If your baby has suddenly become a toddler, it’s time to adapt your nursery room design into a transitional space that will accompany them as they change and grow. There are a variety of ways to update your child’s space, from easy DIY projects to simple swaps like trading the crib for a toddler bed or setting up a play corner where the changing table or glider used to be.
Whether you are looking for furniture, lighting, storage, wallpaper, color schemes, rugs, themes, or budget-friendly children’s decor ideas, there are plenty of easy ways to design a space that is playful for children and stylish enough for parents.
Check out these charming toddler room ideas in a range of sizes and styles for inspiration.
Choose a Convertible Bed
Choose a convertible crib and toddler’s bed that will grow with your child. Interior designer Leanne Ford finished this space with a bed and matching dresser of her own design, featuring turned legs and carved details for a whimsical and timeless feel.
Pick a Theme
Use a favorite wallpaper pattern or design object as a point of departure for a subtle thematic design. Billings, MT-based Kibler & Kirch papered the ceiling and covered windows with Mini Cowboy wallpaper and fabric from British designer Cath Kidston in this playful but sophisticated western-style toddler room.
Try a Graphic Color Scheme
Choose a color scheme like black, white, and red for a gender neutral and contemporary take on a toddler room. Sissy + Marley Interior Design mixed graphic patterns, a playful house-shaped storage, and floated a shiny red table and mini stools in the center of the room.
Choose a Textural Rug
A textural rug will give your toddler room a warm feel and provide padding for little ones as they master the art of walking without tumbling down.
Cathie Hong Interiors chose a multi-colored rag rug that adds warmth to a minimalist kids’ room and will complement any shade of bedding.
Hang Bold Wallpaper
Add personality to a toddler room with bold wallpaper. This space from Sissy + Marley Interior Design is covered in an oversized silver star motif. A modern toddler bed from Oeuf, a striped rug, and an elephant photo on the wall above create a happy place for little ones to grow up too fast.
Combine Patterns
A mix of patterns, cozy textures, and flashes of color create an inviting atmosphere for a toddler room. This New York City space from Chango & Co. includes traditional boys’ room decor, like blue-and-white fish-themed wallpaper a buffalo check armchair, and a toddler bed upholstered in a soft shade of gray.
Vary Shades of Pink
Give your pink toddler room a playful but sophisticated feel by choosing a multitude of complementary shades. Sissy + Marley Interior Design paired white walls with rosy accents in shades from bright raspberry to candy pink for a sweet tonal look.
Repaint the Dresser
Refresh a new or secondhand dresser with a coat of bright paint to create a focal point in a toddler room like this space from Christina Kim Interior Design. Paint it again when they are teenagers for a brand new look.
Keep the Bed Low
If you don’t have a modular crib that turns into a toddler bed, set up a low toddler bed that is easy to climb in and out of by placing a mattress and box spring on the floor.
Cover it with a quilt, colorful throw pillows, and stuffed animals to make it cozy and inviting, like this kids’ room from Chango & Co.
Mix Pink and Blue
In a shared toddler room, create cohesion by choosing matching bed frames. Then give each child their own identity with distinct color accents, like this shared girl’s and boy’s room from Eklektik Studio that is equal parts pink and blue.
Embrace Scandi Style
If your home is decorated in neutral tones and Scandi-style decor, carry your aesthetic into the toddler room for a cohesive feel. This minimalist black-and-white space from Fantastic Frank can be easily modified as the child grows and the crib/toddler bed and play tent are swapped out.
Blend Pink and Red
Pair candy pink walls with bright strawberry red accents for a spirited feel that has a bit more edge than an all-pink toddler room, like this space from Eklektik Studio. Style the bed with throw pillows in varying colors and shapes for a cozy feel.
Create a Reading Nook
Swap a nursery glider for a miniature design classic like a mini Swan chair to create a reading corner. Sissy + Marley Interior Design added wall-mounted shelving to maximize vertical space and keep book covers visible while adding color to the black-and-white space.
Source Vintage Furniture
Vintage furniture often has smaller proportions, making it a great choice for kids’ rooms. A pair of midcentury-modern rattan beds and a central nightstand are just the right scale for this twin room from Cathie Hong Interiors.
Have Fun With Wall Decor
Use your creativity to add whimsical details to your toddler room that don’t cost a thing. Leanne Ford Interiors sketched DIY decorative details like wood trim and sconces onto the soft pink walls of this toddler room for a handmade feel that’s full of storybook charm.
Set Up a Play Tent
A DIY play tent is a fun addition to a toddler room. Sissy + Marley Interior Design has outfitted the interior with a soft sheepskin throw and extra pillows to create a cozy escape.
Accent With Color
Accent a minimalist, white-walled toddler room with a few choice color accents. This space from Cathie Hong Interiors includes a green half-moon wall sconce and another shade of green on the back of a white bookshelf filled with toys and books.
Customize the Closet
Create a custom closet that can change and grow with your child, with kid-sized hanging rods, dividers, and shelving. Sissy + Marley Interior Design mixed open and closed storage for this toddler closet that can be modified as time passes.
Carpet the Floor
Carpeting is making a comeback in kids’ bedrooms. Parents particularly appreciate having a soft surface on the ground for toddlers to play on that will hurt less than other types of flooring when they stumble and fall.
Add Integrated Lighting
Help give your toddler room a soothing feel with integrated LED lighting. Interior designer Maite Granda created a dreamy atmosphere in this baby blue and white toddler room with built-in light around the periphery, an effect you can recreate with LED strips or twinkle lights.
Repurpose the Fireplace
In an older home with a nonworking fireplace, a decorative mantel can be endlessly styled and restyled with everything from stuffed animals to artwork or pillows. Use the empty firebox and hearth to store boxes filled with toys, like this space from Eklektik Studio.
Create Zones
Create zones using furniture and decor. Eklektik Studio divided this London toddler room with a cozy bed corner, a wooden play kitchen along one wall, and a vintage-style rattan table and chairs to create a place to color or play.
Invest in Design Classics
Choose design classics to decorate a toddler room that little ones can grow into and hold onto for years to come. This neutral space from Maison Ellie includes a classic white Eames rocking chair.
Keep Toys Accessible
In this toddler room from Maison Ellie, a playhouse and a basket of toys are lined up against the wall for easy access. A chest of drawers that was once a changing table easily transitions into storage for a toddler that will last throughout childhood.
Hang a Vintage Chandelier
Give your toddler room a timeless feel by hanging a vintage or antique chandelier. Christina Kim Interior Design painted the ceiling salmon pink to complement the coral accents on the chandelier.
Add Whimsical Details
Whimsical girl’s room decor accents work just as well for a toddler room as for a nursery. Interior designer Maite Granda decorated this space with a lightweight canopy over the toddler bed, a painted tree mural, bird cages, and shades of pink.
Choose Pastel Shades
Complement an airy, white-walled toddler room with pastel shades. Calimia Home decorated this spacious girl’s room in a 1918 Colonial-style home in Savannah, GA, with an antique wood bed frame and a pastel pink patchwork rug.
Soften With a Canopy
Define space in a shared kids’ room with a ceiling-mounted canopy. Maison Ellie draped a corner canopy to create a protected feel above the toddler bad while hiding a wall-mounted AC unit.
Set Up a Table and Chairs
Set up a kid-sized table and chairs in the corner of your nursery that your child can use as they grow into a toddler and use until they start school and need a desk.
Hang Cloud Wallpaper
Create a dreamy atmosphere with cloud wallpaper. In this rectangular toddler room from Maison Ellie, an upholstered toddler bed on one side is anchored with cloudy blue sky wallpaper that follows the angles of the room.
Utilize Vertical Space
In a smaller toddler room, use vertical space by installing floating shelves or choosing a tall neutral shelving unit with open storage for books, toys, and decor, like this space from Maison Ellie.