Updating your children’s room on a budget

Top ideas for a fun playroom

This month I'm sharing some posts from Maria Miguel at Better Help, where you can find a huge FREE resource library of advice for all kinds of mental health niggles and problems. Today, it's sleep. We raised 7 children, and even though I'm one of the softest parents you might find, I have always insisted on a regular bedtime routine. It's for my own sanity at least as much as theirs... 

 Should You Enforce a Sleep Schedule for Your Kids?

There are many reasons a parent may want to enforce a bedtime on their children; there are just as many reasons for families to do away with the practice. However, for certain age groups and households, a regular bedtime routine can benefit your children’s mental health, lifestyle developments, and sleep quality. Here are some benefits of creating a sleep schedule and tips to ensure it’s the right move for you and your family.

Most parents have at some time discovered their miniature Picasso has decided to do some impromptu home decorating - usually their bedroom wall with the only working permanent marker in the house. ColourMyWall have created a solution to give amateur artists a nice big safe area to doodle and draw without causing any damage.


ColourMyWall create repositionable vinyl stick on wallpaper, which can be drawn on with dry wipe markers to your heart's content and then wiped clean and you can start again. Perfect for doodlers and amateur artists...

Dreamtex are a name you may not recognise, but I bet you've seen their excellent quality home textiles in store or even in your home. They work with licenses from some of the biggest names in TV, print, game and film, and are committed to corporate social responsibility, working with Sedex & Oeko-Tex approved factories, to ensure that international ethical standards are constantly met.


My boys have had some awesome bedding over the years, but they're getting bigger now and some of their tastes are changing. They've been sent reversible Fallout and ISA NASA bedding and I'm quite jealous. I'd happily have either of these on my own bed.


Fallout has been a big hit here for well over 10 years and most of us have played at least Fallout 3 to the end (I got the completist's favourite, the Platinum Trophy - this is one of my proudest moments). This duvet set really is excellent.

Molang is an incredibly popular TV series and this Easter Tomy have released a range of incredibly soft and cuddly toys based on the two characters on the show - Molang himself and Piu Piu. What ciould be more perfect? Prices start at £5.99rrp and these Easter bunnies and chicks last so much longer than chocolate...

Lumie make lighting products that are far more than 'just a light'. Well-known for their excellent Bodyclock which slowly increases in brightness to wake you gently and naturally, they have recently released a brand new product for children with the opposite aim, the Lumie Bedbug.


Just like the Lumie Bodyclock, the Bedbug makes best use of coloured lighting, but in the case of the Bedbug it is to help ease your child to sleep and it can also be left on as a gentle nightlight. Absolutely ideal for parents of babies or children who wake in the night or may need changing or attending to, this is an excellent way to have enough light to see without disturbing the whole house.

Our young people have all reached the age where they've left school and are moving on. It's exactly what you hope for as they grow up, but then the day arrives and they say they're moving out, and somehow you can't be more shocked by it.

One of ours started uni last September, one moved out over Summer and a couple of days ago our eldest went. He's moved out before for uni, almost exactly 4 years ago, but was back after 9 months. Now a much more mature working young man who has gained an apprenticeship from Bolton College, I doubt we will see him moving back again.

Surprisingly he's not a Chef..

We've gone from a household of 9 to a household of 5 and it's a heck of a difference.

There is less washing and cooking and the dishwasher isn't on twice a day. The house is so quiet at times, some evenings we have no young people around at all. I came downstairs this morning and stared at my kitchen table because it's the first time in 8 years that it looked as tidy when I got up as it did when I went to bed. I don't even know if I like it.