What’s the secret to designing a great kids’ room? Creating a space where your kid will want to hang out! What are her favorite colors? What activities does he most enjoy? Look for themes he’s excited about and start from there. And don’t forget to ask what they think: today’s kids are incredibly design savvy.

To get you started, we’ve pulled together 10 fabulous décor schemes for girls and boys’ rooms, sourced from design books that you can find at your local bookstore. Use our tips to get a similar look using inexpensive furniture, paint, fabric and accessories from décor catalogs, local boutiques and popular stores like Pottery Barn Kids, IKEA, The Home Depot, Sears, Target and more. Opt for easy-to-clean surfaces, long-lasting construction and convertible pieces (a toddler bed that can be converted into a full twin, for example), to achieve a beautiful room that grows with your child.

Even if you’re pinched for space, a small kids’ room can be big on style. This preschool girl’s “shoebox room” has a style-savvy, flea-market-meets-global-village theme. What little girl wouldn’t love a princess-perfect bed canopy made from a beautiful pink and gold sari? Try utsavsarees.com or hit your local Indian markets to find one. Just suspend a dowel from the ceiling, and drape the sari across. They’re already the perfect length, and the finished edges make this an easier project than buying fabric by the yard. A low, vintage-style bed with pretty flea-market style linens makes a perfect daytime hangout, as well as a fairytale nighttime retreat. (An iron bed by Corsican Furniture Company’s kids’ collection – sold through kids’ retailers including oneofakindkid.com – would work. To create a sense of space in the room, old-fashioned wood furniture painted white to match the walls (possibly in a distressed finish) would also be a smart choice.

Photo: © Loupe Images/Debi Treloar from Cheap Chic, Ryland Peters