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Brian's favorite color is YELLOW.
BRIGHT YELLOW!
A few weeks ago, we started the discussion about what his new room would look like. I wanted the boys' new separate rooms to reflect each of their personalities. Not that I think that's something kids have to have; however, my guys are less than 13 months apart in age and have always shared a very small bedroom. We think it's time for them to spread out a little and see what's it like to have their own personalized space.
Well, Mr. Yellow-loving, almost-teenaged, artistically-inclined boy wanted his room to be... drum roll... YELLOW! In my mind, I pictured a lovely butternut, or something-out-of-Martha-Stewart-Living kind of yellow. Brian, however, longed for taxicab yellow. *sigh
I decided we could do a wall or two of the brighter yellow, but that we needed some other colors in the mix as not to be blinded overwhelmed by the yellow. That's when I got the bright idea (pun not intended) to do splatter paint on two of the walls. We could paint those walls a nice, crisp, clean white and splatter some complementary colors on it. If we added a little taxicab to the splatter mix, it would tie in nicely with the yellow walls and soften the room a bit.
The complementary colors of Brian's choice?
ORANGE!
And RED!!
Oh dear....
I must be in the running for World's Best Mom because I took the boy to Wal Mart to buy the paint colors of his dreams. Sadly for him (hooray for me!), the mixing machine would not accept the code for taxicab yellow, and we had to go down a few shades to "yellow snapdragon." (Must have hurt the computer's eyes, too.) Phew!
However, when I went to pick out two quarts to have tinted orange and red, I experienced a bit of sticker shock. They were only $1 cheaper than the gallons. I wasn't going to buy 3 gallons of paint AND I wasn't going to pay that much for the quarts. That's when inspiration struck.
I bought paintable wallpaper and spray paint! We would be able to spray paint the paper outside, keep the mess out of the house, and save money all in one fell swoop.
Genius!
Or so I thought. (Ahem, *cough, cough)
Once home, the first thing Brian and I did was paint the trim white and two of the walls yellow.
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His new loft bed will go on this wall between the window and the corner.
Beneath the loft, we will put a desk and shelves for his school work.
Did you put on your shades?
I warned you, yet you haven't seen the brightest part.
Prepare yourselves, now! |
Next, Brian took the wallpaper outside and got down with the spray paint. Instead of splatter paint, we had graffiti. (So much for genius.)
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| He LOVED this step! |
Once dry, we hung the graffiti paper on the two unpainted walls. Then I did a little touch-up spray paint along the seams to make the sheets blend together.
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I did this part very carefully so that I would not get spray paint on the floor,
windows, ceiling, or doors.
I would advise covering everything with plastic before beginning.
Spraying outside first kept it from being too messy of a project, though,
and I was able to keep the paint on the wall and off everything else.
However, Dad does have some yellow, orange, and red grass to mow. |
Once the spray paint dried, we removed the painter's tape, and VOILA! We had a yellow, red, and orange graffiti room.
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The loft wall is to the left.
The graffiti wall between the door and the window
will serve as his "art studio."
We are buying him a long, red table to fit in that spot
and will hang red and white shelves above
for storing supplies. |
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The graffiti wall between the two doors is opposite where his loft will be.
It will have a tall, red and white bookshelf with drawers. |
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Here is another view of the wall between the doors.
I like how the corner turned out. :) |
We will head to IKEA in a week or two to buy furniture. We have to paint Ben's room next week before making that trip. In a few weeks, when everything is in place, I will post pictures of the completed room with furniture.
Happy Painting!
Dawn
