I voted other as sometimes I do and others I don't depends on the project.

layne, i too lived by that motto, don't sweat the small stuff, and make sure you can win the argument. those can be difficult priorities but they do work.

My step-daughter was 10 when we bought our first house. She wanted a purple room. I picked three shades of purple I could live with and let her choose from them. We painted the room and it worked for all of us.

A former coworker dutifully painted her son's room black. Killz was used when she had to sell the house.

I think it depends. Parents can let kids become tyrants, bowing down to their every whim. That's a parental choice. I do think that giving kids choice can be a good thing, too.

Yes is a good way to introduce children to decision making. Too often the olde feudal, "I'm the boss here and as long as your living under my roof you have no say" should be set aside for family decisions. When our daughter went to her first day of school, she chose one green and one blue sock to wear. We did not attempt to change her sock choice as we felt either other kids would chide her to choose like socks or---she would start a new trend. A new trend started and she continued to make decisions we thought were weird but now she is over forty and has and continues to make great decisions. Not so with her sibling who is older but was not allowed to make silly decisions. I suspect we as parents were the highest learner by looking at how early childhood development is so important for establishment of decision making skills. We all learn by our actions which are decisions.

my daughter chose lavender walls and blue trim when she was 9...ok, not such a great long term decision... and for her 16th birthday i said i'd repaint her room, she chose 2 walls coral and 2 walls peach.

now she's 27 and getting married this summer...her bridesmaids will be wearing coral and peach, so i guess she got the colors right by the time she was 16.

anyway, when i see so many posters in absolute anguish unable to decide on whether they want wood cabinets or white, which kind of floor, what kind of tile.... i have to wonder whether they were ever allowed to choose the color of anything when they were kids. you make small choices on pretty easy to fix things and learn to trust your judgement.

oh, and it doesnt count as allowing them to make their own choice if you then criticize, belittle, and tell their relatives about their dumb choice.

My children are grown and have their own houses. If they were still around, I would ask them what they think but I already know that my daughter and I differ in home decor and tastes.

When you have children that grow into adults and they had a mind of their own during that entire evolution...Their space is their space and you just do damage control. We do not ask for their advice in our space or common rooms. The nice thing about a bedroom is that it has a door. We just learned to shut it.

My 16 going on 17 year old daughter is not happy that when she was 12 I let her paint her whole room Turquoise, and she wanted dark furniture, which thankfully I only bought second hand so we can paint. Now she wants a grey/mauve colour and all white furniture. soon, we will change it, but first we are doing the kitchen and living room!

My kids are 2 and 4 and I let them choose any aspect of their room decorating where they show interest... within some guidelines. They aren't big enough to care what shade of brown we stain the wood floors, but, for example, even my little 2-year-old loves that he gets to choose his own bedspread. I did veto my daughter's request to paint her entire room with pink glitter, but we compromised by allowing her to paint her hand-me-down bed frame with pink glitter. When she gets a little bigger, we'll probably paint it again. It's important to me that she feels included in creating her own space. That's a skill that she'll hopefully carry into her adult life.

Just had a rememberence. when i was 10 we redid my room. had what they called a miami bed i think, kind of like day bed with a roll out frame under neath for friends. spent ages picking out the cushions of the bed decoration. was not told that you would never see it. boy was i angry.

I find that at my children's younger age, that their creativity is sometimes in a fuller bloom than mine, at times. They seem to know what looks good vs looking bad.

When we were decorating their bedrooms & bathroom yes, for the most part. We have three boys & they really weren't interested in the rest of the house, but when we decorated the family room we did consider the fact that they & their friends would be spending time in there as well so we did make sure there were big floppy pillows & such in there.

yes all the time, every time we moved the children did their bedrooms first, only colour that was not allowed was black, we knew it helped to settle them down quicker in the new place, Even in the other rooms they had their say, it is their home as well

The kids chose criteria for their decor--like deciding they needed a desk, a chandelier, or stars on the ceiling. I created choices from which they could make final choices. So we've had pink girly rooms but they were tasteful. We had gold stars on a blue ceiling but I chose the color blue and created the star stencils. This made the kids very happy and made the projects fun instead of contentious. Research shows that too much choice is uncomfortable for most people and I think that goes double for kids.

I think of it as training for adult living. We've always had a limited budget and my kids didn't get everything they wanted. All in all they got progressively more input and color choices and they got to make a few mistakes along the way. Paint is cheap. I started small- a 5 year old choosing a favorite color but me deciding where to incorporate it . My youngest son's favorite color at age 5 was"electric lime" so we added a quilt, a painted wooden toy chest, and a rug with that color included. He helped me choose fabrics for a patchwork quilt which incorporated several bright patterned fabrics with lots of greens, blues and yellows. His walls stayed the same "baby duck yellow" I had painted for his baby room. He was excited about the new choices and probably didn't even think about the basic wall color. Now he's 15 and a couple of room incarnations further along. He recently chose a deep cobalt blue and painted his own room (he did a neat job). It is darker than I would have chosen but he's happy and I'll repaint when he moves out if he doesn't want to change it sooner. It has been my experience kids keep rooms neater when they have some input on style, furniture and storage options but for me it was best to add responsibility gradually as they grew. .

We find that a lot of our clients involve their children in the design process. Whether it be choosing the paint color to interior decorating the entire room, our clients like sharing the building/ design process of their new home with their children. Below are a few rooms designed with the help of a toddler and teenager. Great discussion and we enjoyed reading all the feedback.

I worked in the paint department and was always amazed at how many parents told their kids they could pick a color and then complained about how it would look. You could just see their shoulders slump and their self esteem crumble. Maybe you could let them choose the color and you choose the intensity. My daughters picked the bedding and paint for their rooms and the smile on their faces and how much they enjoyed their accompllishment was much more important then any decorating differences. Now they help me pick colors.

I do it it's their bedroom or bathroom.

Yes, but Mom has ultimate veto power.

I have a room with puffy white clouds and one with bright orange walls to prove that I do.

I didn't let my kids choose a bathroom tile color years ago, as I was trying to go for neutral and practical, thinking of house resale. It would have been MUCH better for them to have been involved and just let the next owner decide about tile.

Yes, but I maintain veto power. I will not install a rocket launcher in the kitchen, LOL!

The kids bedrooms were always fair game for their own decorating ideas. What fun they had! After the inevitable girly pinks & lavenders I remember an underseas hand painted mural, stencilling, olive green ceiling with bronze and black sponging, an intricate and constantly evolving 4 wall & ceiling graffiti mural and so on...nothing that good quality primer couldn't fix when they moved on to their own lives. It's all pretty tame now in the former kids room now guest room & office. (BTW they both grew up to be very talented artists & great moms with very creative kids)

It's their space, and I want them to be happy. My parents would allow me to choose bedding and paint colors, but they made the furniture choice. I understand that. I pretty much did the same with my children. I'm sure they want, or wanted to choose paint colors for their rooms, but it never worked out really. Our previous home was freshly painted when we bought it, every room a nice deep cream. I took the lazy route and kept it neutral. Good thing too, as we had to move/sell. In our Florida bungalow, the main living areas were again freshly painted. Creamy white and a light sand color (white tiled floors) in the main areas and all the bedrooms, a pale sunny yellow. I liked it so much I didn't want to change it, so I let my kids choose rugs, art, textiles, etc. that worked with the existing color, but appealed to them. Compromise?

My kids are 13 and 16 so I do ask them for their opinions. We are working on my daughter's room now. I gave her 3 options for bookshelves and we purchased the ones she liked best. Same for curtains and lighting options. My son's room will be next and we will do similar -- 3 or 4 options to choose from. That way we can keep the choices within our budget and what we are willing to have in the house and the kids can still have their choice.

Because my parents included me in the selection of new furniture as a child...and most often went with my picks...that gave me the confidence to grow up to be an interior designer.

Depends! Kids are constantly changing their minds. One minute they like the color orange the next they hate it. One minute they want to go to school to be with their friends the next minute they hate school and their friends. If the kids want to express themselves then that's great! Fabulous! Give them a piece of paper and let them express themselves on that. If after 3 or more months they still feel the same or they are talking about it non-stop then consider it into the decision making process otherwise you will be spending a lot of unnecessary money.

I let them pick one wall colour and what they wanted the decor to be. I just chose the bedding, curtains, throw pillows etc. It was good way to bond and let them have some say on the whole home reno. Trust me, they care a lot more about keeping their rooms tidy and nice looking when they have what they want in there.

SHOOT!! I meant to check YES!!!

Only their rooms...

My parents let me design my room, when I was in 5th grade....Michigan Wolverines everywhere. Navy Blue carpet, Michigan Wallpaper and Michigan/Basketball decorations. When you grow up in the Hoosier state, you're bound to love basketball...even as a girl.

The whole house...no. For their rooms though of course! Its "my house" but it is their space to be creative and themselves so I think it is important to incorporate their ideas!

If you allow a child some say in their own space they will respect it more. If the child has been allowed to chose their own colors , furniture and textures they are more likely to take care of these things. I'm not saying give them free rein but let them explore their own tastes. If you prefer yellow and your daughter prefers pink the room should be pink. As many said above it can be painted over later.

Depends on how crazy the idea is!

Children have wonderful imaginations and have definite color preferences so it's natural to include them in design decisions for their bedrooms. Our children shared their rooms with a sibling or two so we let them choose their own bedding to personalize their space.

I do, but we negotiate a lot. My 10 year old daughter picked out a glowing dark purple and a lighter blue/gray purple for her room, and I nudged her toward a slightly warmer color so it didn't look too gray and cold in her room. For her tile in her bathroom, we chose tile that we both could love because that's a lot more permanent. I showed her choices in the right price range, and we went over how to calculate (both by square foot and by labor cost differences) what the expensive tile would cost vs the cheaper so she could participate in the budgeting, too. Also I let her decorate her bedroom walls, pick out her knick knacks and lighting, and choose her new loft bed (which she is chipping in a little allowance money for because she wants a more expensive one than we want to get.)

She also helps with my design sketches in other rooms because she has really fun ideas and a good spacial sense. I really love the design process and it's so fun to include my daughter in it. She learns a little in the process about measuring, fractions, budgeting, and about how things are constructed, plus she contributes to the design of our dream house that will someday be hers.

I think it's great to listen to what the kids want, especially in their own bedroom. A good way to approach it, is to have them list their design ideas without letting them know that it's actually a possibility. If they list something that would really work, then surprise them with it one day! However, if they design a monstrosity you have not made any promises holding you to it.

Of course ! they need to learn how to make choices and be happy about it ! Plus, their room is a reflection of their personality....they need to feel important and concerned about the process and it is our job as adults to guide them through it.

Currently in this situation luckily the baby is too young to give his option. One he is older I will have him some say in how his room should look.

Most definately not!! They may put their things in the room as they wish as long as it is tidy

I don't have children so I voted "other". If I did have children, then they would get a say about their room color and décor as I did growing up.

We decorated her room for her as a baby. At age two we decorated the room with found pieces (one an 'Arabian nights light which she has kept to this day). She chose the colours we found a material that was pretty and flowered and somehow timeless to recover chairs and make duvet covers. At age five she still liked the room but wanted turquoise furry bedding sheer turquoise drapery and a futon bed instead of the previous bed which had afaded gold/yellow antique look. At age 10 the walls went deep dark purple with a metal pipe type bed and a large number of bookshelves. By that age she was showing a good eye for placement of furniture to make full advantage of space. So we redid the living room layout with her very excellent input. She has helped pick furniture pieces for many rooms. Continues to adjust her room as she chooses although the purple seems to remain a favourite to date the dressing table seat and bedding have undergone several changes in style, texture, and colours. She has picked paint colours, materials, furniture and accouterments for the guest room, family room, living room and kitchen. She has a good eye.

In September she heads off to university and residence. I am waiting to see how she works with the new space available and feeling that the living room (in need of a new paint job and other changes to go with that) will suffer from her not being around to provide input.

One thing I do know. This isn't something that one could do with every child. As noted, some requests can be too far out of line for one to think of implementimg or allowing. We have raised a child that we have allowed to utilize what seems to be a natural talent. We let her grow being able to gradually increase input and a voice initially with her room and gradually fanning out to the whole house learning that we all have ideas and not every idea is a good one. (We have a family of four and we are all running pretty equal when it comes to vetoed ideas in decorating our home.) Her suggestions, choices and input in all the home decorating has grown as she has grown and she has become a quite talented diy decorator with an 'eye' for decorating that continues to grow. In that respect I feel she has a really good head start on many of her contemporaries and I'm glad we let the process move along its natural course.