Expert tips take your child's room from tot to teen -- with personalized style that lasts

Sun Sentinel (MCT) - It's tempting to give in to the whining. Your kids say they are sick of "Cinderella" or "Dora the Explorer" and HAVE to have their bedroom redecorated in "High School Musical" or "Hannah Montana."

Don't give in, says designer Giselle Loor, who operates b+g design in Hollywood, Fla., with her husband, Brett Sugerman. Loor knows. She is more than just a designer. She's the mother of two sons, Alessandro, 7, and Max, 6.

Decorating children's rooms that last is particularly important these days when many of us are worried about losing our homes, our jobs and our sanity. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is designing everything _ wallpaper, bedspreads and accents _ in a theme your kids may tire of in a year.

Loor decorated her boys' shared bedroom with painted walls, striped bedspreads and themed pillows to match their tastes ("Batman" and "Spider-Man"). They are embroidered with their first names.

"Sit down and talk with your child, whether they are 3, 4 or 15," she said. "Find out what their favorite colors are. They usually won't change that much over the years.

"Paint the walls as a neutral background. You can change accents. It's not that much money to change the pillows if they change their mind or taste."

Although she says it's important to respect your child's wishes, Loor says you need to put their wishes into perspective to save your sanity and pocketbook.

Here are some of her suggestions:

Draw a floor plan before you shop.

It sounds simple, but you waste money if you don't know how the furniture will fit. Measure the room, the existing furniture and lay it out on graph paper. Before you buy, make sure the new furniture fits in the plan.

"If you have a smaller child, you need floor space for them to do puzzles," she said. "I find a lot of parents allow the children to play games in the living room and before you know it the whole house is cluttered. If you don't have a separate playroom, you need to make the bedroom the playroom."

Skip the twin bed.

As soon as they outgrow the crib, get your children full- or queen-size beds that will last until they grow up and leave the nest. When Loor and her family moved into a loft, she ordered two sets of custom-made, queen-size bunk beds with a desk for each child underneath.

No matter how young, every child needs a desk.

"Kids are getting on computers before they are even able to read," Loor said. "Whether they are using Leapfrog or a laptop for college, they still need desk space so they can have a quiet place to do homework without distraction."

Give the Gift of Free Catholic Education This Christmas

When a girl gets older, Loor says, she could transform the desk into a makeup table.

Provide an organizational system to keep the room in order.

The bedroom should be peaceful and that translates into uncluttered. She suggests buying a label maker and bins. Mark each bin with the toy names. If your child is too young to read, take a picture of the toy and put the name under it so he or she can learn the words.

"It's important to keep everything organized," she said. "It makes it easier for the parent and the child to start good habits."

Make your children the art.

This is an inexpensive trick with big impact. Start at the crafts store, where you decide how big you want the picture to be. You can find a selection of inexpensive frames to match your decor. Then take your child's photos to a photo or office services store and ask them to enlarge the photos to fit the frames. Change the photos as the kids grow.

Add a fun accent.

Loor's children are afraid of the dark so she turned falling asleep into a pleasant experience with a light show. She bought a projector for about $100 and displays the solar system and shooting stars on the ceiling.

Provide shelves for personalization.

Loor decorated a feminine room for a 7-year-old girl that featured a chandelier, an abstract floral rug and shelves surrounding the bed. The display on the shelves can change with her interests _ from dolls to photos of her boyfriends.

And, finally, she has an idea for getting rid of old toys and getting new ones without spending any money.

"A lot of parents are having a party with friends of different ages that is a swap meet where they swap toys," Loor says. "What may be old to you is new to someone else."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

___

INEXPENSIVE DECORATING SOURCES

You don't have to spend a fortune to decorate your child's room. Here are some sources:

Pillows: A Hannah Montana guitar pillow is $8.99 on sale at disneyshopping.go.com and the Hannah Montana Secret Diary Pillow is $20.87 at Wal-Mart stores. The Spider-man Reversible Throw Pillow is $17.99 at Target.com. My Little Pony Plush Pillow is $14.87 at amazon.com.

Wall art: Stick-and-remove wall art is an easy and inexpensive way to decorate plain painted walls. Walldecorshops.com has a variety of wall stickers (Curious George Wall Sticker Set, $14.95) and wall murals ($24.95 and up for tropical scenes). Landofnod.com has Wall Guitar stick-ons ($49) and Racing stick-ons ($40). Check out wall-pops.com for a variety of mix-and-match shapes and colors.

Light your Free Virtual Prayer Candle for Christmas

Wall letters: Spell out your child's name in letters you can hang on the wall. The 5- to 8-inch-high letters are $10 each at potterybarnkids.com.

___

© 2009, Sun Sentinel.