5 Creative Choices For Painting Your Kid's Room

Your child’s bedroom or play space should be a place that inspires your child's creativity—and you can have some fun, too, by infusing it with funky paint colors, designs and interactive décor. Rather than worry about your youngsters marking up the walls with their stick figure family portraits or doodle masterpieces, give them a space that encourages creative wall art. Here are several paint ideas for your kid's room that will transform the functionality and look for them:

1. Dry Erase Paint. This is a great solution for children who can’t contain their artistry on paper. Use the dry erase paint as an accent wall, cover the entire room or paint furniture so that your kids can run wild with their ideas without the risk of permanently making their mark. IdeaPaint’s CREATE Dry Erase Paint comes in white as well as clear—a perfect solution for colored walls. Sherwin-Williams also carries a transparent Dry Erase Coating that can be used for kids’ bedrooms and play spaces. However both brands require that the Dry Erase Paint be applied by an experienced and professional painter. Find a qualified painter in your area here.

2. Chalkboard Paint. When you think about chalkboard, you probably think, "Black walls? No, thank you." While this black finish is in, you can also find chalkboard paint in an assortment of colors to match you child’s style (and yours). ECOS Paints Chalkboard paint is available in any color and it’s easy to apply and easy to clean once the kids start having fun on the walls.

3. Magnetic Paint. This is a great alternative if you’d prefer that your little ones keep their drawings on paper and off the walls. Magnetic paint can give your child the platform to create collages of their artwork—on paper of course—without having to stick tacks into the wall. Little pieces of iron are scattered within the paint to give it its magnetic property and the more coats you add, the stronger the hold. Also, you don’t have to choose between a magnet wall and a chalkboard or dry erase wall. There are magnetic chalkboard and magnetic dry erase paints available at your local Home Depot, Lowe's and Michael's.

4. Patterned Paint Rollers. Another way to create an imaginative environment for your child is with a patterned paint roller, like the one pictured to the right from NotWallpaper. Rollers, which create the illusion of wallpaper, come in all different patterns and designs. From flowers to animals, you can find the right pattern to fit your child’s personality. Then pick a paint color and voilà—a unique space.

5. Healthy Paint. This should always be top of mind when decorating your child’s room. VOCs, such as formaldehyde, glycol, benzene and other toxins, are common in most paints and can be dangerous to our health, especially a child’s health. In fact, these paints can be dangerous even after they dry, releasing toxins into the air for three to five years after a fresh coat. So when shopping for a paint color, look for low VOC or VOC free paints like Lullaby Paints—a nursery-safe paint free of VOCs. IdeaPaint and ECOS Chalkboard Paint mentioned above are low VOC and VOC free.