Painting Ideas for Kids Rooms

January 15th, 2008

We’ve been giving much thought to colors, themes, and painting ideas for both the kids rooms. Both rooms are in dire need of being painted.

My daughter’s room could really use new walls period because the paneling is so old and has already been painted once. We might just rip out the paneling and strip the old wallpaper under it, but it’s hard to say at this point. That’s a whole lot of work for just one room, and stripping wallpaper is NOT fun (I already did it once in the living room, and have swore I would never, ever put up wallpaper).

My son’s room also needs some attention. The top half has already been painted white, but the bottom half is nothing more than primer. A project that was started a few years ago and never finished – nothing new in this house.

So it’s time to start thinking of what to colors to paint. Originally the bottom half of my son’s room was going to be a light blue (the same color as the top half of the living room), although he’s protesting. He wants red or black, but I refuse. It’s just too hard to paint over those colors and you know his tastes will change later on. I might be able to change his mind about the blue, but just in case I’ve got a back up plan. I picked up some color samples of acceptable colors.

My daughter insists on pink or purple, but again I must refuse. Little girls only like girly colors for so long. I had a pink room growing up, and I can’t tell you how much I hated it as a teen. It was a very large room, and every corner of it was pink, including the carpet. My friends would comment “wow that’s a pink room” to which I would roll my eyes and curse my parents for decorating it like that.

My daughter’s room will most likely be white, or something that will go with any decor, regardless how much her tastes change. Same as the boy’s room. He’ll most likely get solid white walls as well. Pink (for the girl) or red (for the boy) decor will be in the form of easy to change items like posters, pictures, bedding, and curtains. Things you usually don’t keep forever anyway.

As far as any other painting designs on the walls, those will probably be kept to a minimum if we do it at all. The hallway has textured paint and I hate it. It’s VERY hard to clean, scratches you when you brush against it, and there’s places where the texture has been rubbed off making it look awful. NEVER will I have textured paint again on walls.

Bottom line – keep it simple. Your tastes can change just as much as kids sometimes, and you don’t want to be stuck with walls you don’t like looking at. Just keep it simple and you’ll be happier in the long run.