Leaving open space on the wall so children can imagine

When putting together a child's room, the first question is usually "which theme?": bunnies, space or forest? But the first question architects and designers ask is a different one: how much is the wall going to talk? In this post, we look at why pattern density matters, what the research says and how we apply it when we draw.

What does a busy wall do to a child?

Architects who design spaces for children keep repeating the same warning: when too many colors, textures and choices come together in one space, the effect can be dizzying and overstimulating; children do better in spaces that combine both lively and calm elements.

The most widely cited experimental evidence for this comes from Carnegie Mellon. Fisher, Godwin and Seltman (2014) observed kindergarteners taking the same lessons once in a heavily decorated classroom and once in a sparse one. In the sparse classroom, the children stayed focused on the lesson longer and scored higher on tests. The researchers described it as "too much of a good thing."

To be honest, this study has its limits: the sample was small, the time frame short and the setting a lab. Later studies show that children get used to their visual environment over time. So the takeaway isn't "leave the wall completely bare"; it's "keep the background calm and the focal points measured."

Why does open space have to do with imagination?

A wall where every square inch is filled tells the story for the child: who's talking to whom, what's happening, what comes next — it's all decided. In a composition with space in it, the child decides what happens between the figures. Where is the bunny on the cloud going? Today it might be riding a balloon; tomorrow it might be asleep.

This is also where the principle designers call "a room that grows" comes in: you start with a neutral, durable base and add personality in layers that are easy to change. The open space on the wall is where frames, shelves and the child's own drawings will go later on. A busy wall closes off that space from the start.

How do you gauge density?

A simple visual check:

• Look at the wall from 3 meters (about 10 ft) away. Can your eye rest in one place, or does it keep wandering? If it can rest, the composition has room to breathe.
• Are figures crowded into the section behind the bed or crib? The wall behind the sleeping area should be the calmest part; behind a crib, sparse compositions such as a design made only of clouds work well.
• Are there plain areas between the figures where furniture or frames can fit?

The same logic applies to color: research shows that saturation, more than hue, determines how stimulating a color is. Muted, pastel tones are calming; bright, saturated tones are stimulating. We'll cover this in a separate post.

Frequently asked questions

Isn't simple wallpaper boring?

Simple doesn't mean empty. In a good composition, a few figures and the space between them work together; the child sees something different every time they look. What's boring is a wall where everything has already been told.

Don't babies need contrast in the nursery?

In the first months, newborns pick out high contrast more easily, but that doesn't mean the whole wall needs to be high-contrast. One or two clear focal points are enough. We'll go into this in detail in our post "What does a baby actually see?"

What if we want to fill the space later?

The wallpaper is the base; wall decals and frames are the layer you can change. On a wall with open space, you build that layer together with your child over the years.

Pattern density has a nighttime side too: in the dark, the eye loses detail and only rough outlines remain. We covered this in our post on lighting a child's room.

Sources

• Fisher, A. V., Godwin, K. E., Seltman, H. (2014). Visual Environment, Attention Allocation, and Learning in Young Children. Psychological Science, 25(7).
• Imuta, K., Scarf, D. (2014). When too much of a novel thing may be what's "bad". Frontiers in Psychology.
• Rethinking The Future. 12 Things to Remember When Designing Spaces for Children.
• Wilms, L., Oberfeld, D. (2018). Color and emotion: effects of hue, saturation, and brightness. Psychological Research, 82(5).