The Great Boys Bedroom Debate

This fall we had a great big bedroom switcheroo.  While pregnant with Hayes, I had a really hard time figuring out who to put in which room.  After many furniture moving nights, room and bed rearrangements, and hauling clothes back and forth (a few times), I finally got the kids into an arrangement that worked for everyone.

The final bedroom arrangement ended with Jett in his own bed, in the smaller room.  Boston and Jager ended up with the bunk beds in the bigger room with the striped walls.  Hayes has a crib in there with the twins, and also a sleeper in my room.  I still don’t know where he will end up.  Maybe in a year or so when he needs a big bed we will just need a new house.  Now that I have the room arrangements made, I just need to make them look cute and put together.

(The bunk beds in the small room)

(The twin bed in the striped room)

I love love love my striped wall still.  The problem? I bought striped bedding specifically for the bunk beds.  They zip up and make it really easy for the kids to make their beds.  I can’t have striped beds and striped walls all in different shades of grey.

I didn’t really want to paint over the stripes but I love my bedding too.  How do I balance my mom / kids needs with my interior design priorities?  The conversation with my husband went like this. Me: I am going to tell you something and you can’t be mad.  Him: Okaaaaaay. Me: We are going to paint over the striped wall. Him: Phew, that could have been much worse.

Painting over the stripes makes me nervous because of the difference in height and the ridge from the paint line showing through the new paint colour. To take on the fear of what could be a huge project I decided to call in the experts.  I used the awesome free service at CIL.ca called Ask An Expert.  I sent them a picture of my room with the striped walls and asked how best to paint over them without the lines showing through.

Then I got nervous about the colour and type of paint to use.  I figured that since I was getting great advice without having to leave my house with all 4 kids in tow, I better ask about that too. The bunk beds are a medium-tone blue and I am thinking navy blue will be a fun accent colour. I just want it to be the right blue.

Luckily I got a response back from both emails the next day. The advice I received was  full of practical information to cover the stripes perfectly and included recommendations for paint colours and a good paint that will stand up to a house full of wild boys.

The CIL expert specializing in colour and décor was a big help! Using a picture of the room as a jumping off point, the CIL expert recommended the colours Pebble Drift 90BG 17/120, Lakefront, 90BG 31/124, and America’s Cup 10BB 11/126 as well as picking up some tester pots to see how they look in the space at various times of the day. My favourite colour to coordinate with the bunk bed frame is Pebble Drift 90BG 17/120.

I decided to get the CIL Plus paint and primer in one at RONA because it is self-priming and virtually odorless.  When looking for paint it was suggested that I look for the rocking horse icon to identify which products are suitable for children’s rooms.  For a sheen, I chose eggshell to provide a washable finish.

* See the final room reveal here*