Vern Yip Shows Off His Kids' Rooms

HGTV Star judge Vern Yip styled his kids’ rooms with ideas the family can live with for a long time. The designer shows you how in HGTV Magazine.

By: Rory Evans

From: HGTV Magazine

Related To:

Sophisticated Paint Color

Kids’ rooms can be pastel and still look great when they get older, which is why Vern chose a gray blue, not baby blue, for the walls. "Just don’t pick a color that’s too powdery or it will go babyish fast," says Vern. "The bluish gray I used in the playroom [Calm Waters by Dunn-Edwards] is like a clear sky."

Hide-and-Seek Curtains

You won’t find any cartoon-character window coverings in Vern’s house! He sticks with fabrics his kids won’t quickly outgrow, like these machine-washable drapery panels made of dupioni polyester. "They’re easy to clean, which is great because the kids are always yanking them open and pulling them closed playing peekaboo," he says.

Triple Toy Cabinets

Vern scored this trio of cabinets for $75 from a Banana Republic store that was being remodeled. For now they’re grouped together, and they’re just the right height for the kids to get to their toys.

Big-People Furniture

A child can sit comfortably in an adult-sized chair. An adult in a child’s chair? Not so much. "For kids’ rooms consider big-people furniture with really good bones," says Vern. "You can always have it reupholstered when you want a change."

Racing Stripes on the Floor

Stripes are a classic pattern. "Gavin and Vera use the lines as lanes to race their toy cars," says Vern. He had this 10-foot-by-11-foot wool carpet cut and bound at myerscarpet.com, which stays uncluttered thanks to mesh metal bins for toys and blocks.

Vera's Room

Warm, inviting orange is one of the designer's most-loved colors for adults and kids. It pops up all over Vera's room: in the curtains, on the throw, on the bed skirt.

A Modern Glider

Vern loves a glider in a baby's room, but "most of them are too grandma," he says. However, this cool-looking brown microfiber version (bbraithwaite.com) may end up in a living room one day.

Clutter-Proof Closet

"Our house was built in 1925, when closets were a lot smaller," says Vern. He added low shelves on casters that can be moved out when Vera's clothes get bigger and longer. Out-of-season things are stashed on a top shelf.

Gavin’s Room

The kids' rooms are on the sunny south side of the house, and the curtain-and-wooden-blinds combo over the windows lets Vern fine-tune the light for naptime. He found the elephant-print fabric on a trip to Thailand. For a similar look, try tommybahama.com.

Extra-Large Stripes

Instead of permanent wallpaper or a babyish border, Vern painted the walls in Gavin’s room with horizontal stripes about a foot high, alternating between satin and high-gloss finishes (Mesa Tan in satin by Dunn-Edwards, and Crownsville Gray in high gloss by Benjamin Moore).

Drawer Pulls, Repurposed

Vern hung a pair of elephant-head drawer pulls that he found on a trip to Bali as hooks for next-day clothes and special-occasion outfits. Any large pull with a solid ring will work for hangers. Pullsdirect.com has a good selection, from just $2.

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Photo By: Sarah Dorio

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