Tips for Decorating a Shared Kids’ Room With Vintage Flair

Start with a loose theme that can be conveyed with vintage and second-hand pieces. It’s helpful to see what you already have to work with and which of those items your child/children are drawn to. In this case, the theme is collegiate sports, which speaks to both family history and the boys’ current interests.

Kids' rooms are always in need of a little more storage for tucking away toys and treasures. Instead of purchasing a table-style nightstand without any storage, use a small cabinet or chest of drawers. These pieces can typically be picked up at yard sales and flea markets for $50 or less.

Decorating a kid’s room can be a delicate give-and-take between the parent’s will and the child’s. Kids won’t love their latest character infatuation for very long, and parents wants to steer their kid toward choices with more longevity. Stuffed animals and decorative toys are a great place to let the kids get involved to showcase their current loves with items that are easily swapped out as their interests shift.

Old baseballs, retired from use, can be put in a basket or glass jar and used as decor instead of being thrown away. What else can be recycled as decor? Favorite T-shirts that have been outgrown, wooden toys that are no longer played with, dance shoes that are too small, etc.

Giving a room the look that it’s been collected over time is one of the hallmarks of vintage style. Mix old patchwork quilts with ticking-striped bedding, mismatched pillows and used furniture pieces in different styles and finishes. Vintage style is very forgiving.

A vintage wooden golf club, purchased at a flea market for a few dollars, becomes the rod for a window valance when hung from orphaned curtain rod brackets. Tie felt pennant banners onto the golf club to create a unique (and fuss-free) window treatment.

There's a whole wide world of fun stuff that can be hung on a wall and used as art. In this boys' room, vintage wooden tennis rackets that were found in a relative’s attic are used as three-dimensional, unconventional art. They are secured to the wall with a few carefully placed large nails.

Kids love little secret places, like tents, forts, nooks and alcoves. Awkward spaces in a room, like dormers and niches, can become a favorite spot simply with the addition of a small desk or a comfy chair. A curtain can easily be installed for added privacy.

Build your color palette around a specific fabric, textile or featured item to keep the room's look cohesive. In this shared boys' room, the blue and orange palette was based on a pair of vintage patchwork quilts and a felt collegiate banner. Using one or two key pieces as a starting point will make future decorating selections, like paint color and accessories, more focused.