When it comes to decorating a child's room, your approach should be different from decorating an adult bedroom. That's because a child's bedroom should reflect his or her personality and not yours.

For kids, their bedroom is where they play games, read, listen to music, wrestle, display or hide prized possessions, day-dream, or just go to be alone sometimes. So try these eight strategies to help create a space that will make you both happy:

1. Talk to your child. Find out what activities and fantasies he or she enjoys; what their favorite color is; and what's unique about their personality that a theme could be built around. Then work their interests into a design that will make them feel comfortable, happy, and safe.

2. Allow your child to help. Let them have a say about colors, fabrics, and how they want to display their collectibles. The design should be flexible enough to accommodate their changing tastes, needs, and interests.

3. Make the room multi-functional. Since children use their room for many activities besides sleeping, it should have several different zones.

These could include a play area; a reading area; a space to play with friends that's equipped with a radio, CD player, and a TV/VCR; a display area with a wall or corkboard for favorite photos and artwork; and finally, a place for shelving to display collectibles, trophies, and other personal items.

4. Make storage a priority. Containing clutter will be one of your greatest challenges. Try shelving, large decorative wicker baskets, plastic see-through containers, and closets that contain plenty of shelving and racks.

5. Keep window treatments simple. Avoid long draperies. Shades, blinds, and shorter curtains are safer choices. The fabric should be versatile, and patterns should be repeated in other items in the room, such as in pillows, quilts, lampshades, bed ruffles, etc.

6. Choose the right lighting. A child