Ideas for designing rooms that children­ and their parents will love

Ashley Obradovits

Lead Interior Designer, Karr Bick Kitchen and Bath 

1. In this Ladue nursery, Obradovits chose a performance Perennials fabric made for Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. “Perennials’ fabrics are known for being super stain-resistant—almost bulletproof. If something spills, the liquid beads on top of the fabric, just waiting to be cleaned up.”

2. “This wallpaper is a vinyl grasscloth by Thibaut. It looks just like traditional grasscloth but is much more kid-friendly,” Oradovits explains. “As children grow and touch the walls with sticky fingers or decide to color on the walls, marks and dirt can be easily wiped away.”

3. The space between this shelving comfortably fits a crib now, but eventually it could house a queen-size bed. “It’s important not to just plan for the now when designing kids’ spaces, but think how the room will adapt to a 5-, 10-, or 15-year-old,” explains Obradovits.

Photography by Megan Lorenz

Photography by Megan Lorenz

Lauren Sweet-Schuler

Studio Sweet-Schuler 

1. Little hands don’t always keep water inside the sink, so consider tiling the wall behind the faucet. Sweet-Schuler chose a fun tile pattern but in the same white as the wall color so as not to draw attention away from the rest of the space.

2. “The house has beautiful traditional details throughout, and we didn’t want to lose that just because this is a space for kids,” says Sweet-Schuler. Her team added a chair rail to the mudroom with paneling below painted in a satin or semi-gloss finish. Sweet-Schuler recommends choosing paints with higher sheens in high-traffic kids’ spaces because they are easier to clean and maintain.

3. Although the cast-iron sink is new, it’s an ode to those originally found in this 1900s colonial. The sink is durable with a large bowl, so it’s great for kids, but the surface also allows for easy storage. Suction cups attached to the back of the sink are filled with toothbrushes, combs, etc.