Child's Play

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Bath & Bedroom Projects You Can Build, 1979
Bath & Bedroom Projects You Can Build, 1979, by Better Homes & Gardens

A rallying cry to the parents of tomorrow – design the hell out of your child's bedroom, using the 70s as inspiration

As a kid, my bedroom was comprised of mismatched furniture and a single overhead light – it could be described as utilitarian at best. The room had shelving made of particle board covered with vinyl "wood grain" veneer, a standard issue bunk bed with mismatched bedding, and a dresser that my brother and I had covered in the most random assortment of stickers. The one that still sticks out was one for a classic rock radio station – a candy striped hand making an 'O' with the thumb and forefinger along with the call letters KZOK. It also had tan shag carpet and a popcorn ceiling which, when standing on the top bunk, we would scratch off and make "snow" fall down on whatever action figure scene we had laid out underneath. An action that I'm sure thrilled our parents. 

Our room was basic, but we had nothing to compare it. We had it pretty good, but we had no idea that across the world, perhaps even in our own town, kids were enjoying rooms like these.  We had no clue that a cardboard box wasn't the only way to store legos and no comprehension that instead of having to pin up blankets around our bed to make a fort, our bed could just BE a fort. Seeing these rooms now is a special kind of torture. The majority of these pictures were taken in the prime of my childhood and under different circumstances they actually could have been my room. Right time, wrong place. 

It's too late for me and since I don't have kids there's not much I can do about rectifying such a horrible injustice. At least not for myself.  Although I'm at that age where every friend, cousin, brother, sister, coworker, you name it is getting knocked up and having babies. So please, I beg you, if you're part of the current baby-making generation do your children a favour, use these pictures as a guide, and pull out all the stops with your kids' room. I mean go all out. Give your princess a castle and be the parents that kisses your son goodnight while lacing him up in a giant shoe bed. Install a firepole, erect a circus tent, make a fort, built a boat, do something, anything! If we all pull together we can put an end to boring children's rooms and, as a society, we'll be better for it.