Kids can be stylish too!

I've been wanting to write about kids rooms for a while but I've been struggling with finding pictures!! I'm realizing that it's hard to make kids rooms that are sophisticated and original but still whimsical and cheerful.

Typically, I LOVE Pottery Barn, but their kids catalogs just reinforces the rule that girls rooms must be pink and boys rooms are blue. They are all very cute rooms, but they all feel kind of the same. This room belonging to Jenna Lyon's son Beckett, is a kids room that I love for being stylish and playful. Jenna, the creative director at J.Crew, comments "Everything is so predictable! We don't need to be so predictable. Instead, be inspired by something unique." The Domino article that featured her Brooklyn brownstone wrote "Lyon dislikes traditional baby rooms but still wanted a space where her child's imagination and burgeoning aesthetics could run wild (long live chalkboard paint!)" "We were trying to establish a way for design to be playful and engaging without being exclusionary," applying even to the nursery her characteristic philosophy of democratizing sophistication. To figure out what would be both whimsical to a child and interesting to an adult, she and [her husband] tried to picture little Beckett lying in his crib. What would he see? Bold stripes overhead, cozy sheepskin atop cowhide. "Pale blues and pinks can seem so uncreative. There's something fresh about yellow and white and a charcoal wall begging to be drawn on."

And I have to agree with Jenna --- break the rules a little bit with color, but include playful, inspiring objects.

I'm loving the bedding options shown here, made by Dwell Studio for Target. Using a dark wood crib is also a great way to give pink a more sophisticated feel. And don't get me wrong, I love pink, but sometimes it's actually nicer when it's balanced out with neutrals rather than green or purple! This is another cute room from Dwell Studio for Target. Isn't it nice combining unexpected wall colors with other kid friendly ideas? Japanese lanterns are a cheap lighting fixture that gives a dramatic result. This room is definitely feels kid friendly all-over, but what a fresh new color?!And as far as playful objects go, I thought this rug from Design Public was pretty cute with a bite taken right out of it! AND the grey ground can be a nice neutral in a room!How adorable is this hamper from Home Decorators !?Art - using nice framing with a playful theme is a great way to contribute to a stylish room. This cute print is a lovely Etsy find - from Bold and Noble This rug, from 2modern, as well as my next few pics aren't kids things at all, but that's what I like about them. They're playful and fun, but they're all shown in grown-ups spaces, so they're objects that can grow with your kids. A lamp that's been paper-mached-- a perfect project for an ugly lamp make it pretty and match your room!I would have loved mis-matched curtains as a kid!If you have any room for upholstered furniture, how fun is this couch?And big numbers and letters - I love them! This last room isn't a bedroom, but I wanted to include it because of its fun paint pattern!

So what do you think... can we throw that pink is for girls, blue is for boys rule right out the window?! (Just like the you can't wear white after labor day rule which I REFUSE to follow!?!?)

Photo Credits: Pottery Barn, Domino, Domino, Target, Target, Design Sponge, Design Public, Home Decorators, Esty, 2Modern, Design Sponge, Domino, Jake Curtis via Desire to Inspire, O!Rashew via Desire to Inspire, Belle Maison, Purple Area, Traditional Home

Check out the parties today at Hooked on Houses, Fifi's Flowers and The Inspired Room!