Rainy Saturdays

I woke up to rain this morning... lots of it.  It should continue on throughout the day and since I don't have much else to do but stay home and listen to the contant pounding on the rooftop, I thought it might be a good day to reorganize the kids' rooms.  We are on the move again.  With only two bedrooms for 3 girls, we do a lot of moving around.  The two older girls have been sharing a room for about a year now but the oldest is getting to the point where she is demanding her own room.  Rightfully so, since at 10 having a room to one's own is pretty significant.

That leaves the two younger ones to share.  That might be more of a problem.  My two youngest don't get a long.  At all.  So the trick is to figure out how to "share" without causing actual physical harm to each other.  My biggest trick?  No matchy... matchy for them.  Each one will get to choose their own colors and styles.  It will be up to my amazing decorating sensibilities to integrate the two.

Stay tuned for updates.

Kids & Decorating

Should you let your kids decorate their own rooms?  YES

Think back to when you were a kid and what your room meant to you.  It was everything.  In a world where what you eat, wear and drive in is controlled primarily by your parents, your room is the one thing that you can call your own.  Now while you most likely won't be up for painting the room all black... or red... or any other color you find offensive, there is always a way to compromise so that your child will feel they got the room they wanted.

For example:  My daughter wants a Twilight themed room.  Okay... I'm not going to paint it black or have vampire blood oozing down the walls, but we did manage to compromise on painting the room a grayish-purple and framing her Twilight/New Moon movie posters to hang on the walls.  The rest of the room will be decorated with mirrored, silver and iron accessories to complete the look.  It's something we both can live with.

Give it a try.

My Favorite Things #1

When it comes to decorating kids' rooms, one of my favorite things is to use chalkboard paint.  I just love the stuff!  My children all have painted bedroom doors in black chalkboard paint (the interior part of the door).  Let's face it... kids like to draw on walls so what better way than to give them something to draw on that isn't going to completely ruin the room.  Chalkboard paint actually comes in many different colors these days.  When I painted the doors, I first used a primer that was good for covering the oil based paint that was currently on the door.  Then, I used a roller to cover the door in the chalkboard paint.  It takes a good 24 hours to dry and then give the kids a box of chalk and let them create.

Other uses for chalkboard paint are dresser drawers, desk drawers, bookshelves, toy bins... pretty much anything that can be painted is a great base for chalkboard paint.  You can even use it in your kitchen to cover the inside (or outside) of cabinets.

Chalkboard paint can be purchased at any home improvement store and is comparable pricewise to regular paint.