful.

The colors are more primary colors

so I went with reds, white and blue, and the terrazzo.

We are going with one of my favorite chairs.

It's the Verner Panton chair.

I feel like for a kid's room, an adult room,

it's a piece that you can grow with.

I think it's important to have a desk.

I wouldn't want it to take up too much of this space though

so I really love the BDDW cloud shelves.

The lower shelf is a perfect desk.

I chose the Giancarlo Valle Scott chair

because of its timeless design.

It works at a dining table,

but at a desk it can work anywhere.

So for the shelves above the desk

these are some of my favorite shelving.

They're by Vitsoe, they're modular,

you can expand with 'em, again, like the chair,

I feel like these are a really nice investment

that will last you a lifetime if you take care of them.

And I really like the open shelving,

especially for a kid's bedroom

so you can display your artwork

or found objects, books, et cetera.

I really love to create a space,

especially with children's rooms where there's moments

in those rooms where if someone's had a rough day

it brings them a little bit of joy.

Just an added dimension to this space.

So the Tarzan swing, I think I as a kid

always wanted a swing in every room and never got that.

And I'm still now promising my own daughter a swing

in one of our rooms one day.

[jazzy music]

So I think any room like this that has more

of a play space, a working space,

it needs to have a central light above.

And this particular light, it is by Stillnovo.

So it's a vintage piece from the 1970s, it's metal.

Side note, I think it looks a little bit like a submarine

which is kind of fun.

I source a lot from Urban Electric,

and I love this light.

It's the Stamp light

because it gives amazing light for sure.

But also I think that

if there's a hockey puck that goes flying

through the sky or whatever it might be,

this light is not in the way

and is not too precious and is not too fragile.

So we're going with a chandelier

in the center of the bedroom.

It gives a really nice soft glow

and a look that catches your eye.

And it's a pendant

by a lighting company called Ripley and Willing.

So the sconces in the room

that are flanking the mirror,

they're actually seahorses,

which I just think are so much fun.

Actually, my favorite animal.

Again, I'm designing for a little Darren here,

and they're actually Italian, 1950s by Vietri.

They are glaze-ceramic,

I think all of this stuff is gonna be great

for the child's imagination.

To the side of the bed, a lark sconce,

it's a swivel sconce that I sourced at Stahl + Band.

And it's great

because if someone is sitting in that easy chair

and reading, they can articulate it over to them,

again, brings in the leather

which I think is really pretty in this scheme.

I also love having sconces by a bed,

especially when you're creating a sort of canopy,

a space like this.

I think we can go with something that's a bit more

of a reading light

and that would just be fantastic for in the evening

whenever you're reading to the child.

The desk light, I also really love, I think the color

and the shape really is like a nice compliment

to all of the other bold accents in the room.

This ceramic table light by Giancarlo Valle

and Natalie Weinberger is another source of light

which I think is a little bit more elevated and grown up.

I am a huge fan of Tommaso Barbi,

vintage Italian designer.

Oftentimes his pieces are made out of brass

and they are in the shape of leaves.

Even though this may not be an underwater leaf

I think you can use your imagination

and it clearly goes really well.

[upbeat music]

Our zigzag planter, it's by Pieces.

It's one of my favorites.

It's a really fun and playful shape.

Shown in the mustard color.

And it's just playful and unique.

I'd like to lean into using some art

or something really engaging.

And I sourced on 1stDibs

these beautiful brass butterflies

by the artist Paul Valinsky.

And I was thinking it would be really fun to have these go

up the wall onto the ceiling

for this more playful, whimsical moment.

And I actually showed this to my eight year old daughter

and then to an 11 year old boy who's a friend

and wanted their feedback.

It was clear that these butterflies

need to be like a climbing wall.

And then the cork really comes in handy

because that makes it even safer

for the kids should they fall.

But I really think that bedrooms should be more

than just a place where they go to sleep.

I think it's so important to really create a place

for them to be imaginative and play.

We have to talk about the castle.

The castle is actually from The Little Mermaid,

and I think this would be the perfect little play space

for dolls and things like that.

[jazzy music]

I would've been super excited to have this room

growing up as a kid.

I love that it's a space

that a small child can grow into, into the early teen years.

I've done a few kids' rooms

that are a bit more on the geometric, post-modern world.

I've always wanted to do a child's room that was leaning

into a bit more of that traditional world instead.

I love it.

I wish I was a kid again.

I would have all my friends over.

Looking at my finished room, I'm really happy with it.

I'm really happy that it also got the seal of approval

of some children.

[jazzy music]

Oh

Wow. Wow, okay.

Oh good, they're all so different.

They're so different. They're so different.

I love this.

Can you maybe tell us

about what the material is on the wall?

The wall is a wallpaper by one of my favorites,

our friends over at Calico Wallpaper.

And I wanted to do something that was playful

for a kid's room, but still neutral.

Did you have an age?

Somewhere, maybe in like the six to seven range?

It's like a room that they could grow into

as like a pre-teen or even teenager.

What about you Chiara?

I tested this on my eight year old daughter

[group laughing]

and an 11 year old boy.

And I think that was,

I was thinking like seven to 12 really.

But I still wanted it to be playful.

Okay, so I was imagining myself as a kid.

When I was growing up,

my favorite movie was Little Mermaid.

Probably like a lot of kids from the 90s

I was completely obsessed.

Yeah, love Little Mermaid.

Yeah, right!

So I just really wanted to lean into that world

and not be afraid of doing a theme for a child.

I think that can be kind of fun.

And I love the seated throw pillows too.

Yeah, the little shells, Yeah.

goes with the starfish up here.

And now I see the Little Mermaid reference

with the castle.

[laughing] The castle, yeah.

Yeah, that was intentional, yeah.

[upbeat music]