Shared style

Sharing can be difficult for some children but decorating a shared kid’s room doesn’t have to be hard.

Choosing a neutral colour palette that can be mixed, remixed and built upon in different ways is a great strategy – and picking out linens first is the easiest place to start. Rather than choosing sets, pick out some coordinates instead. This is bedding that can be mixed and matched in a number of different configurations. One benefit of this is that your kids can end up having their own unique bedding that’s different from their sibling’s, but they’ll still look perfect together when used in the same space because they’ll share colours. Another is that if any accidental spills or rogue colouring cause permanent damage, you’ll only have to find one or two different pieces to replace some of your coordinates rather than the entire set – yet, it could give the room a completely fresh look.

When picking your coordinates, it’s important to find pieces that share colours, patterns, or textures to create continuity, but it’s equally important to choose pieces that are different enough that they will contrast distinctly. Try to stick to 2–4 colours in total – one or two in a medium strength tone, one that is much lighter, and one that is much darker – for best results. This will give you plenty of room to play around with the colours within the greater space.

Next, you’ll need to find the perfect paints to match. To get the closest colours to those that are in your bedding, bring one of each of your coordinate choices to your local Resene ColorShop. The staff there can help you find the exact tones you need. This approach is a whole lot easier than trying to track down bedding that matches your paint choices exactly. Then, the real fun can begin.

In this shared bedroom, we used four colours we sampled from our bedding coordinates for to set the tone of the space: Resene Half Barely There for the top section of the wall, Resene Rakaia for the lower wall, Resene Eighth Masala for the skirting board and Resene Ebony Clay for the pendant lamp, hook rack and dado rail (which holds up the curtains). We then used a lighter duvet cover for the bed on the left and grounded it with a headboard in Resene Cinnamon – which pairs perfectly with the pillowcase and the other bed’s duvet cover and contrasts sharply with the wall behind. To ground the daybed at the left and add a point of difference while still contrasting with the backdrop, we painted abstract brushstroke-like shapes on the curtain in Resene Eighth Masala.

This pattern, while unique to any other element in the space, feels similar enough as the ticks on the cloud pillow and the stripes on the tote bag and throw that it works. Along the same vein, the maths symbols on the hanging organiser painted in Resene Rakaia are of a similar line weight of the rest of the stripes in the room, which helps tie them into the scheme.

It just goes to show that matching room elements isn’t always as exacting a science as we often believe it to be!

Styling by Kate Alexander. Photography by Bryce Carleton. 2020