How to Paint a Baby Room - Themes and Colors
When painting your baby's room, consider factors such as the mood you would like to create, (calming, relaxing, playful), what it will be used for, by how many babies and their genders. Will it be shared by a sibling or used as an office? Also think about the size of the room and the amount of natural light it gets. Based on these, decide on a color scheme and theme that you are happy with and which blends or coordinates with the rest of your home, or the accents you will be using in the baby's room. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Color swatch or color wheel
- Drop cloth
- Paint roller
- Paint brushes (for intricate areas)
- Indoor primer (water-based)
- Paint cans (latex, water-based)
- Paint tray
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Painter's masking tape
- Ladder
- Overhead projector, transparencies
Instructions
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Use a color swatch or color wheel to select colors that match your taste and room type. For example, blues and greens are cooler, reds and oranges create a warmer appearance, neutral shades complement all decors, making a room appear airier, and white in combination with a bright shade suggests a modern nursery. Traditional colors like pink, purple and blue are gender suggestive. Decide on a color scheme before buying the paint.
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Consider and compare theme options for your baby's room, if you would like it to be thematic. Think about your baby's favorite cartoon characters, books, objects or associations (the moon, farm animals, stuffed toys) what his name symbolizes, the values you would like to him to imbibe, the city he was born in. The theme should lend itself to the choice of colors.
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Prep the baby's room. Clear the room of all furniture and wall accessories. Cover the floor and any remaining furniture with a drop cloth. Use masking tape to protect trims, window frames and other spots you don't want to paint on accidentally. Open up windows for fresh air and to ensure you have sufficient light in the room.
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Depending on your theme and choice of color scheme, start with a base color. Use a paint roller or brush and cover the entire wall, or the accent wall you've chosen to paint. Let the first coat dry before you paint stripes or another pattern over it. When painting stripes or other geometric patterns, be sure to use masking tape, a ruler, and pencil to keep the paint job clean.
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To create a wall mural, you could either draw the patterns on the wall directly if you're fairly confident of your drawing skills or, if not, use an overhead projector. Laser-print the pattern on a transparency and project it onto the wall, adjusting the projector's position according to desired mural dimensions. Then trace out the design with a pencil. Finally, paint it using acrylic or wall paint in the colors of your choice.
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Tips & Warnings
First, clean the wall and prime it with acrylic primer, if the existing paint is fairly new.
Remember, the more intricate the theme, the more challenging and time consuming the paint job will be. If you're painting for the first time, keep the theme and colors simple.
Choose a glossy finish paint, as it is more stain resistant and durable than flat finishes.
If the paint on the wall is chipping off or is old, get it removed first. Avoid doing this yourself if you're pregnant and if there is a possibility that the paint may contain lead.
If not sure about a shade, test it on a small area and let it dry before you paint the entire wall.
Be sure not to make pencil marks too dark as they may show through lighter shades of paint.
