When a baby is born, it’s necessary to create a comfortable space for them. Even if there’s a separate nursery in the house, in the early days, the baby requires constant attention from their mother. Many new parents set up their baby’s crib in their own bedroom, but as the child grows to 2-3 years old, it’s better to give them their own separate space. For small apartments and studios, the optimal solution to this issue is zoning.
Ways to Zone
Various designs can help to divide the room’s space into separate areas for the child and the adults. With creativity and practicality, every centimeter of space can be utilized to its maximum potential.
Sliding Doors
Sliding doors work well as a thin partition. Semi-transparent inserts, mirrors, or stained glass can allow natural light to enter the adult’s area of the room and make it visually larger. However, considering children’s lack of caution, it’s better to use plexiglass, plastic, or PVC film instead of glass for the doors. If transparency isn’t necessary, for optical expansion of the area, consider sliding doors with a light glossy, metallized surface, interesting 3D patterns, or those that imitate polished marble or lacquered wood. Remember that dark matte and saturated tones can create a sense of gloominess and bulkiness, so it’s better to use them in more spacious rooms.
Closets
By installing a tall clothing closet instead of a screen, you can save quite a bit of space and solve the zoning problem at the same time. Just leave a passage in the middle or on the side to create a functional wardrobe wall from floor to ceiling and get rid of thoughts about where to store things in a small apartment forever. If the area allows, it’s desirable to install shelves – both on the adult and child sides. If necessary, a fold-down bed or even a whole furniture complex can be vertically hidden inside the closet.
Shades or Room Dividers
One of the most inexpensive ways to zone a room is by using shades or room dividers. They can be easily made by hand from everyday materials such as wooden rails, fabric scraps, various suspensions, cardboard, wallpaper remnants, and MDF. Due to their light weight, these constructions are ideal for temporary rental apartments and families who often move. Mobile partitions can be folded, hidden, or moved to another location at any time. They are also convenient from a decorative point of view. For example, on one side, a shade can serve as a base for children’s drawings, and on the other – as a background for photographs.
Shelving Units or Shelves
If you want to have access to various items and books, but at the same time, don’t want to completely separate the bedroom from the children’s room, a good option for a partition would be a shelving unit. Whether made of wood, plastic, gypsum board, metal, or particleboard, it can beautifully complement the interior and allow natural light to freely enter every corner of the room. By combining open and closed shelves with pull-out drawers, you can store your home library, textbooks, toys, souvenirs, favorite figurine collections, awards, photographs, electronics, indoor plants, and even set up an aquarium (again, not made of glass, but plastic, to prevent accidental flooding caused by a child throwing a ball).
Gypsum Board Partition
Being a flexible material, gypsum board allows you to implement any design ideas. Relief arches, intricate openings, oval windows – all of these can be used as additional shelves, decorated with stained glass, mirrors, paintings, and mounted with LED lights. A gypsum board niche on the side of the parent’s bedroom or living room can be an ideal base for a fake fireplace and a plasma TV, while in the children’s room, it can serve as a partial replacement for furniture.
Curtains
If the window remains only in one area when zoning a room for parents and a child, transparent curtains will provide natural lighting for the entire space during the day. At night, pulling the heavy drapes will create a cozy place for privacy. Instead of textile curtains, you can choose modern plastic or bamboo blinds. It is preferable to mount the cornice to the ceiling – this will visually make the room look higher.
Platform
An interesting solution in designing small apartments is the arrangement of a wooden platform raised above the floor. The free space under such a “stage” is convenient to use for storing winter clothes, bedding, shoes, toys, strollers, and other items. You can also install a pull-out bed under the platform or hide any other transforming furniture there.
Useful Tips for Room Zoning
More Light
After dividing a room into several parts, there may be a problem with natural sunlight. It is better to leave the window in the children’s area so that the child can comfortably play and study. For the dark time of the day, you can buy an interesting lamp in the shape of a flower, a ship, an animal, and embed a few flat bulbs in the ceiling. In the adult bedroom, a small ceiling fixture, spot LEDs on the side surfaces, a couple of wall sconces, or one or two night lamps will be sufficient.
Bright Colors
To make a room look more spacious, it is advisable to use a light palette of shades in the decor. For adults, white, pastel, and natural tones work well for walls, furniture, and textiles, while in the children’s corner, vibrant rainbow colors like orange-yellow, green, blue, and purple are essential. It’s important to exercise caution with red and dark blue, as the former can overstimulate the nervous system and the latter can have a suppressive effect, similar to black and gray tones. Glossy surfaces, including light-reflecting film on the ceiling, lacquered furniture, mirrors, silver-golden patterns on doors, wallpaper, curtains, and vertical lines, contribute to visual space expansion.
A Fairy Tale for Kids
Fantasy and colorful elements are appropriate in the children’s area. Girls will like stylized furniture in the form of a palace, a puppet theater, a forest, swings, hammocks, and houses; while boys will be thrilled with cars, space and pirate ships, sports ladders, bars, and hanging rings. If there are several children, it is worth trying to arrange a personal corner for each one. In conditions of saving space, bunk, folding, pull-out, and transforming designs will be suitable for this.
Room for parents and child – photos
You can find original ideas on how to zone a room for parents and child in our photo gallery. These projects will help visualize your renovation desires and provide inspiration, allowing you to transform your living space and turn your small apartment into a cozy family nest.
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