Boy Room Makeover

 A few weeks ago, I shared our plan to update our little guy’s bedroom. We knew we wanted to incorporate yellow, his favorite color, and wanted stripes on the wall.  But we weren’t sure if we wanted to go with blue or green. I was so happy to work with Glidden® paint and My Colortopia so we could really visualize the paint colors in the room. We decided to go with blue stripes, and our whole family just loves it, especially Max! So many of you weighed in and said that blue is a calming color, and you were so right! Paired with graphic stripes, and the pops of red and yellow, it is the perfect little boy room. We learned a lot about painting stripes along the way, so I thought I would share a few of those tips. We started with the plain tan walls. It’s a good neutral color, but the paint was flat and after two years in the house, it needed to be freshened up. Plus, Max has been asking for his walls to be painted a fun color! The good news was, flat paint is an easy surface to paint over.

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We used Glidden Duo™ Paint + Primer in Swiss Coffee (white) and Rich Navy. The paint was wonderful to work with, and the Rich Navy is just such an absolutely gorgeous color. It really is just a deep and rich blue color, not blackish-blue or cobalt blue. One of the great things about Glidden paint is that they don’t confuse you with several shades of the same color. The Rich Navy is the perfect example. This is the ideal navy blue color, and I am seriously in love with it. We started by painting over the tan with two coats of Swiss Coffee. On the two walls with the stripes, we didn’t worry about cutting in at the ceiling and floor because the navy stripes would start there. Once we had the white base, we were ready to paint the stripes.

Tips for Painting Stripes

1. Measure the wall from floor to ceiling and divide that number by the number of stripes that you want on the wall. An odd number, like 7 or 9 is a good place to start. We have 8 ft walls, and wanted a total of 9 stripes. 96 inches divided by 9 = 10.667

2. Keep it simple and round off the number. We measured off 10 inch stripes and let the stripe at the bottom accommodate the extra inches. It’s a little wider than the rest, but since it so low, you can’t tell. The eye just goes to the pattern and assumes they are all the same width.

3. Use green painter’s tape. We used the blue painter’s tape for delicate (freshly painted surfaces) initially, and got crisper lines on the other wall when we used green tape.

4. Use a laser level and tape off all the stripes. Then mark the stripes you don’t want to paint with extra tape. That way,  you can stand back and look and make sure you haven’t made a measuring mistake.

5. Remove the tape while the paint is still wet, no need to let it dry. You risk peeling and damage to the first coat the longer the tape stays on the wall.

Painting the stripes was surprisingly quick, and it was so exciting to remove the tape and see the graphic bold stripes. They instantly transformed the room. My little guy’s room is not huge, and he only has one window. So it was in the back of my mind that it might be too dark in his room with the navy blue. I was happily surprised to see that it was not darker! In reality, we added more light by using the bright fresh white. We are so happy with how it turned out! Max is especially thrilled. He really loved how the blue stripes looked in the Glidden My Colortopia tool preview, and I was happy that the blue color made it easier to find affordable accessories. Plus, the navy stripes worked well with the red dresser and red arrow shelf we already had on hand.

The little side table was built by my stepdad. It’s galvanized pipes and a small piece of redwood. I spray painted the bottom a bright yellow. The red faux leather Moroccan pouf is from Land of Nod, and my son and daughter both love it! The size is perfect to use as an ottoman or as a a seat. It’s now a hot commodity at our house, so we are ordering a pink one for our little girl too. They love pulling it out into the living room to watch a movie or play restaurant. .

The vintage brown leather chair is from my parent’s house. Lucky for us, they don’t have room for it anymore. They recently had the leather straps replaced, and Max really wanted to use it in his room. It’s a Wassily style reproduction chair, and I think it makes a great cozy spot for a young reader. I wanted a fun lamp to go over the chair, so I spray painted this Target find bright yellow.

On the other side of the room, Max’s vintage school desk is the perfect space for homework and art work. I rescued it from the road side a few year ago, and didn’t do anything but clean it.

 We found the red arrow shelf last year at a small boutique shop. I kew I wanted to use it in Max’s room eventually!

The red vintage dresser is also from my stepdad. He painted it a glossy red and added the brass accents when he was a teenager. Max loves Star Wars, so I created a simple poster in Photoshop and had it printed in an hour at Walgreens. It’s 20×30, and make a great focal point on the simple white wall. The dog bust and the yellow wire basket are both HomeGoods finds.

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This post is sponsored by Glidden paint, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

 

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