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PAINT AN INDOOR PARADISE.

A child's bedroom can be an indoor haven, a fortified castle or even a jazzy jungle. What is your child's ideal indoor dream theme?

Wallpapering can be quite costly. This is also a risky prospect. A child's personal interests and tastes can change quickly. Why shell out a small fortune on designer papers, when your son or daughter will probably lose interest in the design within a year or two?

You can create a unique and memorable room without spending a king's ransom. In fact, it is amazing what you can do with a few cans of paint and some great ideas!

A FRESH START

Every room redecoration must begin with fresh, clean walls. Remove any existing wallpaper, and give the entire room a fresh coat of paint. A neutral background color (such as white, ivory or a soft pastel) is usually the safest choice.

Most paint stores offer flat, eggshell, and semi-gloss paints. Eggshell is a good bet for a cozy kid's room, because it looks soft but can be sponged clean, when needed. Flat paint is difficult to wash without smearing the finish, and semi-gloss can be a little shiny and glaring.

If you are handy with a paintbrush, you might renew all of the woodwork and trim with a second color, for accent.

BORDERS

A wallpaper border offers the simplest method of dressing up a room. Look for static-cling or peel-off paper borders. These can be changed quite easily, when a child changes his or her mind about room dcor.

Large stick-on decals are also available, often coordinating with border papers.

An entire themed room design can be completed in minutes this way!

STENCILING

Browse through a paint or craft store for simple stencils. You may find several varieties that correspond to your child's interests. Cats, dogs, fish, flowers, horses, motorcycles, musical instruments, race cars, safari animals, sports team logos and many other choices are widely available.

Stencil your chosen patterns, either in rows or randomly, according to your taste. Use your imagination!

FREEHAND

If you have artistic gifts, why not draw or paint an original mural on the walls of your child's room?

One artist friend painted an entire garden scene in a little girl's room. Because the room had sturdy rafters, she then suspended a real porch swing there. She added several plant hooks and hung up an assortment of trailing houseplants. The lucky child had her own secret garden!

TRACING

An overhead projector can be a decorator's best friend!

Find a drawing your child adores. Perhaps it will be a cartoon, computer clipart, a comic strip or even a map. Print the image from your computer onto clear transparency film. Set up an overhead projector in the child's room, and display the image on the wall.

Turn out the lights, and pull the shades. Trace the image, just like a mural. Once you have transferred the entire picture to the wall, you can shut off the projector and switch on the lights.

Use small paintbrushes to create the desired mural, a custom-made work of art!

HAVE FUN!

Painting is fun. Most people discover that they are far more adept and artistic than they ever imagined they might be.

You may surprise yourself! Besides, if you make a mistake, you can simply paint over it!

Learn more about this author, Linda Ann Nickerson.
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