Kids rooms: designing a circus themed bedroom

A fun bedroom theme for boys and girls alike is a circus bedroom. If your child loves clowns and animals, they will love this room. Here are some ideas you can use to create a circus room for your child.

Step 1: Purchase fabric to make the big top ceiling treatment. You can purchase primary colors like red, blue and yellow for either a boy or a girl, but if the room is for a feminine type girl, you may want to use pastel colors. You will want to purchase a bolt of each color if the room is large. You will have plenty of uses for the excess fabric throughout the room. Use a lightweight cotton fabric that should be available inexpensively.

Step 2: Purchase a large sturdy metal ring from the hardware store as well as hooks that will hold a fair amount of weight. You will want to sew panels of the fabric onto the ring, alternating colors until you have two lengths of each color (or this can also be done in all white.) Once the ring with attached fabric is secured to the ceiling (possibly encircling the light fixture), you will need to secure the end of each panel of fabric to the wall where it meets the ceiling. Each piece of fabric should hang at the same level, and when completed the room should look like the inside of a circus tent. For an older child, you can have the fabric continue down the wall, but for a younger child, you should end it at the ceiling so they cannot swing on it.

Step 3: Choose one of the colors used for the ceiling and paint the walls to match. The lightest of these colors would be preferable. Next, add circus scenes onto the walls. Some ideas for such scenes are elephants standing on a round drum, clowns getting out of a tiny car, lion and lion tamer, or girls swinging on a trapeze. These can be done using wallpaper, which is available in several styles, wallpaper cutouts, or by painting a mural.

Step 4: Add three large circular throw rugs, each a different color, to the floor. Each circle should define a function for that area of the room. The first circle or 'ring' can be the reading area, with a small bookshelf, books, and a chair. The second area can be partially under the bed, designating the sleeping area. The third can be the messy toy area complete with a toy box. This will make the room look orderly even when toys and books are not put away.

Step 5: Use the excess fabric to make simple curtains for the windows, and to make pillows. Circular pillows will give the festive feel of balloons. Excess fabric can also be used to create a quilt for the bed. To further accessorize the room, purchase a picture book or calendar featuring clowns, take it apart and frame the pictures. Hang them on the walls as you would hang family portraits.