Small Wonders: 3 Playful Kids’ Rooms Built for Big Imaginations

Hidden Gem

Talk about a reveal that’s worth the wait: this playroom that includes a bakery, a reading loft, a slide, a tree swing and more is also a secret: the entry is hidden behind a bookcase. “When the family first moved to the house, the mom told the kids there’s a hidden playroom,” says designer Nicole Varga of Knight Varga, who designed the home in West Vancouver with co-founder Trish Knight. The kids were thrilled to discover the space themselves. “They ran up and down the hallway a few times before they thought, wait a minute…”

Of course, once inside the room, who would ever want to leave? The design team converted a former bedroom into this dream space, fulfilling a wish list from the owner that included a make-believe kitchen, an art studio and a climbing wall. The “Main Street” vibe comes via shiplap on the “patisserie” and art studio walls and real shingles on the roof. Upstairs (via a wee ladder) there’s a reading loft for quieter moments, where a very on-theme Bella Books wallpaper from Kravet lines the walls.

And, of course, the colour palette is as playful as it comes, with bold pinks, yellows and greens throughout paired with a richly patterned wildflower wallpaper that lines the room. “The homeowner wanted a lot of colour,” says Trish Knight, then, with a smile, she adds: “And you know, I’m an ’80s girl at heart, so I love pink and green.”

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Flower Power

Designing a show home might seem like an impersonal venture—the eventual homeowner’s wants and needs don’t exist yet—but designer Rochelle Cote and her team layer plenty of personality into this space. “We put an emphasis on making it as personal as we can,” says Cote, who worked on the home with the Calgary-based Minto Homes. The future family, she imagined, would be in their mid-30s with a couple of kids, and this bedroom belonged to seven-year-old Lily, who loved figure skating and spending time outside. “We made it as young-girl friendly as we could,” she says, “but it’s also quite versatile.”

To keep it youthful but transition-friendly, Cote opted for boldly patterned wallpaper from York on the feature wall, offset with lighter millwork and a rattan headboard on the bed. The sweet artwork of bunnies, deer and geese is the youngest element of the room, but can age up as Lily gets older, too. And the curvy lampshade, chosen because its ruffles mimic the movement in the wallpaper, will as easily suit this being a guest room or the crash-pad for a figure-skating teen. “A lot of different people could see them Shellard Photography selves in that room,” says Cote.

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Where the Wild Things Are

Designer Ben Leavitt isn’t afraid of colour. “There are 26 different paint colours in my house,” says the principal of Vancouver’s PlaidFox Studio with a laugh. “Every room is a different colour.” For his son Zayn’s room, he wanted to make the space fun, but its small dimensions led him to opt for a more neutral palette. “But in a very busy pattern to make it come to life,” he says.

He loved the idea of the room feeling like a tent (“not a circus tent, a real tent,” he notes) and the vaulted ceiling contributed to that effect, hand-painted in tan and white vertical stripes that soar overhead. And while the overarching space is neutral in tones—sage-green millwork, a mustard-coloured area rug—it doesn’t mean it’s without bold moments. “I find when you’re building a colour story, you just need a few really fun pops of colour that are found nowhere else in the room,” he says. In this case, there’s a Sundays side table in cherry red, along with orange bedding, a pink throw blanket and blue and green pillows. “An all-around fun colour mix.”

Zayn is still a toddler, but there’s plenty of room for him to grow in the space, from the crib that will transform into a bed when he’s big enough to space for him to add his own touches when he’s older, too. “I didn’t want it to be overly designed—I wanted to leave enough gaps that, as we travel, we can fill his bookcase and walls with fun stuff.”

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