It only takes a few minutes for 5-year-old Sara Jewel Simpson to start playing at her new vanity and mirror.

The piece, which was painted black when her mom found it at an antique market, now is a bubble gum pink that fits with the girl's pink and green bedroom.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

In 9-year-old Jackson Simpson's room, a sports-themed quilt replaces a bulky comforter, and the walls are covered with bold painted stripes.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

Sisters Sara Jewel, 5, (left) and Anna Catherine Simpson, 3, read on Anna's bed in her room, which recently underwent a makeover.

RELATED LINKS: • More photos of the children's rooms • Get decorating ideas from home tours • See more Home stories

Sara Jewel and her 3-year-old sister, Anna Catherine, quickly brought figurines, a jewelry box, a snow globe and a picture frame to the child-sized, two-drawer vanity. The mirror, surrounded by decorative plates, is her favorite piece in the recently renovated room. It gives the princess feel without "having to have the crowns and glitter," interior designer Catherine Gregory said.

Creating a room that a child will enjoy doesn't have to mean giving in to filling the walls with Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers posters or buying a car-shaped bed with matching sheets and comforters, window treatments and pillows.

Some simple steps can help transition children from crib to bed, and toddler to 'tween, without having to redo a room with each passing trend.

Instead of going with a theme like princesses or pirates, Gregory said the overall look of a room should reflect the child's own personality.

"I like for it to look like the child who lives in that room, but also be a room that can grow up with them," she said. "I don't want it to be too theme-oriented."

Gregory took on the task of updating rooms for Clifford and Seana Simpson's girls and their 9-year-old brother, Jackson, in their Norcross home.

Seana Simpson describes Sara Jewel as "just all girl" who enjoys dressing up. Her room reflects that, with a silk coverlet in a pattern of tiny sunglasses, purses, shoes, lipstick and perfume bottles that Simpson believes her daughter will keep as she grows older. The pillows include one shaped like a purse.

"I expect them to be happy in these rooms when they get older," she said.

Plain cream wooden clothes hampers were hand-painted with items such as hair bows and Mary Jane shoes, items Sara Jewel wears. Green bows were tied onto basic bathroom fixtures. The bathroom cabinets and doors also were updated with painted bunnies and flowers.

Those touches, and keeping items like a pink plastic Disney princess clock and awards, personalize a kid's room, Gregory said.

"I don't want kids to feel like they can't have their trophies in their room," she said.

Gregory also believes it's OK to display items made by family members and others. In the girls' rooms, needlepoint pieces by Seana's grandmother that have their birthdates and sayings such as "Thank heaven for little angels" are matted and framed.

In Sara Jewel's room, a dresser bought when she was a baby stayed, and a queen size bed with a wooden headboard in the same style as the dresser was added.

If guests visit, she can bunk in her younger sister's room, where a day bed and crib was replaced with two twin beds, which have a plaid pink and green dust ruffle. Headboards are upholstered with diamond and check patterns in the same color scheme. With a mix and match idea in mind, remaining fabric was used to create pillows for Sara Jewel's bed, too.

But the rest of the bedding in Anna Catherine's room was chosen so the girls could play on the beds and the covers could be easily cleaned. Gregory bought cream matelasse coverlets from Linens & Things.

Another Atlanta interior designer, Bobbi Kelman, also recommends buying a comforter that's easy to wash. She suggests fabrics such as cottons, microfibers, ultra-suede and soft minky, which often is used for baby blankets and robes.

"I usually try and make the comforter the simplest. When they're 2 and 3, we don't want to say, 'Ooh, don't touch your bed, honey.' It's their room," said Kelman, who owns Precious Cargo in Smyrna with daughter Dana.

Pillows, dust ruffles and window treatments can be used to accessorize and be updated as the kids get older, she said.

If your child has to have a room fit for a princess, incorporate the Cinderella aspect in pillows that are easy on the wallet. Or, if they absolutely love Elmo, Kelman said it's likely they're going to grow out of that in the next year, so buy stuffed animals that can be taken out later.

Splurges for the Simpson girls' rooms included the headboards, which were custom made, and lamps, one with a silk shade with rosettes and beaded fringe, purchased from KooKoo Bear Kids in Roswell. Across the hall, a sports-themed Pottery Barn quilt replaced a bulky comforter that Seana said was too large for Jackson to easily make his bed. Curtain rods bring in touches of the past, made from his grandfather's first set of golf clubs. Instead of a wallpaper border, blue, green, white and red stripes were painted.

"There are ways of making it so that the child's happy but so is the parent," Kelman said. "You can meet them in the middle."

FINDING MIDDLE GROUND

Bobbi Kelman, co-owner of Precious Cargo, recommends five things to consider when decorating a room for a child:

• 1. What colors and items are they interested in? Pinks, purples and chocolates are popular among girls. For boys, pirate, western and nautical themes are losing popularity, while jungle motifs, trains and sports continue to be strong.

• 2. How much say will the child have? Give choices, but before doing so, make sure it's something you can live with, too.

• 3. Where will the trendy items go? If a Hannah Montana fan lives in your house, let the posters and other items decorate a smaller space, such as a funky bathroom.

• 4. Can your child take care of the items? Especially if it's a 'tween, talk to them about the look they want and what she needs to do to take care of it, especially if fabrics such as silks are used.

• 5. Does your child get hot easily? It may seem an odd thing to consider, but that will impact the fabrics you buy for the comforter and sheets.