Bright Color Gives Kids Bright Spirits
Posted by Michele | Filed under Kids Color
What do kids want? Only everything! They live life with such spirit and freedom. No fear! I would give a million dollars to just have that lack of fear for an entire year. What happened to us?
This fear is also true for parents choosing colors for their home. Some kids are fortunate enough be involved in choosing paint colors for their rooms, while others’ choices are made for them. When I was a girl, my mom surprised me with a purple and pink room. Do you know how happy that made me?
This month, Traditional Home is featuring some wonderful palettes, including this daring blackboard. This room is filled with creativity—wonderful for any child’s soul.
As a color consultant, I have a form for my clients to fill out before I arrive. And I insist on having all family members involved in this experience so I can create a flow in the home that will emotionally impact everyone in a positive way.
For instance, if you choose a glum beige for a 13-year-old’s bedroom, don’t you think he or she is going to be glum? I can marry differences in ways that will make everyone happy. That’s what I do. That’s what I get hired for. That’s what I love to do! The best part of my job is making people happy in their home—including the kids. I cannot help dogs and kittens, but if they could talk, I would create the best-looking doghouse around.
We all want what we want but are too afraid to make it happen because of what the Joneses might think. A friend came to my house last night and spotted a can of vivid purple sitting on my kitchen counter. “Wow, purple?” she asked, thinking I was a crazy color consultant. “Where are you putting that?” I happily told her I was creating my dream garage. I love purple. It makes me so happy, so youthful and creative.
What do you want for your children? Do you want them to grow up overnight with glum beige or do you want them to enjoy a color that matches their spirit?. I know deep down inside you want to feel that same spirit. Believe me when I say I can make all of your worlds come together. I can do it with black, beige, pink, green, red, yellow and, yes, purple.
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Color and Kids
Posted by Michele | Filed under Kids Color
Kids want what they want. That’s is all there is to it. And, what if you don’t give them what they want? I’m not suggesting that they can have their way all the time but when it comes to their own room, I think it’s emotionally better for them to choose their own color of paint. I’ve consulted hundreds of homes on color. I’ve also consulted parents on the effects of color in a child’s room and how important it is to give them their own domain.
Graphics are another way to really make an impact in a kid’s room like this Octopus. What a great piece encouraging reading (instead of playing video games). Sports posters, rock stars, you name it; do it tastefully with a theme to go with it.
When you think back, what was your best childhood memory? Your room, probably. I know I loved my bedroom growing up. I’ve blogged about the color of pink before probably because I wanted a pink room when I was a young girl. These days purple is the hot color for young girls. Boys want blue or heavy duty black. YIKES! What mother is going to let her child have a black room.
I’ve solved that dilemma before by suggesting they paint a very large board of paneling in the black or instead black out part of the wall and put a trim of accent color around it. That usually seems to suffice. The problem with black is that is takes a lot so coats of paint to cover it up but a good painter can prime it like another paint anyway. It all depends on how long you wish to live in your home.
Let your kids live in an environment that they absolutely love. In turn their spirit will generate what you’re probably trying to get out of them. If you have a child that is very lazy and wants to sleep in all day, a good color for them would have warm tones like yellows, reds, even orange. I know, you are saying Yikes again. A soft green or blue would be a solution for a child who is hyperactive or might even have A.D.D.
Maybe you don’t want to let your child have black or fuschia walls but you could give them a few choices to pick from. Encourage them that maybe they can choose black accessories to add to the mix, maybe a blue room with a black chalkboard wall to hang those posters on. Same for any other color you might be cringing on. Or, you could do the drapery in a black fabric. Sounds yucky but it you truly put the whole theme together - it could be very striking.
Kids love color because it stimulates them, so give them the color that will generate the biggest impact for their life. Here is a site that can help you with your choices. Good Luck!
