boys bedroom Archives - Emily A. Clark

Our Twins’ Shared Bedroom: A New Color Palette

May92019

This post is sponsored by Behr. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Our boy/girl twins are still sharing a room (and will be for as long as possible!), but I had quickly painted it after we moved in and didn’t really ever finish the rest of it. I used the framed animal prints from our last house and my daughter insisted they scared her into getting up and coming into our room every night. . . (I personally think this has been her most creative excuse so far.) So, it felt like the perfect time to call her bluff and give their room an updated look with a new color palette.

This is how the “very scary” room looked before:

And after a new wall color (I used BEHR PREMIUM PLUS ULTRA® interior paint) and some fresh accessories:

The room doesn’t get a ton of natural light so I wanted something lighter and brighter. I love the soft quilts they already had on their beds and pulled my main wall color from those. An all-American red, white and (shades of blue) color palette felt like a good, classic choice for a boy/girl bedroom.

In case you’re up to your eyeballs in swatches. . .

A few of my best tips for choosing paint colors:

Choose your paint color last. This is such a tempting place to start for a lot of people, but it actually makes a lot of sense to choose your furniture and accessories for a room first. Then, pull out a main wall color and complementary accent colors from fabrics, rugs or art, for example. My palette for this room: Tranquil Sea PPL-73, Red My Mind MQ1-10, Basswood MQ2-46, Compass Blue MQ5-54 and Snowy Pine PPU10-13.

Take advantage of paint samples. For just a few dollars, you can pick up a sample of the color (and sheen) you’re considering. Painting a large swatch—on a board or the wall—can save a lot of time and effort.

Use the leftover samples to have your kids create art for their space. Even if it’s very “abstract”, the palette will work perfectly and it’s a sweet, personal touch.

Need more help with choosing a color? Join me for the Behr Color Clinic on Thursday, May 16th where I’ll be joining a Q&A session on the Behr Facebook Page from 10a.m. to noon EST.

Adding Color: Spray Painting A Dresser

Mar182015

Drawing inspiration from the colorful flag wall I hung in the boys’ bedroom, I finally painted a faux bamboo chest that had been sitting in our garage from a Craigslist haul several years ago.

The laminate top and smooth finish on this vintage Thomasville faux bamboo piece made it easy (and fast) to spray paint.

I used a couple of coats of Valspar’s Flat Caramel Honey—a deep, golden yellow.

Have an old piece that you want to paint but don’t want to invest more money in new hardware? Try painting all of the handles and pulls the same color as the furniture. I think it gives it a more modern look, and you don’t have to remove any hardware or buy anything new.

(These wall lamps were less than $40.)

My next project is to finish the bedding. I’m using the pinstripe duvets that I wrote about here and am working with Karrie to add some extra color at the foot of the beds.

The Boys’ Bedroom: A Framed Flag Wall

Mar122015

The boys’ bedroom has one of those fun little nooks around the only window in the space. Since my oldest really wanted a desk, we decided to make it his “office” area. The room is long and narrow, except for this one nook, so I painted it a dark navy to make it feel like a separate little space. (It’s the same color I used here.) And, when it was time to hang something on the walls, I initially thought of framing nautical flags. My 10-year-old suggested World Cup country flags instead. Sold! (And, it makes way more sense, since he’s a soccer player and not a sailor. . . )

I bought several inexpensive flags from Ebay sellers (I think the total was around $35), and put most of them in IKEA Nyttja frames. No fancy framing job here. I simply flipped the paper frame insert over to the solid white side and taped the flags right on top.

I also found a campaign desk at a friend’s yard sale last summer. It’s not in perfect shape, but I have no plans of painting it. I love the wood against the navy. The metal desk chairs used to be in my office.