Painting Grant’s New Room {Goodnight Moon by Clare Paint}
The kids have been absolutely begging for me to paint their rooms since the moment we moved into this house almost four months ago, and it’s finally happening! I let them have full creative control over what happened in their spaces, and Grant was up first. He chose Goodnight Moon by Clare Paint and, well, let’s just say I think it was a pretty great choice.
I just finished painting his room and I honestly can’t get over how cozy and different his room feels. The first thing he said when he walked in was “It feels like a whole new room!”
I wanted to show off a few photos of the space, but I also wanted to dive into a few of the questions I get most frequently when we’re talking about painting kid spaces, so settle in and grab a drink and let’s get to it!
Letting Kids Choose Paint Colors
I think this is easily the thing I get asked about the most. I’ve always given my kids a fair amount of creative control over the color choices in their rooms. It’s really important to me that they feel ownership over their space and that they can cultivate a room that feels like them.
Grant started off by basically saying he wanted every color of the rainbow. Literally. First he asked for stripes, then he said he wanted me to paint an actual rainbow on the walls. I didn’t say no, but I did say that it would be wise to start with one color and then add some fun in as we go.
Once we decided to start with a singular color, he immediately said he wanted “blue black”. I think he’s trying to channel his big brother’s room in our last house. I’m hoping that as we work he’ll infuse some of his own personality rather than trying to copy/paste it, though!
Once we knew a general color, I pulled up Clare Paint’s website and let him browse. I love working with them because they have a limited selection of curated colors so I know they’re all good and it’s far less overwhelming than having all the options.
He quickly landed on Goodnight Moon. No hesitation. No color sampling needed. He was confident. I gave it a few days to be sure (kids change their minds a lot!) but when he continued to be unwavering, we decided to go for it!
What About the Ceiling?
You might notice that we’ve got popcorn ceilings in both boys’ rooms. It’s been scraped from the ceiling throughout most of the house, but there are a handful of places where it’s still there. I definitely don’t plan on leaving it forever, but I’m also not in a major rush to remove it. Popcorn ceiling is a giant pain to remove and, honestly, it doesn’t bother me that much!
Our long-term plan is that we will likely remove the popcorn ceiling at the same time we replace the flooring. We’ll already be living in chaos so we might as well add that in.
Until then? We’re embracing it, so you should too.
Grant did ask me to paint the ceiling, but I told him we were going to leave it alone since we’ll eventually be scraping it. Popcorn ceilings are a lot harder to remove once they’ve been painted, so this one will be staying white!
Is This All You’re Doing?
Absolutely not! This is the biggest thing I plan to tackle during this phase of his room setup, but it’s not the only thing. I considered replacing some furniture or adding built-ins, but honestly we’ve lived here for such a short time that it feels too soon. I want to give him more time to figure out how he uses the space and how he wants to use the space.
So, here’s what my general plan is for now:
- Replace his bedding (let him choose!)
- Add some glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling
- Replace the fan, doors, light switch, etc.
- Do something about the desk area (either paint or replace the desk – we’ll see!)
- Hang some art
That’s it! I think that just those few little changes will add up to make a big impact in his room. And it’s super budget-friendly!
Oh, and my 11-year-old is now anxiously asking about when his room will be painted so I guess that needs to be on the docket, too!
We’ve already painted the garage and the living room, but it feels really good to be in the phase of settling into the house where we’re painting bedrooms! It feels like a big milestone, and I am loving the results.
Stay tuned for Jackson’s room, and maybe after that I’ll finally get around to getting my own room painted!