Bedroom and living room for Pre-school child
The room has to cope with a bigger child who is up and around and into everything.
The window can be left much as it is (with Venetian blinds or blackout backed roller blinds) so that the day does not start too early for parents, daytime resting is made easier and any sun can easily be filtered. However, it is a good idea to fit some vertical bars not more than 6 cm (2 3/8 in) apart (which can be removed later) to prevent any unsupervised adventuring and possible accidents. It is essential that these can be easily removed in case of fire. Bars with keys are available.
Because children at this age can’t concentrate for long on any one thing they need lots of playthings and you are liable to have a great overflow of toys. Make a home for these in an old wooden chest which could later act as a coffee table, or with tough polyurethane or corrugated cardboard storage boxes which can double as play equipment and become trains, carriages, trolleys or anything the child likes to make them in his imagination. Stacking boxes and trays are also good ideas. And, unless there’s another baby, the trolley, denuded of all the infant paraphernalia, can also help to cope with all the toys and games. A portable Moses basket or basket carry cot are both useful for storing soft toys. They can also be used for transporting toys into another room, if necessary.
About halfway through this stage the cot can be replaced by a pair of modular bunk beds of the kind that can be dismantled and turned into ordinary single beds. The second bunk will come into play either for a second child or for a friend and provide a two-tiered play area as well. Some bunk beds have a useful drawer underneath for even more storage; buy this kind if you are pressed for space.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:45 am
Great article. Thanks for the great resource.
November 23rd, 2009 at 3:47 am
Good article - plenty of food for thought.