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Before & After: A Fast, Easy Update to a Child's Room With Paint

See how a stylist used paint and layers of luscious textures to add instant warmth and cosiness to a child's room

Georgia Madden
Georgia MaddenJune 1, 2021
Senior writer, Houzz Australia
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Paint is one of the most versatile decorating tools at your disposal – it’s cheap, quick to apply and changes the look and feel of a room in an instant. Best of all, if you change your mind about a particular colour down the line, you can just paint over it.

“If you’ve been all about white for as long as you can remember, get a taste of using stronger colours by starting with a single wall – say the wall behind the bed,” says Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux colour and communications manager. “It will not only make a feature of the bed, but will make artwork pop.” To show you how it’s done, stylist Bree Leech used colours from the Dulux Retreat palette – one of three trend palettes in the 2021 Dulux Colour Forecast – to pump up the personality of a child’s bedroom.
Before Photo
Dulux Paint
All images from the Winter Dulux Colour Forecast 2021
Stylist: Bree Leech
Photographer: Lisa Cohen

“Light-filled and spacious, this bedroom ticked all the right boxes. However, it needed some personality and tactile elements to create warmth,” says Leech. “You want your child to love spending time in their room, it should be somewhere they can escape, relax, read and play. The quickest and easiest way to switch up the mood is with colour,” she says.

Does your home need a refresh? Find a local stylist on Houzz to help
Dulux Paint
Walls painted in Dulux Winter Sea; ceiling and window trims painted in Dulux Vintage Linen

To keep cost and time to a minimum, Leech kept the main items in the room – the bed, bedhead and solid-timber bedside table, and focused on updating the room with bold colour. She chose shades that worked with the neutral tones in these foundation pieces and added in plenty of textures to dial up the cosiness.

She started by adding a deep, inky blue to the walls and a gentle neutral to the ceiling and window detailing. “We opted for pale greige rather than a classic white for the ceiling and windows to soften the contrast with the blue. A sharp colour contrast can be very effective, but in a room that’s all about relaxation, you want it to be a little less pronounced,” says Leech.

“Inky blue works well here – it’s cosy and timeless and sits beautifully alongside the natural materials in the room, such as the timber and woven rattan. It also draws attention to and complements the artwork above the bed. I specified a matt paint finish to magnify the intensity of the blue,” she says.
Dulux Paint
“Warm tones such as mustard and caramel accent beautifully with a navy like this, and create a room that will easily shift into the tween stage,” says Bec Farrow, interior designer at Elska Interiors. “For a more feminine look, you could pair the navy with crisp whites and blush tones.”

To make the space feel more inviting, Leech layered the bed with cosy cushions and snuggly, fringed woollen blankets.

“A woven wall hanging adds accents of rust and quirky bedside lighting creates a playful mood, adding contrast against the deep blue.

“For the artwork above the bed, I chose a piece that will work in the space as the child grows – a geometric abstract in various shades of blue. To personalise the bedroom, we framed and hung two of the child’s illustrations along with an artist’s fun print,” says Leech.
Dulux Paint
Cupboard trim painted in Dulux Five Fingers Peninsula

“Curvy furniture breaks up the architectural angles in the room and makes it feel more relaxed, while introducing pattern with a striped rug and crisp, striped bedding accentuates those curves even more,” says Leech.

She softened the timber floor with a new rug. “For me, a rug is an essential in a bedroom; the floor is the first thing you feel when you get out of bed, so it needs to be soft. It also helps anchor the bed in the space,” she says.

Tip: “As a guide, when choosing a rug for a child’s bedroom it should fit two thirds under the bed and extend at least 30 centimetres beyond the sides of the bed – any smaller and it will look lost in the space,” says Leech.
Dulux Paint
Leech added personality to the neutral cupboard by painting the frame in a gentle grey-blue that tones in with the inky walls. “You could add fun and surprise by adding this colour to the cupboard shelves and drawers too,” says Farrow.

Browse more images of children’s rooms on Houzz
Dulux Paint
When it comes to big-ticket items in a child’s room, such as the bed, desk and armchair, it’s worth spending more for quality, says Leech. “Kids are tough on furniture, so it’s worth paying more for well-made pieces that will last. You can save money on smaller items, such as bed linen, art prints and rugs.”
Dulux Paint
Stools painted in Dulux Five Fingers Peninsula

A comfortable spot by the window to sit and read makes a lovely finishing touch. Leech opted for a velvet-upholstered armchair that will suit the child now and in the future, too. “Don’t be afraid to bring in pieces from another room, like this armchair, so long as they serve a purpose and fit with your colour palette,” says Leech.

She painted a pair of simple wooden stools – a handy spot to pop a book or two – in the same soft grey-blue as the cupboard frame.


Your turn
Are you a fan of inky blue in interiors? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images for inspiration, like this story and join the conversation.

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Want to see another great transformation? Take a look at this Before & After: A Zen-Like Kitchen With Curves Galore
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