Top Tips for a Split Theme Bedroom

By Jo Philipp

Bedrooms shared by a boy and a girl are typically decorated in a gender-neutral manner, which can be a great way to bring harmony into a room. However, you can play with contrasting colours and themes even in a split room. This can add much more character to a room, and picking two different themes to play with can highlight the fact the room has two occupants.

It’s also great for helping your kids feel like they have a part of the room that is truly theirs.

If you are looking to create a split theme bedroom with a twist, keep the following tips in mind.

Contrasting Colours

When you are picking the colours for a split bedroom, don’t be too scared to use contrasting shades. In fact, this will add much more flavour to the room and give it a unique, contemporary look.

For example, if you have a boy and a girl sharing the room, then you can easily stick to the traditional gender specific colour themes and go for a pink and a blue room to create a great contrast. If your girl is not a big pink lover, then you can go for a dark violet or a bright red colour.

Don’t be afraid of the split!

You can bring some unity to the room by adding just a few elements of the opposite side’s colour to the other side if you like, and if your kids will allow it! For example, if your boy’s side is a blue room, then you could maybe add a touch of blue on the girl’s side with something like a blue mermaid wall sticker. On the other hand, the boy’s side could have a bright red Spiderman storage box if the girl’s side is red.

Our Mermaid Wall Sticker set is a great addition to girly décor, and is part of our Under the Sea stickers range.

Even if you are decorating for two kids of the same gender, using contrasting colours will add that split feel to the room. Perhaps both children have their own favourite colour. Again, you can just add one or two elements of the opposite colour to the other side of the room to create a sense of unity and thoughtful interior design.

Use Opposite Themes

You can also add more fun to a split room by playing with the idea of contrasting themes. Perhaps your boy is really into dinosaurs, so you could use his side of the room to create a themed dinosaur park. Add dinosaur stickers on the walls and go for dark green colours and other earthy shades.

Our Giant T-Rex Wall Sticker is one of the most popular in our dinosaur stickers range.

On the other side of the room, you could create a magical land for princesses. Go for violet shades with plenty of glitter and silky fabrics. Include a quirky air balloon sticker in the middle of the room, to help the princesses escape from the land of the dinosaurs!

Furthermore, a quirky idea with themes is to decorate the other side of the room with a space décor and go for a submarine –inspired nautical theme on the other side. You can add space stickers, and even create a cool ceiling, which gets darker as you move into the space side of the room, signifying the changing colour of the sky. Add a few glowing stars on both sides and you got a lovely look for the room.

In the underwater side of the room, you can create wall displays with fishnets and hang toys from the nets. A big treasure trunk with a rugged look will add a simple storage element for the room. Pick up an old trunk from a charity shop or online and restore and decorate it how you wish!

If you want some unity with the theme, pick a broader theme and then go for opposite themes within the concept. For example, if you got very sporty kids, you could decorate the other side with a football theme and the other side with a tennis theme, or otherwise choose sports of your choice.

Such an idea would work great with Disney themes, too.

Space Saving Solutions

Split rooms are often tight with space; after all, you have two kids sharing the room with all their separate toys and other things. It’s important to save space and using the whole width and height of the room is crucial.

Bunk beds are a perfect solution for split rooms. You can even paint around the bed, so the girl’s colour is behind the bottom part of the bed and the boys will be behind the top (or whichever way your kids want to sleep!). Create arrow stickers on the wall with chalkboard stickers and so the kids can write their own messages and point to their part of the bed.

Black chalkboard stickers are great for both boys and girls……

Though pink wall stickers are perfect if you’re looking to go gender specific!

You could also use a wardrobe to split the room, and paint the wardrobe doors with the room’s colours. A quirky option is to paint the back wall with the specific colours and the go for the opposite colours with the wardrobe doors to add a contrast and degree of playfulness.

Just be sure you won’t want to have a move around of the room in three months if you go for the painting options!

Furthermore, stackable storage solutions are a lifesaver in split bedrooms. Buy simple plastic storage boxes and use stickers or themed fabrics to create themed boxes to go with the room’s themes. Then stack the boxes so that you have the themes alternating on top of each other.

Play with Patterns

You can also play with patterns in split rooms, especially if you can’t pick suitable themes for the room or you are decorating a split room for older children. Decorate the other side with very straight lines and go for soft waves on the other.

For example, pick two relatively neutral colours and paint the walls with both of these colours. Do it so that whereas the other side has straight stripes with the colours, the other side of the room has wavy stripes.

Triangles and circles can also work and you can even add a triangle rug on the other side of the room, and a quirky circle rug on the other side. To add some unity for the look, create large wall art with strings in the middle of the wall where both abstract patterns combine.

When it comes to split rooms, you don’t need to be too focused on creating harmony in the room. If you go for bold and bright contrasting colours and themes, you can actually add more character and playfulness to the room. Use things like wall borders and furniture to separate the room in two.

We hope the above tips give you plenty of ideas for a split bedroom. Remember to use plenty of themed elements, such as wall stickers and toys in your décor to highlight the specific theme.

If you liked this post then check out more from the Kids Wall Stickers blog:

Do Wall Borders Work on Their Own?

5 Steps to the Perfect Themed Bedroom

What is the Most Important Décor Feature of a Child’s Bedroom?