Umm, to let him paint a sun or not?

[kijip]

So...I told, really actually promised, Toby he could pain his room any color he wanted (well, he could pick the color...with the painting to be completed by daddy and free friend labor). First he picked orange and pink. I reminded him that it clashes with his furniture and bedding and we can't paint those. He went along with this and selected light blue on his own, so it would match. He, like his dad, is pretty gung ho on matching. Within 2 days, with no help from us, he decided that light blue meant:

blue on the walls
cloud blue (paler) on the ceiling
grass on the sides of the wall with flowers
and a big yellow sun on the ceiling.

It must, in his mind, look like he is outside. He has drawn pictures detailing what he wants (which mostly just show the sun on the top of the ceiling).

Doing it is possible since my husband and friends can pretty much do anything with paint. Artsy bunch, that group.

But the boy is 4.

I figure he has 2-3 years max before he wants something not quite so toddlerish. He is however, telling everyone that his new room will be like being outside. I'll admit his enthusiasm is way too cute and I am leaning towards yes...but I have to admit I wish he was excited about plain blue walls.

House resale not an issue, we will be there for years, likely repainting it for him before we try and sell anyways.

Are there decals that I could use to do it but make it removable?

WWYD?

[Wife_and_mommy]

i have a friend who freehanded a sun in the center of her dd's ceiling. it was a hawaiian theme room. it looked SO good. i'd go for it if you have the gungho and ability.

hth.

e


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I love them most when they are sleeping.--Me
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[JTsMom]

It's just paint- so easy to change! If it will make him really happy, what could it hurt?

http://www.wallies.com/index.htm

[o_mom]

For the grass, I wonder if you could find some green wallpaper, cut the edge with some 'hill-like' curves and put it on sideways around the bottom. If you use sizing it will be easy to remove later. I know you can get wall decals that are flowers, so that would be OK, too.

For the sun, as long as you don't put a really thick edge on it, a coat of Kilz followed by ceiling white would cover that later. Try to blend it in at the edges - dry brush or feather it so that you won't see it through other coats of paint.

DS1&2's room was white below the chair rail with pink and green sponged 'splotches'. The problem with repainting was that you could see the texture of the splotchs through the paint, so we had to sand them all before we primed it.

[sdbc]

What were you thinking : "you can paint it whatever color you want"? The vote thing won't work for me, but I'd say you are obligated to stick by your promise.

FYI, you'll just have to paint a primer in order to paint over it later. That's not too difficult and only like $25.

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[Corie]

I would totally go for it !! :) I think his room idea sounds very cool.

And, whenever he gets tired of it, it is so easy to paint over it!

I'm all about creative expression!!

[almostamom]

Just thinking of how happy it would make him would convince me to do it - especially since your DH and friends are a talented bunch. You can always paint over it when he outgrows it. I say go for it (and post pictures when it's done - it sounds adorable!!!)

Linda

[alleyoop]

How about this for the sun?

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15579&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=55156&langId=-1&chosenPartNumber=50072886

ETA: and one of these, too!

http://www.hearthsong.com/hearthsong/product.do?section_id=6&bc=1005&pgc=2156&sv=107&cmvalue=HS|6|SALE%20DEPARTMENTS|107|107-P1

:) Good Luck!

[fortato]

Katie-

I say go ahead and do the sun. It's just paint.
If you are leary of doing a painted one, what about doing one with yellow fabric- and then using liquid starch to adhere it to the ceiling or wall? The technique is like wallpapering, and when you are done, you peel the fabric off the wall and wipe the wall clean.

I'm a sucker for murals too-
Here's the one from Jack's room
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g278/kristenkotrlik/Jack001.jpg

[kristenk]

Oh, that is wonderful! Did you paint it?

And I thought I was creative by painting clouds on the wall! LOL

Back to the original post: Go for the sun! If he's excited about it and talking about it for days, that's wonderful! I like the idea of a sun light fixture, but if he doesn't go for it (and it sounds like he might not considering he's already drawn what his room will look like!) I'd paint a sun on the ceiling. It's just paint...and you promised. :)

[KBecks]

There's not a good enough reason to break the promise.

Toby has an imaginative, fun concept in mind -- he'll enjoy the room and the painting is likely to turn out fantastic. I don't see any problem with his idea, and you can work with him to execute it in a way that is long-lasting.

My parents let me choose my own carpet for my bedroom when we moved to a new house. I was age 5 and chose bright multi-hued pink shag. I loved it. It was pretty awesome, and I was happy with it throughout childhood. I think I was around age 13 when I asked for something more grown-up and we changed the decorating to blue and silver, again, chosen by me. I appreciate that my parents let me have those choices.

The only thing I'd be worried about is if he grows out of liking the flowers. Maybe you should plan their location and size so that they can be painted over with grass or another object (trains? cars? animals?) later on if needed.

[kijip]

Ohhh, very cool light fixture.

We have decided to go whole hog on it...J is sketching out flowers, vegetable gardens, green grass as we speak. May toss in a few things to tie in with his bedding, like train tracks in the countryside or something. His bedding, that he recently got as a gift from a grandparent, is here: http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=7&f=732&pc=5 I think that we could do some little train cars or something to match.

My son is so his dad's son...he is even spouting off the dorky color names from the paint cards he picked out (wisteria blue and cloud blue)

Paint is cheap. And since he picked it, hopefully he will love it for more than 5 minutes. :P

[fortato]

My cousin painted it for a shower gift...

she made it look incredibly easy... did pencil sketches, and then layers of acrylic paint. (The background first, then outlines of buildings, then outlines of the street, then the fine details) It took 23 hours. And it looks amazing in person.

[almostamom]

>My cousin painted it for a shower gift...
>
>she made it look incredibly easy... did pencil sketches, and
>then layers of acrylic paint. (The background first, then
>outlines of buildings, then outlines of the street, then the
>fine details) It took 23 hours. And it looks amazing in
>person.
>
>
>


It looks pretty darn amazing in a picture too!!! :)

[Corie]

Kristen,

Jack's mural is so awesome!! I LOVE it! How about introducing me to
your cousin?? :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

That is very similar to what we have for ds' room. He'll be 5 soon and I don't feel like he has outgrown it or will for a few more years.

Beth

[Kungjo]

I think that it's cute that he wants a room with the sun, clouds, flowers, grass, etc. It would mean more to him because he made all the decisions for his room. I don't think that he will necessarily outgrow it in the next year or two either.

I think that you should let him do it because it's (1) a cute idea, (2) makes him feel like a big boy because he got to make the decisions for his big boy room, (3) can easily be painted over, and (4) you did promise him.

[tarabenet]

Katie, good for you! Toby will love his very special room and feel so important that he "designed" it himself. How empowering for him!

[haraldsworth]

I think that it will be really cute. It will be a really special memory for Toby. Please post a picture when it's done.

[elizabethkott]

Oooooh! I love the bedding! My dad (J's grandpa) is a HUGE train fanatic.
The rug we got for J's room was from PBK, and is nowhere on their website - only in stores. It's a transportation theme, with RR tracks going through a town - and it matches his "Honolulu Blue" walls just great! Thought I'd mention it as a way to tie into the bedding!
How wonderful that your kiddo is so creative! Can he come help me decide on which green for my kitchen? I've only had swatches on the wall for like 6 months...
:)
And that light fixture is AWESOME.

[mudder17]

This is so much fun!!! I wish I had the talent to do something like this! Does Jack look at anything in particular when you change him?

Eileen

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[randomkid]

Can you loan out your DH and friend to come do some much needed creative work around my house? I'm so NOT creative, so I think it's great that your DS can have the room of his dreams. I do love that sun ceiling light fixture, though. You could ask him if he'd like that, but somehow I envision that he wants a BIG sun, no?

[fortato]

He loves to look at Skippy's Pet Shop-- he calls the dog when he looks at it "S, S, S" It's very cute...

We make up stories about the town too...it's become one of our nightly rituals... and we always say good night to the Mayor, because that was my dad...

I'm so glad we have a constant reminder of him in Jack's room!


Corie--- She lives in Ashland NH- on your way to Storyland- stop in and ask her to do a mural for you! I doubt she'd travel all the way to your house though... bummer.

[daisymommy]

I think it sounds like an AWESOME kids room! I say go for it. And it will make him feel so proud to see his ideas put into motion :)

[mudder17]

>We make up stories about the town too...it's become one of our
>nightly rituals... and we always say good night to the Mayor,
>because that was my dad...
>
>I'm so glad we have a constant reminder of him in Jack's
>room!

Aww...that really tears me up! That is wonderful that you (and he) have a reminder in his room of your dad. And so neat that you can say good night to him. Sniff, sniff. :)


Eileen

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[juliasmom05]

I would definitely let him do it. I was going to do a similar thing in DD's room with bugs instead of flowers, but we moved before it was finished.

If you don't won't to paint the ceiling, paint a sun on the light fixture. We had an ugly old square light fixture which I painted a sun, sky and clouds on. Even with my poor artistic abilities it turned out pretty cool.

Marci

[kijip]

>If you don't won't to paint the ceiling,

We have to paint the ceilings. Every wall, including the ceilings, in the house is a brown builder's beige color. Not off white, but truly brown. Yuck.

[Corie]

hhmmm, wonder what I can offer her to get a mural ??? :)

[JTsMom]

Love everyone's links/pics!

Here's another idea-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/verymom/sets/72157594329675820/

They are from kerflop.com She made a giant mural in her sons' room that I think is AMAZINGLY cool. She put magnetic paint underneath the top coat in certain areas so that they could play cars on the wall- might be a fun idea for the train tracks.

You have to promise to post pics when you are done- I love this kind of stuff!

P.S. I think you'll always be happy that you decided to let him do this. You'll remember his happiness much longer than you'll remember the day it takes to paint over everything. :)

[lizajane]

my children have a rain forest painted on their walls, complete with baby jaguar and diego (ok, i had her put diego behind the door so it didn't look too cheesy.)

and i actually paid someone to do it. (another "ok" she was super cheap, building her portfolio...)

[marit]

I haven't read other replies. Forgive me if I'm repeating something.

If you're hesitant about the sun, I would cut a yellow circle from a cardboard and glue it to the ceiling. Later on, if you decide you like it, you can add the real yellow paint.

[nofeea]

I know you've made the decision to paint already but....
Here's an idea I stole from Family Fun magazine-
For things I wasn't sure I wanted to be permanant, I painted clear contact paper and then stuck it in DD's walls over the base paint color. We still had the fun of painting,and the contact paper was easy to cut out. It stuck right on and is removable whenever she wants to change her walls!

Good Luck!