Hey, guys! Have you ever tried to paint a room with your kids? I know the first time we decided to involve our kids in a painting project, I was kind of scared…OK really scared. I was imagining paint all over every surface and a huge mess, yes I can be a bit dramatic like that in my mind. Today, I want to tell you my experience of how to paint a room and have your kids help because guess what? They can totally help and it doesn’t end up with paint all over everything. ::Shocking:: Right? Not really. Oh, and I have a great giveaway for you, too!
We let our kids help paint a room for the first time in January when we painted Snowflake’s room as a part of her room makeover. It went well. We did have a few small mishaps, but nothing that a small wet rag at the ready couldn’t fix. Which would be my first tip for how to paint a room with your kids, be prepared and know things won’t go perfectly. Having a small wet rag on hand will help for any paint spills or drips that happen…I need one for me as well, it isn’t just for the kids.
This time, I had some new tools from Home Right (who also sponsored this post) for us to try that I knew would help make this neat and easy. Sounds great, right? It was great and I have those tools and all kinds of tips for you on how to paint a room with your kids helping.
Before we get to how to paint a room and have your kids help you, let me show you the before. This is Pumpkin’s room. She has lived with the patched walls for over a year now. Though the paint color samples are new and were only there for a week or so. She recently decided to rearrange her furniture and we had already started moving things to the center of the room for painting, but this at least gives you an idea of where we started.
Pumpkin tends to be my pack rat, though thankfully, she doesn’t have a hard time getting rid of things when we go through them. We have a big purge planned for her room…which perhaps we should have done before painting, but it is getting done now instead.
At this end of the room, her closet and this awkward little corner. This room was our playroom until over a year ago. Then we moved the girls into their own rooms and this closet that I designed for a playroom became her real closet. It will get doors as well as re-done to make it back into a real closet that can hold clothes more than toys.
I have big plans for this corner. Hopefully, my next post about Pumpkin’s room will be showing you what I have done with this corner.
We are in the middle of the toy/stuff purge. Then I need to build a few things and organize. Hopefully next week, I will have all of that done and be able to show it off. I’m hoping it works out in reality like I have it planned in my mind. 🙂
So, now to how to paint a room and involve your kids. First and foremost, I have to say, you know your kids best. You know what their attention span is like and what they will enjoy helping with. You can also ask your kids what they want to help with. In my opinion, there is little sense in forcing them to help. That being said, sometimes we have to force them to help in order to teach them life skills they need to learn. In my opinion, this is a great life skill to teach our kids. It saves so much money to know how to paint a room and the steps that need to be taken. It is also a pretty easy DIY that anyone can learn to do.
My kids were eager to help. I think it helps that we let them help in their own room. They wanted to see their room look great and help with the makeovers. I would suggest that you keep that in mind. Your kids may not be eager to help you paint a guest bathroom, but they may love helping with their own room.
I started the process by allowing Pumpkin to select her paint color. She did think she wanted to go darker with the paint, which I did tell her no to that. Once we narrowed down the color, we got 4 of those little sample paints and tried those on the wall. I’ve been painting since back in the day when the only sample paint you could get was a quart of paint…I love those little sample paints that are only $2-3! Works perfect.
Once we selected the paint color, we set about prepping the room. Now, if you saw my Scope on Periscope about this painting process, you will remember me scoping from the home improvement store at 4 pm on a Saturday. If you plan to paint a room on the weekend, it is best if you remember to get the paint! I totally forgot that I didn’t have the paint. 2 hours later we had the paint. Yes, it took 2 hours to get our paint. There was a glitch because we had done a custom color match and a really long story short we ended up with a different brand of paint than we wanted because after 2 hours in the paint department, I just wanted to get started painting.
Back at home, we started the painting with the prep work. If you haven’t painted a room before, the prep work is probably the most important part. The night before, we sanded all of the patched walls to make sure everything was smooth and all the holes were filled. There were a few that needed a little more of the patch compound. We filled those in and then had to sand over those on our painting day. My kids LOVE helping with the sanding. This time, we tried something new. Can you see the sanding sponge (affiliate link) that Pumpkin is using? OMG! They were awesome! They made the sanding so fast and so easy. I would totally use them again.
While the kids sanded, I taped off the room. You will want to tape off all your trim and your ceiling. Have a rag handy to wipe down the trim and remove any sanding dust, otherwise the tape won’t stick. You will want to tape off any trim around your windows, closets, and doors as well. I also like to take off the light switch covers and electrical outlet covers. Then I just tape around those to protect them from the paint.
Another thing the kids can help with is the protecting of the furniture. The former homeowners of our house left this huge box of this plastic for painting. I would prefer to use tarps because they are re-useable, but since we have the big box of plastic, it comes in handy. Snowflake did a stellar job of covering and taping everything.
Of course, when you are letting your kids help with painting a room, the first time they help with something teach them what to do and then check that they have done it correctly. Make sure they know exactly what they have done great and give a pointer or a tip to them for what needs a little improvement.
Pumpkin took it upon herself to get all our tarps and place them around the room. She did such a great job that we didn’t even have to move them around the room as we painted. That was really nice.
This is another thing kids can help with. I would recommend that you double check that what you want to be covered is covered well before you start painting.
We had sanded our patched walls, therefore, we needed to wipe down the walls with a damp cloth. My girls were so quick with this, I didn’t even get to help after I took pictures. They did a great job. They sure made this whole job go so much faster.
We were finally to the big reveal! The paint color!! I think she likes it. 😀
This is where I got excited. My husband and I have painted a ton! Just in this house, we have painted every single wall, ceiling and almost all of the trim. (We haven’t done the laundry room, but that is it.) We have a rhythm for our painting. I usually do the cutting in (which is the paint near the ceiling, trim, in the corners, and around the doors and windows) and he usually rolls the walls. I was super excited that Home Right had sent me new tools. I love trying out new tools particularly when they will make things more neat and easier/faster. The first tool I got to try was the Home Right Quick Painter. It is a tool for cutting in.
To use the Quick Painter (affiliate link), you will remove the pad from the top of the tool. Fill the tool with the paint for the room. Place the pad back on and be careful not to hit the trigger. Once you have the Quick Painter on the wall, gently press the trigger. It will release paint through the pad. This will allow you to quickly and easily cut in.
It takes a little getting used to, but once you have messed around with the Quick Painter it is super easy and super quick.
I was a little nervous to give it to my kids though because I was envisioning that they would hit the trigger and we would have a paint explosion.
I let them try it anyway because I know sometimes I have to get over my stupid mess irrational fears. (Anyone else with me on the mess irrational fears? Please say, “Yes!”) Pumpkin did fantastic with the Quick Painter and really liked using it. Neither of my kids had done cutting in before. Snowflake also used the Quick Painter and thought it made things so much faster and easier. She did have one incident where she squeezed the trigger too hard and got out too much paint. Nothing the wet rag we keep on hand couldn’t fix.
I was shocked out how much faster both of the Home Right tools made the painting.
We had a whole problem with the first paint we bought. Remember how we spent 2 hours at the paint department? Well, after the first coat was done, it looked awful. I’ve never had paint do what that paint was doing. (It is just too long of a story as to why we didn’t go with our usual paint to begin with.) We went back to the home improvement store about 15 minutes before closing and got more paint in our usual brand. Thankfully, there was someone there who made quick work of our quirky paint color problem…the one that had caused us to be in the paint department for 2 hours when we got the original paint.
You guys, with the great paint and the Home Right tools, we did the 2nd coat of paint in the room in a little under an hour!!! My daughter’s room is a good size, it is not a tiny room. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to cut in a room and roll all the walls in an hour! The tools help make things that much faster. That all being said, I do want you to know that we had 4 people helping in the room as well, but the tools were a huge factor in why it went so quickly.
We always cut in first and then roll. That way, you will get the majority of your wall with the texture of the roller versus seeing paintbrush strokes (if you are using a paintbrush and not the Quick Painter).
When you use the Home Right PaintStick E-Z Twist paint roller, you will fill your PaintStick with the paint you are using in that room. There is a special attachment that you add to your paint can in order to do this. Because you have the paint right in the PaintStick you won’t have to have a roller tray and go back and forth to your tray to reload paint. Love that! It makes it so much faster to have the paint right in the PaintStick E-Z Twist (affiliate link).
I went first to give it a try. The first time you use the roller, you will use almost one whole tube of paint to prime the roller and get paint rolling. The PaintStick E-Z Twist has a special roller cover with small holes in it that allow the paint to come out. Once you have primed the roller, the rolling is a snap..with good paint and even with our funky first paint.
Both Snowflake and Pumpkin used the Home Right PaintStick E-Z Twist. They both liked it but also found it a bit heavy to use and be able to twist. They ended up prefer the traditional roller and tray. It kind of worked out nicely because then we could have one of them rolling while an adult was using the PaintStick E-Z Twist.
I rarely roll the walls because I hate the whole roller and tray thing. I know that probably sounds dumb, but I hate going back and forth and re-loading my roller. I also always feel like I’m either loading too much paint or not enough paint. It just seems like such a pain to me.
I actually rolled almost all of the walls because I really liked using the PaintStick E-Z Twist. I didn’t have to mess with the tray and it was just a simple twist of the pole to add more paint to the roller. I never felt like I was overloading the roller. At the beginning, I did feel like I wasn’t loading enough paint, but that was just a matter of learning how much to twist and how much I needed with this roller. I can’t believe how much faster it is to roll the walls when you don’t have to go back and forth to the tray all the time. You do have to go back to the can and refill the E-Z Twist tube, but that is quick and needed a lot less than re-loading the roller and tray.
Thankfully, the new paint we got was great quality and one coat was all that was needed and that coat is the one we knocked out in a little less than an hour. Super Fab!
In the end, we finished Pumpkin’s room and we all LOVE the color. I love the color she selected. It is an interesting color as well. I call it moody because depending on the light, the color can vary quite a bit.
We got to put her new bedding on her bed and I put her new dresser together. We got it all setup and organized. You may have seen my Scope on Periscope about organizing a child’s dresser.
Lest I leave you thinking that things are all roses and sunshine in our room makeover, this is what the rest of the room looks like. Remember how I mentioned that we are doing a toy/stuff purge. Yep…loads of fun! We still have a long way to go, but we have gotten started AND Pumpkin no longer has to look at patched walls. Yay!
Now, let me leave you with the angle that makes the room look lovely! 🙂
What are your favorite tricks on how to paint a room? Favorite tools? Leave a comment below and enter the Giveaway below as well.
My favorite tools are for sure the new Home Right tools we used in the project! My kids liked the Quick Painter the best and I liked the PaintStick E-Z Twist the best. My husband, who generally dislikes anything new, even really liked the PaintStick…now that is saying something!
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I am about to start to think about painting most of the rooms in our house. These tools would make quick work of that!
They sure would! What colors are you thinking of doing for the rooms in your home?
We’re just now getting into painting the house with an updated gray over the hideous beige we have in part of the house and yellow and glazing in the kitchen/living room. Can’t wait to get it all done! The only tip I have is having plenty of patience.
Love it! I need to repaint a few rooms for the same reason, just need to update the colors a bit. Yes, patience for sure. It always takes longer than I think it will to get things back to normal. How about you?
We always seem to underestimate how long our projects will take. I’d love to have that ez twist paint stick from the giveaway; that would help with our underestimating. My husband hates to paint and it seems half my time is taken up with going up and down the dang ladder and having 12 foot ceilings doesn’t help. Let’s not talk about my knees. I think we make a good team though; I roll and he cuts in.
I bet the tools would help with the underestimating. 12′ ceilings would make the painting take longer and a LOT more work for sure!
I would love to try the twist roller!
It is a great tool! Hope you get to try it. 🙂
The PaintStick E-Z Twist is my pick for favorite tool because I hate having to go up and down a stepstool to get the top and bottom of the walls while reloading the roller. It hurts my back! Your way looks much easier.
I’m so glad to know I’m not alone in hating going up and down the stepladder and reloading the roller! It is such a pain and this was SO much easier.
I love the color!! What age did the girls get their own rooms? Mine want to have their own bedrooms, but I’m not willing to give up my craft room.
Thank you! We gave them their own rooms a little over a year ago. If they room had been a craft room, I doubt I would have given it up either. Lol! Ours was a playroom. It has turned out well for my girls to have their own room. They were the right age and needed some space. Good luck…and don’t give up the craft room. 😉
Love the color!! Those HomeRight painting tools are the best!!
Thanks! I totally agree that the tools are the best. Fun to use!
Love all these ideas for getting the kids involved!!
I really need a spray shelter for all of my projects!
Oh! I totally want one of those as well! Can’t even begin to imagine the fun I could have with that. What would you make first?
Love the color you chose! Both of those tools look so easy to use! But I think my favorite tool would be the paint sprayer.
What’s the name of the paint color that she chose, and who makes it? I love it!
Unfortunately, it was a custom blended color. I’m sorry. If you want, I can give you the colorant numbers, but I’m not sure if that will translate to any other brand of paint. If you want them, I will look it up for you. 🙂
A paint sprayer would be awesome
Tough call bc there are so many great products but I’d love the HomeRight Heavy Duty Paint Sprayer Titanium Series
I think I need the Spray Shelter in my life…I paint a lot of furniture, so it would be awesome!
Paint Sprayer or the EZ Twist!
That color is awesome – I love it! And I want the paint sprayer :0
Thanks! My daughter picked out her new color, she has great taste! I want a paint sprayer as well…the fun we could have with it, right?!
Love this! We try to always let the kids help with decorating/arranging their rooms, I think it helps motivate them to keep them clean.. for like a few days, at least 😉
Exactly! LOL about the few days. I think you are right! My daughter has been so pleased with her room and the shelving we have done in the corner (new post coming soon) that she is keeping things a lot more clean than in the past. Hoping it lasts!
I would love to try the Airless Sprayer! Super cute bedroom, by the way. Love that color!
Looks great! I have always wondered how some of the HomeRight products work… I do all of the painting in our house and would always love a new tool that could make the project quick and easy!
Yes, a new tool is just the thing for your next project! Or is that just me who gets excited to do mundane tasks if there is a new tool involved? 🙂
The Finish Max Fine Finish HVLP Sprayer is my favorite