Something I’ve noticed throughout the years is a sort of insistence that children needs bright colors, and lots of it, in every areas of their lives. Though I’m not full ‘sad beige mom’ (beige is not my color 🙁 )you may have correctly assumed I’m not into the hugely bright colors for kids. As a minimalist who prefers that sort of modern Scandinavian feel, living in an all white house, I think it’d be easy to assume I just don’t enjoy much color, or even disallow it.
It’s true that I tried very hard, especially in the little baby phase, to gather baby items that seamlessly fit into the design of my house—as opposed to lots of bright, bulky things. However, I am all hugely into following the child, and I do enjoy and find beauty in the colorfulness of childhood. I just want it to be in an intentional and beautiful way, instead of just a default. So, then, what kind of child style is nice to me? Let me show you!
for kids rooms
I do enjoy the fresh white backdrop in our home. It’s easy to see when the walls need to be cleaned, it helps brighten darker rooms, and it’s visually very clean and not-busy (which I think it important, and helpful for littles). When you start with that simple state, everything else pops.
I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from nature. I’ve pulled in images of nature, and have the children’s birth information on some lovely log rounds. Both their baby blankets feature nature prints, and I also have a picture of nature, and even some string lights with those colors in my daughter’s room. I wanted their rooms to be visually very simple and easy on the eyes, but have the colorful parts standout in a cheerful and inviting way, without being overstimulating.
for clothes
This is a bit trickier, because I do L O V E kids dressed in adult clothes that are just small for kids. However, I do also have a big soft spot for some more whimsical clothes, like fun patterns on Alice & Ames dresses, and unique shirts brimming with childhood fun from Boden. When it comes time for me to get more clothes for the new season, I usually try and put everything on a Pinterest board that I think is alright, and then look of color patterns, and then finally bring in the kids, and have them tell me what they like from that. And I do think a major part of being young child is the joyfully hodge-lodge outfits they put together, which I feel is untouchable in it’s importance, even if it’s not ‘aesthetic for the ‘gram’.
for toys
In general, I prefer to use less plastic, but some of our kids most-loved toys are plastic, so I’m not a total stick-in-the-mud. Schleich animals, Barbies, My Little Ponies—they’re all in that category, and the latter two are quite bright. We do have plain wooden blocks, a wooden train set, and marble run, but I think they make for an important tactile experience, and the kids have never suggested they should be more colorful. Toys are fun because of their function, not their paint job. With our other toys, though, things are colorful. Playsilks and stacking rainbows are bright, and decorative as well. With their rooms so simplified, these cheerful toys are given space to shine, and be a part of the look of the space.
Would I enjoy having my kids in a neutral uniform with just a few, select colors? Yeah. But can I deny them a bright outfit that they light up when they see? No, not at all.
I think, when it comes to the pull between wanting a home where children’s things seamlessly fit in, and where they glaringly stand out, I have managed a middle ground, where no one is bombarded by hoards of overstimulating colors, but where the kids are still playing with, and dressed in things that appeal to their childhood.
If you’re hoping to do the same, I’d suggest you try and buy along a color palate, and allow yourself to buy some plain wooden toys, so that not everything is all bright plastic. In my daughter’s room, her rainbow is pastel and goes really well with her lights, and blanket, and her Playsilks are rainbow. My son has an slightly moodier-colored stacking stacking rainbow, and ‘earth’ themed playsilks. The colors for both are still exciting, they just are a little curated.
In the end, I think it’s worth it to determine a kids aesthetic that works for you, and your children, so that everyone feels happy, and finds beauty in the objects they interact with every day.
