How to Create Calm within the Chaos by Camellia Odojukan, from Pea

Let's not beat around the bush, as much as we love our children, parenting is HARD. And if anything, this past year has taught us even more how important it is to cater our homes not just to our needs, but also to our children's needs. This helps with their creativity, development, mental wellbeing, and so much more.

We tend to show the "better" side of our homes on Instagram, but the reality is, behind closed doors, it's been a tough year for us all in some way, shape, or form.

These tips are to help you create a calm environment in your home and make everyday life that little bit easier.

Get your children involved when planning/designing their rooms to help spark their imagination and reflect their personalities.

Here are Kids Interior Designer, Camellia Odojukan’s top tips:

Spatial planning is key

An overcrowded, cluttered room is no fun and can be very overwhelming. This is where spatial planning is vital.

Choose your main items first depending on what activities will be taking place in your child's room (sleep, storage, study).

Durability, quality & attention to detail are important when sourcing for your child's bedroom. Items that can grow with your child and be passed save you money in the long run.

Pea recommends: working together with your child to plan their bedroom, imagining somewhere they’ll want to spend time. A space to call their own is psychologically important. Their bedroom is their personal place. So we believe children should be surrounded with positive visual reminders of their interests to help form their identity. By the time little people are at school they have their own ideas about the things they want around them. And given how much time we’ve all spent at home over the last year, bedrooms not only need to be inspiring, but they also need to be multi functional, creating areas for children to learn, play, rest and grow. No matter how big or small the space. We are big fans of using our picture shelves to display books and define a little reading nook.

The importance of good lighting

Creating areas with different types of lighting helps with the different functions in the room and gives a more cohesive, layered look.

Ambient lighting is general lighting for the entire space

Task lighting is just that, used for a specific task. This might be a desk lamp, bedside lamp, night light, wardrobe lighting, etc.

Accent lighting is used to create a feature of a particular item in your home or room, such as children's artwork, family photos, your favourite print.

Pea recommends: using a colourful drum shade to create ambient lighting in children’s bedrooms. The light given off by the contrasting lining will have a tint of colour.

Colour therapy

Colour plays a huge role in our children's moods and their ability to concentrate.

Always consider the colours in your child's room carefully depending on their age, the orientation of their bedroom, and also the size of their space.

Pea recommends: the benefits of using colour for children. Colour stimulates learning, mood, concentration and behaviours. Plus it can improve sleep. So it really brings out the best in our little ones. That’s why we love colour and why it features so strongly in our bedding collections:

TreeTops combines deep, deep tones. Playful energetic blues contrast against warm mossy greens for a deeply calming bedroom.

Enchanted Forest bursts with sweeter shades. Strong blues soften against dusky pinks with mauve hints for a relaxing and versatile bedroom.

To The Moon stars striking blues and inky purples balanced against soothing neutrals. Inspiring imaginations by day, and sending sleep by night. Coming soon!

Decor on a budget

It doesn't have to be expensive!

Utilise your local markets, charity stores, Facebook marketplace. You can find big ticket items at bargain prices.

Little changes can make a big impact. Wall decals, a fresh coat of paint, new bedsheets, cushions. All these things can help to create an impact without breaking the bank.

Pea says: Our 100% cotton percale bedding is a simple yet striking way to feature their chosen theme, creating a world full of adventurous story-starters designed to inspire imaginations. By choosing a Pea bedding set, you bring a whole bedroom to life. Whether that’s using our free decorative guides to create an immersive space with only a fresh coat of paint, or by unfolding the story around the room with our removable wall stickers and coordinating selection of wall art.

Have a clear-out

Lastly, I would say going through your children's toys and clothes to have a clear-out always feels like a clean slate and helps with their mental wellbeing and yours.

Pea recommends: getting children to show you around their bedroom before you start decluttering. That way you get a sense of what’s important to them, what they wear, use, play with or read regularly. So when it comes to parting with things, they’ll trust that you won’t clear out the stuff they care about. Or if you have children who struggle to let go of things, you can quietly hide them away until a safe amount of time has passed, before giving them a new home for good.