Wow, has it been a crazy month or what. My laptop screen broke, I got back into the states
(currently working on the blog posts to share my great experiences) and now I am in the process of completely cleaning out my room and getting rid of anything that I possibly can.
Now, maybe I am writing this blog to prove a point to my parents, but maybe I am just curious as to see what other people out there think.
I am trying to redo my room for my little brother who turns 7 in 2 weeks. I wanted to do it as a birthday present, but also as a bribe to get him to get rid of some of his toys and start keeping his room clean. (Yeah, right. A 7 year old boy keep his room clean, I know. I am crazy.)
If you have never met him then you wouldn't know that he has lived and breathed John Deere and tractors since he was learning to talk. He actually learned his colors by the brands of tractors (John Deere Green, Allis Chalmers Orange, Case IH Red... So on..) It was adorable.
I want to paint his room Green, With a yellow and a Black stripe. Like the picture to the side, without the yellow ceiling. I am hoping to get creative enough to put a little red barn and a dirt path on the wall, but first I have to get past my parents.
Reasons for Letting Kids Pick their wall colors
1. Paint isn't all that expensive.
Kids grow up and they change their minds. They go through phases where they like one thing, then they like another. It happens. A little bit of paint can go along way when it comes to making a kid's room their own. I am not saying redo the carpet every time they want a different theme in their room, but bookshelves, dressers and bed posts can be painted. Walls can be painted.
2. Creativity
Everyone complains about how the United States education system is suppressing kids' creativity, but what about when it comes to being at home. Is that helping them any? Kids are naturally creative, until they learn that it isn't acceptable. Encourage kids to be a little crazy. Have some fun.
One comment I read on another blog said that she grew up in a home with all white walls. Now that she is older and has her own home, her walls are still white because she is scared to make a mistake. She continued to say that her sister grew up later than her, but had a colorful walls. Now, her sister is grown up and has yellow walls with blue ceilings because she isn't afraid of making those mistakes.
3. Bonding time
My dad and I painted my room my sophomore year in high school. He had 2 days off of work during the summer and we spent the days picking out paint, taping off windows, listening to music, and getting the job done. I was so excited when we finally finished my room, but it was fun to spend that time with my dad.
4. Coolest Parent Award
When your kids have friends over, they will most likely play in his/her room. Their friends will comment and say how cool their parents are for letting them do it. (especially as they get older.) I know parenting isn't about being the cool parent, but sometimes for kids it takes a friend saying how awesome your parents are for you to realize how lucky you have it in the home that you do.
5. Pride and Courage
Have you ever watched a kid's face as you open a present that they picked out all by themselves. For Christmas, Luke had taken a piece of wrapping paper and drew a picture on the white side. Then he wrapped it up and put it under the tree for me. On Christmas morning, he insisted that I opened that one first. I gave it the "Oh my gosh, that is sooo cool Luke! thank you!" response, but it was the pride and excitement that he got because he didn't need any help in doing any of it. It was all him. This is the same when they get to make choices about what they want their room to be.
6. Ultimately, they are the ones living there.
Yes, it is your house. But doors can be closed. This could turn into one of those teaching moments of "You made the decision, now you have to live with the consequences." Before you paint, sit down and explain to your child that they don't get to repaint it all of the time. Your child will have to live with this decision for a while afterwards, even if they don't like it. But if they love it, you can close the door, or show it off. It may turn out better than you think.
7. Moving..?
If you aren't planning on moving for quite some time and you have stable jobs near the home that you are in, then there will always be plenty of time to repaint before you move in a few years.
If you have other questions, be sure to check out chapter 5 of The Last Lecture! He got to paint on his walls when he was young, and to this day, his rocketship and quadratic formula is still there and his mom shows it off.
When we painted my room, I wanted to be a photographer more than anything. I finally had talked my parents into letting me put black on my walls. My walls are white in the middle and black at the top and bottom. They resemble a picture frame. In the white space, I used push pins to hang up all of my photography that I had entered in 4-H. I had drawings from school stuff and other art work that I had done. I really thought that I had the coolest room ever. I painted my desk black and got a new black bookshelf. I painted an old red dresser black and got a pair of black sheets.
I seriously thought that I had the best room in the world. It represented who I was and who I wanted to be very well. It is true that I no longer want to be a photographer, but I do still think that the walls are pretty cool and it looks very nice with the black furniture, but this room is ready for something else. John Deere Green and Yellow for an adorable, spoiled little 7 year old, because that is what currently represents him and who he is.
I plan to put up a green shelf with a "fence around it" for parking for his toy tractors. I have a couple of graphics that I am going to put on canvas for his walls.
I am really excited about this project and I can't wait to see the look on his face when it is done.
Now, I must admit that I am neither a home owner nor a parent... so there maybe some things that I looked over. But the real question.. What color did you always want to paint your room when you were a kid? Did your parents let you or not?
Today, we packed up our bags and headed out for our first overnight trip.We were headed to the Safari. It seemed like a super long drive on the way there, but it was really only an hour or two. As we drove, I couldn't help but be surprised at how absolutely beautiful the world is.
