We all know the challenges faced in the daily struggle to get kids to sleep, and even to get them to stay in their bedrooms to give mum and dad a few hours of well-earned peace.

One way to encourage children to enjoy their own space is to make their rooms fun, relaxing places to be: places that they feel are their own. So next time you give your house a re-style or redecoration, remember not to overlook the rooms where the kids play.

A good way to find inspiration is with the kids themselves. No doubt this will involve filtering through imaginative but impractical ideas (‘I’d like a mini football pitch’; ‘I’d like a climbing frame and swings’), but it can be helpful for deciding about the simpler elements of design such as preferences for colours and soft furnishings.

For the brave and the bold, using bright, contrasting colours creates a lively, sunny atmosphere that particularly suits younger children. To complement this alternative and eye-catching approach, why not introduce some basic murals? Although these can be tricky to do without help from a professional interior designer, unless you have a talent for art (or stencils, stickers, and wall-art), the advantage is that they are so easy to personalise. You and the kids can choose whatever you like to go on the wall.

One crucial factor when thinking about kids’ spaces is storage – it’s likely that their rooms will need plenty of boxes (which can come in fun patterns), shelving (try experimenting with interesting shapes), and cubby-holes to house toys and clothes. A sensible way of increasing storage is to find a bed that incorporates it; the children’s beds from Littlewoods are a good place to look for this.

Finally, and most importantly, feel free to get creative and to use plenty of imagination. If you keep this tip in mind, decorating the kids’ rooms becomes fantastic fun and often the most enjoyable part of the house re-vamp.

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