Like Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket, the conscience that sits on our shoulder (or in the back of our mind) needs to be cultivated and encouraged. When children learn to ignore the 'cricket,' they're more likely to disobey their parents, steal, and otherwise get into trouble. Along with health, education, and happiness, building character stands among the most important aspects of child-rearing.

How do we shape character? Ideally, children with ethical parents will follow their lead, or even have social responsibility built into their genes. But a million other factors come into play. Children are impressionable in ways that adults can no longer understand. Marketing firms wish that selling everything was as easy as peddling sugar to children -- it's easy to make kids want something. And what a child wants can shape their tastes (and maybe their character) down the road.

Consider the Trix Rabbit, or Tony the Tiger. These cartoon characters are fun. They appear in Saturday morning cartoons, playing soccer or exploring the outdoors with groups of happy kids. But if we make their refined-sugar-loaded products a daily part of our morning routine, we're more likely to raise overweight, inactive, and even diabetic children than soccer stars.

Take Cheerios, for example; the healthiest version of the franchise, the original 'O,' has no trademark cartoon to endorse it, but the one with sugar added, the Honey Nut variety, is paired with a cartoon bumblebee. Which one sounds like more fun to you?

The same principles of marketing through design can have subtle but serious implications in our homes, as well. Painting a baby's room pink or light blue isn't just following a stereotype. Bright, soft colors instill a mood of happiness, even joy, and spread light around the room. Who would even consider painting their newborn's room black, or even a bold, dark blue? It's in our subconscious to associate babies, or new life, with colors that bring joy. Listen to that instinct!

As children grow older, they start to develop tastes of their own, including favorite colors. They're also likely to explore every piece of their surroundings to a level of intensity adults have forgotten. Who has time as an adult to sit and analyze the strip of ducks or flowers wallpapered across the top of our room? Children do that -- they seek patterns, they analyze detail, and they absorb everything.

It's important to balance a happy, positive atmosphere in the decor of your child's room with their own taste. If your son or daughter loves green, paint the room bright green! (With the understanding and life-lesson that this is a long-term decision!). If they love having stuffed animals in their bed, develop a model that works for parent and child without allowing or encouraging clutter. Perhaps five stuffed animals is a happy compromise? The rest stay on a shelf in the closet, and can be alternated out at bedtime.

Although you'll be hard-pressed to find an eight-year-old who can explain the principles of feng shui, understanding the importance of aesthetics within home life is important fodder for parents.

Do you want a child with a cluttered, confused mind, or a child able to focus on the task at hand? Design has everything to do with how the mind develops! Surround your child with disorganized clutter and a constant choice of games and playthings, and they'll likely wander between activities and quickly grow disinterested.

Keeping a tidy household goes a lot farther than encouraging physical health -- the absence of infinite distractions also helps a child to focus.

A recent study examined how children process information, comparing different methods of organizing information via web design. Age played a key factor in how children retain and process data. The study, published in the journal Psychology and Marketing, found that younger children (in this case, age 7-9) process information holistically, and thus excel with a map website format. Older children, already more adept at multi-tasking, were able to navigate and retain information from a website designed as a content list.

We can take those same principles back to our living room, play room, or children's bedroom. To a developing mind, the surroundings are a map. If the map is disorganized, cluttered, or confusing, that child is immediately being set back.

Start simple, and allow a child to add toys and playthings as they mature. Even in 'adult' rooms, consider light, bright colors and reducing clutter.

A child that is focused and constantly reinforced by colors and atmosphere to provoke feelings of happiness and light will develop this mindset as their norm, or base mood level, early in life. A happy, focused child is more likely to grow into an ethical adult of character.

Of course, nothing in the imperfect science of child-rearing is ever guaranteed, but some things are common sense! Design with children in mind, without turning your abode into a cluttered fun-house, and the whole family will reap the rewards.

Jessica Phan is a designer for Balsamhill.com a purveyor of high-end artificial Christmas Trees. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area is perfect for her because she has a wide range of interests, including Art & Design, Fashion, Photography, Painting and Thrift Store Shopping.