Coordinating Color & Interior Painting: Painting Kid's Rooms

Painting Kid's Rooms
09/11/2008 11:29 AM by Gretchen Schauffler

This is what I always say about choosing color for children’s rooms: consider the room an apartment in your home. Sure, your kids don’t pay rent, but regardless of the living arrangements, you have given them a space for their things and a place to go to when they need a time-out, alone time, or have guests over. A kid’s room will go through an evolution from baby, to toddler, to grade and middle school, to high-school and maybe even beyond.

Painting a child’s room can teach them a thing or two about themselves if you let them. This is what I tell parents who argue with their kids about color: he or she, once they move out of your home, will move to a dorm or an apartment, so they won’t be able to paint. After that they will move into a rental, so they wont be able to paint and by the time they buy a house, they will most likely do so with a partner who will have a say in the paint. When a child lives at home for 18+ years, that is a time where they can have a place to experiment with color and decorate with their own ideas. Some ideas will work better than others, but it is trial and error that teaches them about the colors they love, the needs they have, and the fun of making a space personal.

If you think about decorating a child’s bedroom to match their developmental stages, a baby’s room looks and lives different than a grade, middle, or high-schoolers. Our family has gone from cribs to single beds, to bunk beds, to full beds once the kids were in high school. And we’ve also gone through lots of colors.

Some parents take the safe route for their kid’s rooms and leave everything fairly neutral. Sometimes forever! They leave the bedding and posters to be signs of change. Other parents forget that the baby will grow up to have taste of their own and go all out before the child can add their two cents.

I remember the first house my parents bought ( I was 4) and my mother created a frothy concoction of pink and white swirl in bedding, wicker, and shelves. I do not have bad or good feelings about that room, it just made me feel like I was a sleeping in someone else’s fantasy world. I had to live it because it looked so finished, and as a kid who wants to hurt their mom’s feelings? As an adult I learned that I had loved green and white all my life. It is no wonder that the pastel strawberry didn’t do it for me. So pick your battles: A CHILD’S BEDROOM IS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN TEACH YOUR CHILD ABOUT AUTONOMY, BOUNDARIES, RESPECT, AND TASTE BY LETTING THEM EXPERIMENT WITH COLOR AND DÉCOR! They’re exploring their creativity under your guidance!

The first 0 to 7 years, depending on the level of independence of your child, you can pretty much control their room. Although, remember, as adults we bring our own views of what a childhood bedroom should look like, or the kind of childhood bedroom we always wanted. Here are some tips on how to decorate newborn and toddler rooms while teaching your children about what they love and even leaving room for mistakes.

TIPS FOR PAINTING TODDLER’S ROOMS:

This is when the fun begins. You can now reach for the stars. Take the ceiling and make it a canvas of fun. After all, kids at this age are in their rooms mostly to nap and sleep at night. I often think about toddlers crying, not wanting to take a nap. I would too if I had to stare at a blank ceiling too excited to go to sleep. Paint a toddler’s room with a beautiful ceiling color, one that goes with their natural newborn hues. Get stars, add stick-on art of their favorite characters. You get the picture! Maybe this is a good time for a tree in the corner, add birds and fruit, or a wallpaper border of choo-choo trains or lollipops. Pick a theme from their favorite book and make the ceiling decoration personal!

ABOUT KID WALL PAINT
Paint quality and air quality should go hand in hand. We suggest our NEW 99.9 % VOC-free Green paint that goes on like rich yogurt to keep a safe environment for your child. VOCs—Volatile Organic Compounds—are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. They include a variety of chemicals, some of which have short-term and long-term adverse health effects. Devine Products meet and exceed the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s VOC Regulations, the strictest in the nation. All our water-based latex paint finishes are below 50 Grams per liter and of course, our devinegreen is 99.9 percent VOC free.

Read Tips for Painting a Shared Kid’s Room