Inspired by the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You'll Go, designer Felicity Chapman, of I.S. Design in Los Altos, Calif., designed this room for smarts and whimsy.

As parents of little bookworms know, book collections often outgrow their bookshelves. Chapman not only gave the little literati room to grow her collection, but she also added some fun and useful touches: The lower cabinets store toys in easy-to-remove baskets and the inner panels have magnetic paint. "The doors are functional for storage, but they are also great places to practice spelling and to display [artwork]," Chapman says.

The oversized floor pillows and window seat create cozy reading nooks where a child can dive solo into her favorite story or cuddle up with a parent for some quality reading time.

Your little marine enthusiast will treasure this under-the-sea adventure room, complete with a gnarly surfing headboard and a treasure-chest bed. But the children's room mural is the star of the show in this water wonderland. "When a child walks in the room and shuts his door, he feels, literally, like he's underwater," says designer Becky Najafi, of the De Atelier Design Group.

The underwater party on the walls did create a dilemma, however: The swarm of beautiful oceanic creatures wash a wave of watery authenticity over the space, but leave little room for bookcases or large pieces of furniture. Najafi solved the storage problem by finding a treasure of a captain's bed for this undersea adventure, which keeps a wealth of booty hidden inside.

Dock your little captain in this cool-breeze nautical room, where he or she can sail away anytime into dreamland. From Pottery Barn Kids, the boat bed anchors the room, but accessories, such as the nautical flags and architectural sailboat sketches, will drive learning and curiosity about sailing, navigation and seaside communications.

While it's clear that living in this sailboat sanctuary will thrill the seafaring soul, boosting the educational aspect of the room is as easy as A, B, C. Decorate with the colorful and geometrically interesting nautical flag alphabet, and make it a breeze to combine a child's oceanic interests with reading and codes.

Wow your child with this Wild West bungalow, complete with a teepee canopy. This room, featured at PoshTots, has neutral walls to showcase the big sky-toned accessories like Americana art reproductions and a Western-style chair.

Parents can decorate and educate by displaying a series of maps showing the nation's acquisition of the Western states, and take the opportunity to talk with older children about the plight of the Native Americans during the Western movement. Native American symbols on the teepee can be carried as a theme throughout the room, as well: paint them as a border or hang artistic representations as stand-alone art pieces.

If a child's love of the Old West is more about mares and less about manifest destiny, saddle up the room with horseback riding accessories. An equine-loving child will have a galloping good time decorating with horseshoes, cowboy boots or even a saddle chair. Brighten up the room with colorful bandana-patterned lamp shades or sheets to add a burst of color while staying true to the horse-loving theme.

"This room is all about imagination and fantasy," says designer Becky Najafi, of the De Atelier Design Group. With its fun femininity, it's sure to delight any little girl who loves stories of faraway lands and happy endings.

But the marriage of practicality with whimsy isn't just a dream here. The daybed has a trundle for sleepovers, and an opposite wall features a built-in desk area. The mural on the walls depicts a fairy-tale land, complete with glitter-glazed paints and a personalized portrait of the little girl who lives in the room. The brightly colored geometric print on the bedspread and fabulously frou-frou canopy set the stage for a little girl's imagination.

For pint-sized naturalists, the world is one big mystery. Just like plants, giving little earth enthusiasts the right environment will allow them to bloom and grow. This kids' room theme, from Pottery Barn Kids, is fertile ground for little gardeners and nature lovers.

The combination of chalkboard, pegboard and corkboard wall modules allows children to keep organized and jot down ideas or artistic inspirations while also giving them a place to display plant charts, insect photos or their own creative creatures. On the floor, the Schoolhouse Storage Cubbies feature storage solutions for budding brains. Keeping seeds, nature guides and bug books organized will become natural with drawers as well as a wide-open shelf. Adding a window box where children can cultivate plants will delight growing gardeners, so an attractive all-weather rug underneath the dirt-filled delights may be a bright idea.

Play is the building block of childhood learning, and this romper room, collaboratively designed by Lena Seow, Vrinda Khanna and Suzan Wines of I-Beam Design, is an architecturally inclined child's wonderland. LEGO boards cover a wall of this room, from floor to ceiling. "Children can build with or against gravity," says Wines, adding that the child's ability to impact the basic architecture of the play area by building on the wall is a large part of the appeal. "Everything a child builds becomes an integral part of the play-space architecture until a new construction is made," she says.

The room also features small cube-shaped pillows, adding to the building adventure. "Kids can build their own environments to play in and on," Wines says.

For older children who might not enjoy primary-colored LEGO walls but who have a more mature understanding of design, find old blueprints and frame them for a sophisticated architectural environment.

The earth is a very big place, and your child will experience the wonders of the world while tucked away in this global room from PoshTots. Maps on the walls and as furniture embellishments will give your child visions of wide open spaces beyond their home, while the compass rose mosaic theme on the furniture carries the cartography theme across the room. Parents can explore the learning power of this theme further by decorating the walls with large maps of different continents, or by painting a directionally accurate compass on the ceiling.9-poshtots-kids-bedroom

There is something magical about a room that has a classic, vintage feel. Mixing traditional elements with handmade pieces in the design of a room brings a timeless and elegant vibe. "I wanted something appropriate for a little girl and something that she would grow into as well. The style I aimed for was a soft look with no frilly details. The wallpaper, as well as the wrought iron bed, is all at once vintage, feminine and classic," shares mother of three Maria Dratell, of Maria Dratell Interiors. Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

All shades of the color gray are making their way into kids' design. It's the great, new neutral that parents such as blogger and new mom, Kaylee, are gravitating to — using it for the walls, furniture and bedding. Gray tones coupled with soft colors like yellow, pink or tangerine remain serene and soft but with a modern twist. Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

"Design seems to follow the trends of fashion, and as we see people embrace bright colors and vibrant prints in their attire, they are also welcoming it into their homes," says MyTinyNest. "We see people embracing bright colors and bold patterns with less trepidation, bringing a sense of the pending fun of the spaces into the design palettes." Parents are no longer afraid to take a design risk. A room that is overly matchy-matchy may be a thing of the past. Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

Forget the traditional, bulky ottoman. Poufs are popping up all over the place. Tammie Le, of InterScene Studio, says this Moroccan-inspired look "adds so much life and color to the room while multi-tasking as additional seating — a soft surface she can use to learn the art of balance and standing and a cute place to display cuddly stuffed animals and baby books. The fabric used is baby-friendly, and the ottoman is lightweight for easy mobility. It's been a big hit when family and friends visit." Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

"We don't advocate wrapping the whole room in wallpaper," say Julie Frank and Alessia Corpino, of MyTinyNest. "It can overwhelm the space and make the room feel very claustrophobic — sometimes it's one wall; at other times, it's more, all depending on the space, the pattern, the lighting and most importantly, the client's desired vision." Photo courtesy of MyTinyNest

The wallpaper trend is everywhere and this trend isn't going anywhere! Unlike papers of the past that were were too cutesy or too frilly, fun and contemporary wallpapers that both parents and kids will love are now easily accessible. NYC-based children's interior design firm MyTinyNest says, "We like to use wallpaper since it changes the overall feel of the room and becomes the backdrop for the scheme. In appropriate projects, the effect of a whole wall in a pattern or graphic is stronger than that of a piece of art, and it helps capture the parents' intended feel and energy for the space." Photo courtesy of MyTinyNest

Growing in popularity is the desire to create a kid's room that doesn't scream "kiddie" and offers a bit more sophistication. "We wanted to created a space that worked for him as he transitioned out of a crib and into a big boy bed but that would also be able to grow with him as he got older," shares mother of two and designer Liz Carroll, of Liz Carroll Interiors. A clean navy and white color combination coupled with crisp pops of green give this room a preppy chic feel yet the subtle jungle theme keeps the room kid-friendly. Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

Children love color, but too much in one space can feel overpowering. Using pops of bold colors against a clean white palette creates a light and airy feel. Designer Andrika King, of Andrika King Design, says, "Using white as a backdrop in a child's room is an easy way to make the room flow with the rest of the house without standing out too much as a 'child's room.' Let the accessories, such as lamps, rugs, books, and bedding, be your pop of color, and keep the furniture and walls white." Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

Traditional bunk beds are one thing, but taking sleeping arrangements to soaring new heights is another. Popular fashion blogger, Nicole Feliciano, of Momtrends.com, created a fashionable yet functional room for her two little girls. "In NYC, space is tight, and you have to be creative. We dream of the four bedroom, 2500 sq.ft. apartment, but for now it's not a reality. What we lack in normal square footage here, we make up for with tall ceilings. We decided to go vertical and create some additional space by lofting the girls' room. Our reality is shared space. The good news is our girls love little nooks. By giving each girl her own loft area each with a private staircase, each has a small hideout from the world and a space of her own to dream in." Photo courtesy of Nicole Feliciano, Momtrends.com

Every parent knows sleep is like gold, so why not create a room for your child with good sleep habits in mind and make the bed a focal point. Gerri Panebianco and Naomi Alon, of Little Crown Interiors, suggest, "Whenever possible, particularly in the case where your child is having difficulty sleeping in his or her own bed, create a floor plan that accentuates the bed. If the room is focused on playthings or study areas, the child can easily associate the space with those activities rather than the important activity of sleeping through the night." Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

Designers are stepping it up a notch when it comes to designing their own children's rooms. Vanessa Antonelli, of NessaLee Baby, used luxe-looking materials like lucite and faux leather as the focal point in her son's nursery. "I wanted the furniture to be somewhat minimal and modern, so I needed something that complemented the lines of the furniture but also made a statement. That's when the idea of the panels came to me. Lucite is such a fun material because it's sort of like stainless steel in the way that it's immediately associated with a modern space. What I liked was that because it is see-through, it keeps the light flowing, allowing for the open and airy feel. I also loved that he could see out of the panel on the crib with ease." Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com

Design trends have moved beyond the four walls. Now the ceiling is getting the attention it deserves. Painted with bold stripes or even wallpapered, decorated ceilings can give an unexpected dash of drama to the baby nursery or kid's room. The playful and bright Sharon Taylor Designs nursery seen here boasts quite possibly the boldest ceiling stripes yet. Photo courtesy of ProjectNursery.com