Although they may not rank as high in a home-seeker’s priorities as a remodeled kitchen or a drop-dead family room, the spaces that are suitable for children can make or break a sale.
“It’s a huge factor in single-family home sales. Buyers want children’s rooms on the same floor or above the master suite,” says Jennifer Ames of Coldwell Banker/Kahn residential brokerage in Chicago. “With apartments, they’re more flexible,” she adds.
Most buyers also look for suitable spaces for generations to congregate alone or together.
But children’s rooms, probably more than other rooms in a home, pose several dilemmas. Parents want to be sure that the rooms are safe–free of toxins and sharp edges.
Many parents don’t want to spend excessively since the rooms are likely to get heavy use and their occupants may outgrow them physically and stylistically.
Families, particularly young ones, find that once a baby or second child arrives, their once-perfect homes no longer are large enough, necessitating a new round of decorating. Finally, many parents are not sure how much to involve their children in the decision-making process and how much leeway to give them on how messy or neat they can be with their finished surroundings.
The best approach is for parents to set a budget; for both generations to compromise if they disagree; and for a room to be designed with flexibility so as a child grows and interests change it can be altered or pieces taken along if the family moves. The room shouldn’t be so personalized that it won’t appeal to another buyer, and safety should be kept in mind.
Here are some specific considerations:
– A potential purchase. If you’re thinking of making a purchase, be a bit open-minded when it comes to the layout and number of rooms. For example, not every child has to have his own space. Rooms can be cleverly divided; some children like to share and others are best off if they learn to share.
Also, don’t automatically rule out a potential home because it doesn’t have an above-ground or finished basement. Many children never want to spend time in what they consider a remote area. Teens may be different, but many adolescents prefer to congregate in a ground-floor family room, especially when parents aren’t in view.
Get your child’s input before you spend thousands of dollars. And be forewarned. Fancy basements are still viewed mostly as a play area, says Ames.
– Whose room is it anyway? When it comes to furnishing a child’s own room, one sure-fire way to instigate a power struggle is to take control of all decision-making. Riverwoods designer Pearl Shless prefers first to meet with parents to find out how much they want to involve their children, but she then gets some input from the younger generation.
Chicago designer Leslie Stern likes to meet initially with both the parent and child, even tykes as young as 2 or 3. “They won’t give me very much usable information but I can get a handle on their color likes and dislikes,” she said. “When they’re older, I like to know how they’re going to use the room. Will they have a computer? Do they work on the floor? Do they have friends sleep over? Do they have allergies? The design should take them through college with some adjustments.”
Highland Park designer Stephanie Wohlner Levin finds that listening to teenagers often gives a room a “kick” that an adult may not have incorporated. Her own 16-year-old’s choice of a dark brown iron bed was a smart choice.
Yet, parents should not be afraid to exercise veto power. Maxine Goulie, a decorator and one of the partners of GII Design in Highland Park, told her 13-year-old daughter, Tristin, that under no condition was black an acceptable color for her room. “I told her she could choose funky, cool accessories.”
– Furnishings that adapt. Some parents have been known to request beds in the shape of airplanes and cupboards that resemble doll houses. Chicago designer John Himmel has clients who asked for Louis XVI-style paneling for their 7-year-old daughter’s room, which would incorporate built-in drawers, a niche for a bed and bookcases, plus a diminutive size French desk.
But most families don’t have such grandiose plans. And because children’s needs change, it’s smarter to err on the side of being more conservative if money is a factor. Few rooms can be set up once to accommodate a child from babyhood to college, but many can be adapted in two stages–for babyhood to age 10 or so, and for adolescence to college, says Shless.
Grace Tsao-Wu, owner of Tabula Tua home furnishings store in Chicago, selected navy blue and maple furniture that her 4 1/2-month-old son can use for years to come. She added a Western motif in the easy-to-change accessories such as knobs.
– Furniture. What’s most reusable and cost-effective are often free-standing pieces such as bookshelves rather than built-ins because they’re easier to remove. Most such pieces are generic enough that your children can personalize them with displays of their collections, books, trophies and CDs.
But if you plan to stay for years and if a space is tight, built-ins may better utilize a space, says Winnetka architect H. Gary Frank.
He and others also advise selecting furniture that does double duty, such as a changing table that later converts to a desk or a table that doubles as a desk and allows several children to work together. The desk can reflect your children’s study habits, storage needs and style of working.
Messier children should have a washable surface such as laminate while neatniks can be given a fine wood piece they may keep forever. Herman Miller Inc., the giant furniture manufacturer in Zeeland, Mich., offers several pieces that can work in children’s rooms.
– Go easy on the walls. Paint, stencils or a border near the ceiling, or perhaps as a chair rail, are more affordable and practical than themed wallpaper and easier to change. Overly patterned papers restrict home sales, especially when the colors or styles are too gender-specific, says Ames. “It’s a simple thing to take it down, but a lot of people can’t see past the pattern,” she says.
Soon-to-be parents Tracy Taylor and Douglas Hoerr of Chicago are decorating their nursery in a white and pale green palette with a storyline Taylor wrote running around the perimeter of the ceiling.
If you’re concerned about nailheads in freshly painted or papered walls, you can get around that by having your child hang posters and photos on a giant tack board or bulletin board.
– Carpeting. Wall-to-wall carpeting or an area rug is much more resilient and noise deadening than hard-surfaced floors, particularly if you are in an apartment. They also are softer for floor play. You don’t need to buy the most expensive long-lasting wool, however, as Wohlner Levin found. Her teen’s carpet already has lost some color due to spilled nail polish remover.
– Lighting and electricity. Having sufficient lighting and electrical outlets are essential to your child’s happiness and good work habits. Be sure there’s a task light for a desk, table or nightstand, a good overhead incandescent light for ambience and enclosed lighting in closets. Sufficient electric outlets should be installed near a desk for a computer, and in bookshelves or near the floor for a radio, CD player, boombox and phone.
If the idea of having so many electronics becomes abhorrent, consider setting up a tech station in a hall or corner of a family room. Roseanne Boldt of The Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago believes that doing so also reduces loneliness that comes with everyone retreating to their own private haven.
– Is cleanliness next to godliness? How neat or messy you allow your child’s room to be depends on your child’s age and maturity, your family’s value system, and your system of internal consistency if two parents are involved in making decisions, says Wilmette psychologist Solomon Cytrynbaum.
As a child ages, Cytrynbaum says, adolescents need more of a private turf though it sometimes may have to be waived. A house or apartment for sale necessitates extra tidyness by everyone. Parents need to pick their battles, however, and decide if a room’s condition is worth going to the mat, he adds.
For parents who favor a high degree of orderliness, consider a system of logical consequences, previously spelled out. One mother places clothing that’s not hung up in a garbage bag that she discards.
– Storage. What helps children’s areas stay neat is having enough storage, particularly in a closet. You can set up a shelving/cubby system by buying items at an organizer store or going the more expensive route and hiring a company to study your child’s existing wardrobe and build an age-appropriate system. Most systems are flexible so that as a child grows, longer hanging space can be increased, says Rick Kinsella, operations manager for California Closet Co. in Chicago and the northern suburbs.
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MORE ON THE INTERNET: Learn how to hunt for housing with children in tow at chicagotribune.com/go/kids
