Painting help.

[Deleted]

Ok, I have ZERO decorating skills.  My house except a couple bedrooms that I got "crazy" in and painted brown and green is all off white.  My 5 year old is going to be gone for 6 days and I'm thinking of surprising him by painting his bedroom.  Painting it something I never would normally pick!  Like colors.  ROFL  He wants blue and green.  I've been playing around with the Sherwin Williams room color changer thing.  How horrible is this?



He has a small room and one wall is probably 14 feet tall (vaulted ceilings).  The one end wall is taken up a lot with window and the other has the closet door, so I was thinking the three walls in green and the tall wall in blue.

Then Minion decals on the green over his bunk bed and cubbies, so they have blue shorts. 



Would this look horrible?  Maybe I should stick with lighter colors or earth tones.

[Shooby]

Have fun with paint. I paint all the time. It's easy to do and change and have some fun with color. It isnt' permanent and if you don't like it, you can change it.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 12:40:44 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Have fun with paint. I paint all the time. It's easy to do and change and have some fun with color. It isnt' permanent and if you don't like it, you can change it.

I know.  I need to go in with that attitude.  I don't mind painting, but I will spend forever trying to pick colors and just give up...hence my boring off white house thta has been that way since I built it 15 years ago!  He leaves on Sunday so I have to just go with something. 

[Shooby]

Just wing it. Find a color that you think is cool and go for it. No biggie. I just repainted the kid's bathroom. DD picked out a really nice caramel type color. It looks great.

[Shooby]

We also just did DD's bedroom. She did one wall in a tropical coral color. Sort of a peach. One wall in that with a quart. Then we did the three other walls in a creamy color. It looks really nice. She got a new bedspread that pulled out that coral color and it's pretty.

[Deleted]

I think I need to lose either the green or the blue!

[kittensaver]

Shooby touched on a fundamental design trick that may help reduce your paint-picking anxiety. Are you getting him new linens or a new bedspread? If so, march one of the pieces into the paint store and find greens and blues that match or harmonize with the new linens.

Here is a design "given": it is easier to match paint to fabric than it is to match fabric to paint.

Many designers actually START with their linens (couch upholstery, chair covers, window covers, etc etc etc) and then go hunting for paint to match/harmonize. Frankly you can "do" it either way, but if you don't feel confident about picking a color out of thousands (!), then roll with colors already in - or going into - the room. Good luck!

[mollyanna58]

I like the colors and using the blue on the tall wall.

I personally think Minions are omnipresent and overdone.  JMO. 

[MarleyKeezy78]

How about a mural with the green as the grass and the blue as the sky? Here is a photo of when we painted DS room. The other walls have montains and pine trees and one has a simple river.

[Deleted]

Yeah...I have no color going in!  I'm trying to do this cheap, so no new linens or bedding.  He has bunk beds and the sheets are dark green, but they have taupe micro-fiber comforters on them, so pretty neutral.  I might get curtains as he has none, just off white cellular blinds.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 13:31:08 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

How about a mural with the green as the grass and the blue as the sky? Here is a photo of when we painted DS room. The other walls have montains and pine trees and one has a simple river.

That is awesome, but I am so not artistic.  I would love to be able to do something with the big wall.  Right now it's just covered with kites.

[kittensaver]

Jul 24, 2015 13:32:37 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Yeah...I have no color going in!  I'm trying to do this cheap, so no new linens or bedding.  He has bunk beds and the sheets are dark green, but they have taupe micro-fiber comforters on them, so pretty neutral.  I might get curtains as he has none, just off white cellular blinds.

Is there something else in the room that you can use as a focal point for your paint selection? A lamp he really likes? His stuffed animal collection? Sports equipment? Anything?

If not - well then have fun just picking colors that appeal to you, because you really have no match/harmonizing concerns. Have fun being brave with color!

ETA: riff your colors off his kite collection!

[MarleyKeezy78]

You wouldn't have to change any of the decor. If you were to paint the wall blue first(doesn't even have to go all the way down to the bottom of the wall) and after it dries a bit paint the bottom portion green and it doesn't have to be even because it will look like a rolling meadow. That's all I meant with the green and blue. That room was a pain in the ass, lmao!

[MarleyKeezy78]

And the kites could hang like they were flying through the sky!

[MarleyKeezy78]

And you could put the minions on the grass and have them flying the kites   I'm so sorry, I can't help it! I do love your green and blue idea 

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 13:35:41 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Jul 24, 2015 13:32:37 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Yeah...I have no color going in!  I'm trying to do this cheap, so no new linens or bedding.  He has bunk beds and the sheets are dark green, but they have taupe micro-fiber comforters on them, so pretty neutral.  I might get curtains as he has none, just off white cellular blinds.

Is there something else in the room that you can use as a focal point for your paint selection? A lamp he really likes? His stuffed animal collection? Sports equipment? Anything?

If not - well then have fun just picking colors that appeal to you, because you really have no match/harmonizing concerns. Have fun being brave with color!

ETA: riff your colors off his kite collection!

I'd kind of like to ditch the kites.  They've been in there for 13 years now and have seen better days.  Other than that, he really doesn't have much in there.  His bunk beds his dresser, milk crates and cubbies full of books.  Most of his toys are in a different room.

Now that I think of it though, the cubbies have something on the drawers.  They're animals like frogs and monkeys, but I can't remember the colors.  I'll have to look at that when I get home.

[cktc]

I like the colors you picked, but I'd keep the green as the accent since the blue is more neutral. 3 walls of the green and the room would be humming with all that brightness bouncing off itself.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Does he like anything in particular or have a hobby? Outer space theme? Paint the room blue and put some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and maybe a solar system? Doubles as a cool camp theme as well. Sports?

[kittensaver]

Well okay - so here is what I know. Designers will tell you that when you don't know where to start, start with something you love/really like. It can be fabric, furniture, a room ornament, a theme, a hobby - virtually anything. Then build your decorating around that element. That element will be your guide (style, color, intensity, mood etc etc etc) and if you're unsure what to do - keeping turning back to that element.

If you don't HAVE an element (and it sounds like you don't) - then don't worry about the colors. Just pick something you think will be cheerful and will make him happy.

Good luck and have fun.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 13:57:01 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Does he like anything in particular or have a hobby? Outer space theme? Paint the room blue and put some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and maybe a solar system? Doubles as a cool camp theme as well. Sports?

Yeah.  Minions!  MN Vikings (I considered going purple and gold), cars...but mostly crashing them.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 13:56:11 GMT -5 cktc said:

I like the colors you picked, but I'd keep the green as the accent since the blue is more neutral. 3 walls of the green and the room would be humming with all that brightness bouncing off itself.

It's a weird room too.  North facing and small, so kind of dark, and then has that super tall wall and the one wall, even though north facing is a lot of window.  The window is big in itself and then there is one of those half moon windows above it.

I don't know how to go with dark or light colors in this situation.   

[Deleted]

I was just looking at a panorama picture I took of his room yesterday, and I'm not sure I can make it look worse.  It is pretty blah now with teddy bear border that is 90% tore off, off white kind of grungy walls, kites in various stages of disrepair.

[kittensaver]

Jul 24, 2015 14:00:14 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Jul 24, 2015 13:57:01 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Does he like anything in particular or have a hobby? Outer space theme? Paint the room blue and put some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and maybe a solar system? Doubles as a cool camp theme as well. Sports?

Yeah.  Minions!  MN Vikings (I considered going purple and gold), cars...but mostly crashing them.

These all sound like GREAT places to begin! Pick one - - and then let it define your color choices.

When you have a focal point, things fall into place much easier. It is sooooooo hard to design anything from "scratch." There are just too many possibilities. Narrow yourself down to a focal point (something you really like) and run with it as your guide.

Minions may be "overdone," but if he loves them, why not? When he gets tired of them you can always change them out.

Could you paint the room blue and green and find a few stuffed minions to put on his bed as pillows? Decoupage minions onto his lampshade? Find minion bed linens and buy ONLY the pillowcases (an old trick my mother used when she had 4 kids)?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

One of the challenges with kids' room is that their fascinations change so quickly. 
The minions will not be his favorite thing for more than a few years. 
Foot ball might, cars might, what else is long term?

[MarleyKeezy78]

Jul 24, 2015 14:00:14 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Jul 24, 2015 13:57:01 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Does he like anything in particular or have a hobby? Outer space theme? Paint the room blue and put some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and maybe a solar system? Doubles as a cool camp theme as well. Sports?

Yeah.  Minions!  MN Vikings (I considered going purple and gold), cars...but mostly crashing them.

Hmmm... Well he's five you say, so I might stick with the minions, those guys are going to be popular for a while and they are fun. The blue and green walls would work well with them too. I wonder if having the green on the wall with the windows and the wall opposite would help to keep it a bit brighter with the blue on the side walls. 

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 14:06:46 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

One of the challenges with kids' room is that their fascinations change so quickly. 
The minions will not be his favorite thing for more than a few years. 
Foot ball might, cars might, what else is long term?

True, but he still has a teddy bear and kite theme that his brother had when he was a baby in that room until he was about 10!

The minion decals I was looking at are supposed to come off the wall fairly easily and I thought I'd just get some pillows or minion drape panels.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 13:56:11 GMT -5 cktc said:

I like the colors you picked, but I'd keep the green as the accent since the blue is more neutral. 3 walls of the green and the room would be humming with all that brightness bouncing off itself.

Yeah, I'm thinking more and more about dumping the green.  Going with one dark blue wall is crazy enough for me. 

[MarleyKeezy78]

I like that combo a lot!

[Deleted]

I do too.  It seems more...relaxing. 

[kittensaver]

The dark beige/brown/tan wall would be fine for a sports theme (like you are showing). if you're going to roll with the minions, it should be lighter (like the straw color behind the minions in your initial post). Go back and look at those colors - especially the wall and the pillows.