Decorating a child's room allows us as adults to be child-like again, if only for a while. We can go back to all of those cool things we wished we'd had in our rooms as kids. We can be as playful, as frilly, or as imaginative as we want. Here are ten ideas for fun kids' rooms designed to get your creative juices flowing. The bonus? None of them will break the bank.

Kids Room Idea #1: Life at the Zoo

What kid (or adult) doesn't love a day at the zoo? With this theme, your son or daughter can feel like they're there 24/7. Start by asking your child what their favorite animals are. If your kids are too small to inform you, then just pick animals you like. Find large posters of the animals. Teachers supply stores usually carry great posters. If you don't have on nearby, just search online for "animal posters." Of course, if you're good with a paint brush, you can paint or even stencil your animals onto the wall. To use posters, simply cut the animal out of the poster, closely following its natural outline. Position them on the wall using whichever adhesive you prefer, and try to give them a home. For example, if your animal is the elephant, you can paint them a grassy savanna. If it's chimpanzees, give them tall green trees to swing from. Your painting does not have to be perfect! It's a child's room. Whimsy works. If you'd prefer to go with traditional zoo cages, then your job is even easier: just paint metal-gray bars around your animal, maybe all against a green or blue background to mimic grass or sky.

Kids Room Idea #2: Butterfly (or Bug) House

A butterfly or insect theme is perfect for a kid's room. It's colorful, vibrant, and can even be educational if you want to help your child expand their knowledge about these beautiful creatures. Decorating a room in this theme is simple: simply paint the walls any color you or your child like, then go to work making butterflies flutter across the walls and ceiling. Butterflies aren't too difficult to freehand, but if you're less than adept with a paint brush, you can always make a pattern by blowing up a decent photo of a butterfly and transferring it to a piece of cardboard. The great thing is, this theme can be totally fanciful, using wild, crazy colors that we never see on real butterflies, or it can be more true-to-life by looking at photos of real butterflies and painting yours the same way. A fun thing about this theme is that you can "hide" butterflies in secret spots for your kids to find, such as corners, or behind curtains, or near the floor. You can have some butterflies that match, so you and your child can spend time finding the butterflies that look alike.

Kids Room Idea #3: A Child's Garden

Picture it: green, rolling hills, a white picket fence, neat rows of carrots, cabbage, and corn. Sounds relaxing, doesn't it? Your child can spend time in this idyllic setting every night if you decide to go with a garden theme. Simply free form some green hills in the background. Add some rectangular brown areas to be garden beds, and fill them with your child's favorite veggies. Don't stress about realism here: carrots can be orange triangles with green flowy tops, lettuce can be imperfect green balls, and corn doesn't have to be more than a couple of simple green brush strokes. Paint on a white picket fence to "enclose the garden," or go 3D with this idea and buy real picket fencing from the home improvement store and attach that to the wall. If whimsy is your thing, add a few bees, lady bugs, and maybe even a mischievous bunny snacking on the lettuce. Perfect.

Kids Room Idea #4: Soccer is Life

If you've got a little soccer fanatic (or football, or baseball, or hockey) this is the perfect theme. Paint the walls to look like the sports field. Simplicity here is a good thing. A green field with regular white lines for football and soccer fields, white background complete with blue and red lines for hockey, and a brown baseball diamond against a green lawn is all you need here. Accessorize with memorabilia and equipment specific to that sport (lots can be found at used sporting goods stores and garage sales!) and you have a theme that will suit any little athlete.

Kids Room Idea #5: Sailing Away

If your child loves boats and water, this is the perfect theme. Paint the walls to look like water, complete with waves and whitecaps, if you want. Add a few fluffy white clouds in a pale blue sky, and then get busy painting sailboats, canoes, barges, speedboats...anything and everything your little one loves about life on the water. Put some seagulls up in the sky (those curvy "v" shapes we all used as kids to represent birds flying works here!) and your child will feel like they're really there. Accessorize with life jackets, life preservers, lanterns, fishing poles, anything that is safe for a child's room and works with the theme.

There they are: five great bedroom themes for boys or girls. Have fun, be creative, and be sure to let your little one get involved.