Designing a kids' room with industrial farmhouse flair combines rustic charm and modern functionality. This ultimate guide from Industrial Farmhouse Co. covers everything from choosing the right color palette and furniture to creative storage solutions and playful decor elements. Perfect for Spring/Summer 2024, these tips will help you create a cozy, fun, and functional space for your little ones.
A kids’ room in industrial farmhouse style works for the same reason the style works in any room: real materials and functional hardware hold up to use rather than showing it as damage. A weathered wood bed frame gets better with the scuffs that a lacquered one gets worse with. Steel shelf brackets and wall hooks handle weight without pulling out of the wall. The hardware can take the demands a kids’ room places on it without needing to be replaced.
Industrial Farm Co. makes several pieces suited to a kids’ room: our Handmade Design Coat Racks for functional wall decor that holds bags and jackets at a kid’s height, and our custom metal supports for shelving built to the specific dimensions of the room. All made in Camillus, New York.
The industrial farmhouse palette — warm neutrals, natural wood tones, matte black hardware — is a practical choice for a kids’ room because it ages well. A neutral base with wood and steel never feels dated as the child grows, and it can be freshened with a change of bedding or a painted accent wall without touching the furniture or hardware.
Start with a warm white or soft gray on the walls. Add natural wood tones in the furniture and shelving. Use color through bedding, rugs, and a few accent pieces rather than in the wall color or the largest furniture pieces. This way, as your child’s preferences evolve, you’re swapping out textiles rather than repainting and replacing furniture.
Furniture with Lasting Character
Choose furniture that suits the child at eight and at fifteen: wood or metal frames with clean lines, simple silhouettes, and enough character that they don’t feel juvenile. A weathered wood bed frame or a metal-frame bed works as long as the child uses it. A distressed wood dresser or simple shelving unit is still appropriate in a high schooler’s room.
A wall-mounted steel ladder in a bedroom corner stores blankets, extra pillows, and frequently worn clothing without the floor space or drawer burden of a chest. Our Wall Mounted Ossit Ladder is easy to reposition as the room layout changes and requires no floor footprint.
Creative Storage Solutions
The storage challenge in a kids’ room is different from other rooms: the inventory changes constantly, the categories shift as interests shift, and the system needs to work when a child is doing the organizing, not just when a parent is. Storage that is visible and labeled handles all three.
Open shelving on metal brackets: Books, toys, and display items stay visible and accessible. Install the lowest shelf at the child’s standing reach height. Our custom metal supports can be sized for any shelf run from books to bins to a play kitchen setup.
Wooden crates and labeled metal baskets: For toys and collections that need contained storage. Label each container clearly so the child can sort without asking where something goes.
Wall hooks at child height: A row of hooks at 42-48 inches from the floor for bags, jackets, and frequently worn items. Our Handmade Design Coat Racks work as wall hooks with visual presence — practical and adding character without requiring art on the wall.
Under-bed storage: For seasonal clothing, extra bedding, and items that are used infrequently. Rolling bins with labels are the most practical format.
Playful Decor That Grows with Them
Industrial farmhouse decor in a kids’ room should have enough personality for a child without being so themed that it needs to be replaced when interests change. Wall art with simple rustic frames in nature or animal motifs. A personalized wooden name sign — simple lettering on unfinished or stained wood — that reads as grown-up in execution even if the subject matter is childlike. A textured rug with a simple geometric or natural pattern rather than a character-branded rug that has a short aesthetic lifespan.
Let the child have one area that is specifically theirs in terms of decor: a low shelf of their own objects, a small display wall of their own artwork, or a section of the room that they can change themselves. This contained personalization works better than a highly themed room that can only be updated by repainting and replacing everything.
Lighting
A kids’ room needs more lighting types than most adults plan for. Overhead lighting for the full room. Task lighting for reading and homework. Nighttime lighting that can stay on at a very low level. Ambient lighting that creates a cozy atmosphere for play and winding down.
Industrial pendant lights with metal shades over the desk or reading area provide task lighting with aesthetic character. String lights along a shelf or headboard wall create the magical nighttime atmosphere that children want without clashing with the industrial farmhouse hardware in the rest of the room. Our lighting collection includes sconces and smaller fixtures suited to secondary lighting positions in a kids’ room.
DIY Projects for a Personal Touch
Growth chart: A painted or pencil-marked wooden plank mounted to the wall. Measures height and doubles as a wooden accent piece that carries personal history.
Customized crate labels: Wooden or metal labels on storage crates and baskets with the child’s categories written in their own handwriting or in simple stamped type.
Art display wire: A steel wire strung between two wall hooks with small clips holds the child’s own artwork in a way that can be updated without holes in the wall.
Does industrial farmhouse style work in a kids' room?
Yes, and it is a practical choice for a kids' room because real materials handle the demands of children better than more delicate alternatives. A weathered wood bed frame gets better with normal use. Steel shelf brackets and wall hooks hold weight without pulling out. The neutral palette ages with the child rather than requiring replacement as interests change. The style's emphasis on function over decoration is also practical in a room where function is the primary requirement.
What is the best color palette for a kids' room in industrial farmhouse style?
Start with warm white or soft gray walls and natural wood tones in the furniture. Use color in bedding, rugs, and a few accent pieces rather than in the walls or large furniture. This way the palette ages with the child: as preferences evolve, you swap textiles rather than repainting and replacing furniture. Matte black hardware throughout is appropriate at any age and doesn't feel juvenile as the child grows.
How do you store toys in a farmhouse-style kids' room?
Open shelving at the child's reach height, labeled with wooden or metal tags. Wooden crates and wire baskets for contained storage of toys by category. Under-bed rolling bins for seasonal and infrequently used items. The storage should be visible and labeled so the child can sort and find things independently. Industrial Farm Co.'s custom metal supports can be sized for any shelf run in the room.
What is the Veronica Modern Blanket Ladder good for in a kids' room?
The Veronica Modern Blanket Ladder from Industrial Farm Co. holds blankets, extra pillows, and frequently worn clothing without drawer space or floor footprint. In a kids' room, it reduces the drawer burden and keeps frequently used items accessible at a height the child can reach. It moves easily as the room layout changes and requires no installation.
How high should wall hooks be in a kids' room?
Mount hooks at 42-48 inches from the floor for children to reach independently. As the child grows, add a second row at adult height (66-72 inches) rather than raising the existing hooks, so both heights are available. Use a row of Handmade Design Coat Racks from Industrial Farm Co. at child height near the door for bags, jackets, and hats that the child can manage without adult help.
