[From www.parenthots.com.my]
We have been brainwashed to think that baby girls must be surrounded with light pink and baby boys are normally in light blue. Often, if we're not sure yet whether it's a boy or a girl, then we go with yellow when painting the walls of the nursery.
Forget everything you've been brainwashed into believing.
According to celebrity designer and TV host Eric Leong, newborns, whether they are boys or girls, should be in a light pink room.
“From newborn to three years old, light pink will help them develop their brain. The light pink will help their brain to develop, they will be very active and and it will make them happy, too. Blue and yellow are not as effective. In colour therapy it represents unconditional love. So, babies when they look at this colour will feel happy and loved.
“However, after they reach three years of age, the advice is to paint the walls according to the child's gender. So, if you have a boy, then you paint the walls in baby blue. If it's a girl, you can maintain the walls in that baby pink or you can use lilac. Why after three years? This is because studies have found that after three is when the children develop their own character. So, if you maintain the baby pink, then the girl will become very girly and the boy will be a bit effeminate, too,” says Leong.
However, for soft furnishings like the curtains, comforter and bedsheet, strong colours can be used as long as it's not too much.
Leong explains that the soft pastel colours on the walls will help baby to relax while the strong colours will get their attention and help them develop their brain.
Forget everything you've been brainwashed into believing.
According to celebrity designer and TV host Eric Leong, newborns, whether they are boys or girls, should be in a light pink room.
“From newborn to three years old, light pink will help them develop their brain. The light pink will help their brain to develop, they will be very active and and it will make them happy, too. Blue and yellow are not as effective. In colour therapy it represents unconditional love. So, babies when they look at this colour will feel happy and loved.
“However, after they reach three years of age, the advice is to paint the walls according to the child's gender. So, if you have a boy, then you paint the walls in baby blue. If it's a girl, you can maintain the walls in that baby pink or you can use lilac. Why after three years? This is because studies have found that after three is when the children develop their own character. So, if you maintain the baby pink, then the girl will become very girly and the boy will be a bit effeminate, too,” says Leong.
However, for soft furnishings like the curtains, comforter and bedsheet, strong colours can be used as long as it's not too much.
Leong explains that the soft pastel colours on the walls will help baby to relax while the strong colours will get their attention and help them develop their brain.
He warns against using too many strong primary colours in the nursery or children's room.
“For kids' rooms we don't use too many strong primary colours because if you have a hyperactive child and you have lots of primary colours in the room, the child will be more active.
“We also don't use white for the nursery or children's room because it's too pale and not fun. Usually we don't use white, black or grey. One of the big mistakes parents make is using dark blue for the baby boy's room. For boys aged three and above it should be baby blue or sky blue not dark blue. Sky blue also happens to be the colour of the year for 2010.
“Painting little pictures on the wall is fine but it takes up a lot of time and it's okay provided the parent is an artist or they can draw very well.
“Otherwise, just get wallpaper. But don't put it over the four walls, just one wall which is the feature wall. So you have the play area near the feature wall and can play with your child there.”
Three zones
Leong advises dividing up the space in the nursery or children's room into three areas, for sleep, play and study.
The sleeping zone is where the colour scheme needs to be very soft. The play zone is supposed to be very fun so you can have wallpaper on the wall or use strong colours or even have cartoon characters on the wall.
The play zone needs to be an empty space with no furniture where you can put toys for the baby or toddler to play with.
“The study area is very important because from young you can train them to read books. The study area is usually near the window so that you get the daylight coming in. You can make the study area near the window and put a small table there.”
Leong says by having different zones in the room, the children will learn to differentiate the sleep and study areas from the play area.
For storage in the nursery or child's room, Leong says it doesn't need a separate area and can be integrated into the play or study areas.
Open shelving
For toys and books, he recommends open shelving instead of closed cupboards, wardrobes or drawers. This way the child can see his toys or books and easily reach for them. Don't forget to make the open shelving unit a short one though for easy access.
This way the child learns to be more independent instead of constantly asking an adult to get a toy or book for him. Also, for children it is often a case of out of sight, out of mind. So, if they see their toys and books, they will play with them or read them. If you have these locked up in a closed cupboard, they won't remember they have those books or toys and won't use them.
Leong recommends open shelves rather than boxes because he says often with big boxes, the toys at the bottom of the box are forgotten and not played with.
“Besides having a good environment with different areas in the children's room, we must also train them to tidy up. So, after they've played, get them to put the toys and books back on the shelves. So, from young they are trained to clean up after themselves.”
Floor and lights
As for the flooring in the nursery or children's room Leong says laminated floorboards are a good choice.
“They are easy to install, not so expensive and easy to maintain. Even if the children use crayons to draw on the floor, you can clean it easily. Because it is laminated, the surface is easy to clean. And laminated floors feel warm too compared to tiles, marble or granite.
“Carpets are a no-no for the baby's room or children's room because of the dust.”
How about the lighting?
Leong says parents should get a few night lights for the nursery because babies don't like total darkness.
“Even if you don't want to have a night light, you can have one little table light in a corner of the room so they will see some reflection on the wall. Then the entire room will have very soft lighting.
“For the ceiling light, I would say get warm lighting for them to relax. In the day time you can open the windows and pull back the curtains to get the daylight in.
“For the study area in the children's room, you need daylight such as fluorescent lighting in case they want to study at night. So you need two types of lights for the children's room – one is warm for atmosphere and for them to relax and the other is daylight for them to study or read.
“Studies show that if you expose yourself under daylight or fluorescent lighting one or two hours before you sleep, chances are high that you will have trouble falling asleep. Warm light, on the other hand, prepares you for sleep.”
Conclusion
With those tips, you're all prepared to paint and decorate your baby's room and you won't have to repaint it or redo it until they turn three years old.
After three, Leong advises parents to involve the children in the small decisions in designing their room.
“By making small decisions, they will feel a sense of belonging to their room. Involve them in the simple decisions such as what cartoon characters to have on their wall; not the major decisions because at that age they are still too small to decide. Always remind them that this is their decision so they will feel confident.”
For more parenting articles, please visit www.parenthots.com.my.
“For kids' rooms we don't use too many strong primary colours because if you have a hyperactive child and you have lots of primary colours in the room, the child will be more active.
“We also don't use white for the nursery or children's room because it's too pale and not fun. Usually we don't use white, black or grey. One of the big mistakes parents make is using dark blue for the baby boy's room. For boys aged three and above it should be baby blue or sky blue not dark blue. Sky blue also happens to be the colour of the year for 2010.
“Painting little pictures on the wall is fine but it takes up a lot of time and it's okay provided the parent is an artist or they can draw very well.
“Otherwise, just get wallpaper. But don't put it over the four walls, just one wall which is the feature wall. So you have the play area near the feature wall and can play with your child there.”
Three zones
Leong advises dividing up the space in the nursery or children's room into three areas, for sleep, play and study.
The sleeping zone is where the colour scheme needs to be very soft. The play zone is supposed to be very fun so you can have wallpaper on the wall or use strong colours or even have cartoon characters on the wall.
The play zone needs to be an empty space with no furniture where you can put toys for the baby or toddler to play with.
“The study area is very important because from young you can train them to read books. The study area is usually near the window so that you get the daylight coming in. You can make the study area near the window and put a small table there.”
Leong says by having different zones in the room, the children will learn to differentiate the sleep and study areas from the play area.
For storage in the nursery or child's room, Leong says it doesn't need a separate area and can be integrated into the play or study areas.
Open shelving
For toys and books, he recommends open shelving instead of closed cupboards, wardrobes or drawers. This way the child can see his toys or books and easily reach for them. Don't forget to make the open shelving unit a short one though for easy access.
This way the child learns to be more independent instead of constantly asking an adult to get a toy or book for him. Also, for children it is often a case of out of sight, out of mind. So, if they see their toys and books, they will play with them or read them. If you have these locked up in a closed cupboard, they won't remember they have those books or toys and won't use them.
Leong recommends open shelves rather than boxes because he says often with big boxes, the toys at the bottom of the box are forgotten and not played with.
“Besides having a good environment with different areas in the children's room, we must also train them to tidy up. So, after they've played, get them to put the toys and books back on the shelves. So, from young they are trained to clean up after themselves.”
Floor and lights
As for the flooring in the nursery or children's room Leong says laminated floorboards are a good choice.
“They are easy to install, not so expensive and easy to maintain. Even if the children use crayons to draw on the floor, you can clean it easily. Because it is laminated, the surface is easy to clean. And laminated floors feel warm too compared to tiles, marble or granite.
“Carpets are a no-no for the baby's room or children's room because of the dust.”
How about the lighting?
Leong says parents should get a few night lights for the nursery because babies don't like total darkness.
“Even if you don't want to have a night light, you can have one little table light in a corner of the room so they will see some reflection on the wall. Then the entire room will have very soft lighting.
“For the ceiling light, I would say get warm lighting for them to relax. In the day time you can open the windows and pull back the curtains to get the daylight in.
“For the study area in the children's room, you need daylight such as fluorescent lighting in case they want to study at night. So you need two types of lights for the children's room – one is warm for atmosphere and for them to relax and the other is daylight for them to study or read.
“Studies show that if you expose yourself under daylight or fluorescent lighting one or two hours before you sleep, chances are high that you will have trouble falling asleep. Warm light, on the other hand, prepares you for sleep.”
Conclusion
With those tips, you're all prepared to paint and decorate your baby's room and you won't have to repaint it or redo it until they turn three years old.
After three, Leong advises parents to involve the children in the small decisions in designing their room.
“By making small decisions, they will feel a sense of belonging to their room. Involve them in the simple decisions such as what cartoon characters to have on their wall; not the major decisions because at that age they are still too small to decide. Always remind them that this is their decision so they will feel confident.”
For more parenting articles, please visit www.parenthots.com.my.
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