Ben And Erin Napier Prove Fun Patterns Are The Perfect Addition To Your Child's Bedroom

Adding fun patterns to a child's bedroom can create a playful and lively space, but it needs to be done tastefully and thoughtfully. When Ben and Erin Napier design their own country home in Season 6 of "Home Town," Erin chooses a floral wallpaper for their baby girl's room. The heavily-green print in a continuous pattern is balanced out with a lot of browns and whites, and even though the area rug has a print on it as well, it's in muted, neutral colors and the pattern is bigger and easier to follow (via YouTube). 

A few well-chosen patterns that are balanced out by other elements can have a big impact without making the room look tacky. In a room for their other daughter, the Napiers paired a busy, nature-print wallpaper with a comforter that has large polka dots, per HGTV. When mixing patterns, pair different ones that vary in size, scale, and intensity to create some contrast. 

It also helps to select one dominant pattern to build from, so that it serves as the room's focal point and helps guide the rest of the process. Another crucial part of achieving a visually balanced design is to put together a well-coordinated color palette. Ideally, it should include both solid and neutral shades so they can break up the busyness of the patterns.

Erin Napier calls one of her daughter's rooms "girl world" because it was designed for her to relax and pursue her interests. Before you start adding patterns to your child's bedroom, see how you can involve them in the design process by listening to their preferences so you can choose which patterns and colors best reflect their personality. This can come from their passions and any long-term obsessions they have. You'll quickly know if you'll be shopping for animal prints, florals, landscapes, or designing around themes for kids' rooms that have to do with cartoon characters, space, or sports. 

Wayfair has lots of fun wallpapers and lets you filter by pattern to get what you want. One animal print wallpaper with drawings of fish, for example, is in a minimalist design that can create a calming feeling in a nautical room (via Wayfair). Patterns also don't need to be as permanent as wallpaper so if you want something more temporary, opt for wall decals and other accessories. 

As seen on Wayfair, a butterfly wall sticker collection can be used anywhere and as little or as much as you want. You can also carve out opportunities for your child to create something that can be added to the room. These personal projects can be as involved as acquiring a piece of furniture to paint or as simple as having them pick out the bedding. Whatever they do, it will make the process more personal.