You hear all sorts of “mother-in-law” bashing jokes, right? Well me, I have none. I can’t even attempt one. I have a phenomenal mother-in-law who I proudly call “mom”. She raised a wonderful son who takes good care of our family, and for that I’m thankful to her. Plus, she’s incredibly encouraging, supportive, and helpful. She’s a good seed! The best part, she’s handy and motivated!!! So after 3.5 years of living with builder white walls in our bedrooms, it was time to give my girls’ rooms a little personality! And MIL of the year is who said “put a weekend on the calendar, we are painting those rooms!”
My husband and I are under the belief that your room is your sanctuary, so we wanted our 4 year old and 2.5 year old daughters to have a say in what their rooms looked like.
 |
| Samantha painting her wall |
My oldest, Samantha, picked out her bedding (horses, of course) back in September. Our hope is that she’ll keep this for at least 5 years. (True, I may be completely unrealistic, but what do I know, I’ve only been a mom for 4 years!) So knowing this was her bedding to match, we told her to pick any 2 colors from the comforter that she wanted her walls to be painted. The girl is so predictable. Pink upon pink was her choice! Next was Olivia’s room. Olivia is our middle daughter and has recently been potty trained. Her bedding is the “transition to a big girl bed” bedding, so it isn’t what she’ll end up using for several years, just for right now. We still let her pick any 2 colors from her bedding she wanted, but I didn’t go “matchy-matchy” with the paint swatches.
 |
| Olivia painting her pink wall |
The next step was the paint purchase. I was going to go buy the Behr paint we used when we had the downstairs painted, but after reading my trusty friend, Sarah’s, post I had to run out to Walmart to get the Disney Glidden paint! I step into a Walmart maybe once a year, and even then dread it. Fortunately, I knew in advance where to go when I got to the Parksburg mega store and to scoop up the gentleman from the pet department to help me mix my paint. It wasn’t too painful, I suppose. I brought Samantha with me to help pick the colors. She had a great time looking at all of the colors and sparkles, etc. Once I honed her in on the pinks, we held them to her pillow case and picked the two that matched the best. It was a wonderful teachable moment! Then we picked out Olivia’s colors. She wanted pink and green, so we found colors that coordinated well. It worked out so that Samantha’s 3 walls are the same color as Olivia’s accent wall! One gallon, two rooms, awesome budget tip! Then I picked out a gorgeous turquoise for the bathroom. Looking at the colors just gave me such an urge to get that done! I thought, it’s so small, I can bust that out super fast. Fast forward 24 hours, boy was I wrong! (I’ll elaborate, read on.) We also picked out colors for the baby’s room, sage and purple. The sage green is the same color as Olivia’s 3 walls. Sadly, we didn’t have time that weekend to do her room, but we’ll get to it in June.
We started with Olivia’s room. My MIL is terrific at keeping a straight hand and edging the room and I was super-speedy with the roller. We made a mean team! Next we went onto Samantha’s room. The girls kept running upstairs to peek at their rooms. Olivia would say “it’s so pretty” and “ohhh, beautiful”! Samantha just kept saying “I love my pink room” and “I’m so excited about my pink walls”! We let the girls each paint a few swipes on their accent wall before we wrapped up their rooms. They lit up at that offer! So sweet and such a special memory.
The next morning we did the bathroom. Oh-my-goodness was I insane to think it would be easy! I will never look at a painted bathroom the same again. Scarred I tell you, I’m scarred! Hello nooks and crannies! I tucked my body into absurd positions to get into cracks behind lights and cabinets. It was not fun. The nice part was that the paint wipes right off the cabinets, tile, and fiberglass shower, so I could be messy and not worry too much! A definite bonus given my completely unsteady hand.
In the end, I’m so happy that my daughters finally have a room that is theirs. And it sure feels great to walk upstairs and see color for once!!!!
 |
| Sea themed bathroom (I’m thinking when 3 girls ask for a more feminine bathroom, this would look great with hot pink accents.) |
Melissa is a local Chester County Mom who is a contributor to the Suburban Social Media sites, sells Tastefully Simple products, and is active in the Downingtown MOMS Club.
Philaburban Mom 