My three year old has been talking about having a rainbow wall ever since I told her a year ago we could paint something fun on her wall. Her room was plain. Off-white walls, simple furniture, white bedding - nothing special. I don't really know what the hold up was with adding a bit of personality to the space. Maybe I was waiting until both my little ones were in actual beds so I could fulfill my dream of having a shared girl's bedroom.
Well, quarantine finally gave us the time to spend a few days painting and re-arranging the space to work for two girls (and to paint a "rainbow mural" as requested).
The Plan
Initially, I planned on doing a really simple faux watercolour rainbow mural on only one wall. I wanted it to feel really soft and still be neutral enough that it wouldn't end up driving me nuts in a few weeks, and would still feel cohesive with the rest of our 1000 sq foot bungalow (if you stand in the middle of the house you can literally look into every room). My idea was to combine a small amount of wall paint with a satin-finish glaze (so the paint wouldn't drip down the walls like it would if it were diluted with water), and paint a large rainbow with soft pink + burnt orange hues.
Colour Palette: Warm Pink + Rust Hues
The colours I chose were:
And of course the wall colour for the rest of the room was painted my favourite white colour from Behr, Polar Bear White (we just recently used this colour in our kitchen update as well as in our boho-inspired master bedroom update here).
The part I didn't plan for: A little helper
I had everything totally planned out in my head. The walls were all prepped and painted white. New baseboards installed. I had all my colours laid out and a light sketch on the wall of where I wanted each of the five rainbow arches to sit. And then Tessa (my three year old) asked to help. I wanted to say no. I know how hard it can be to tackle big, planned projects with the help of kids (especially this young!).
But, I also know how important these childhood experiences are. I didn't even consider that she might want to help after almost a year of talking about her "rainbow wall". I let her pick up a paintbrush. The rainbow plans were gone almost immediately. She was just so happy being able to PAINT ON A WALL that she just let the brushstrokes go wild. It didn't last very long, maybe 25 minutes max, but long enough for there to be no evidence of a rainbow and a new plan to evolve. We decided to change it into a "rainbow sky" instead (aka. toddler speak for a sunset). Truthfully, I think I like it more. It is pretty subtle and the colours totally compliment the other spaces in our home, and because we painted it on so thin (and wiped away a lot of the paint to create a "sunset" look) it will probably be really easy to paint over once we want to try out something new.
Other details: All the cozy vibes
I've said it before and I'll say it again: H&M Home has the best, affordable home decor. The sheets with tiny black, abstract polka dots and coordinating non-slip rug are both from H&H Home, as are all the fun pillows. They have a collection called "Conscious" for both home items and clothing, which are made from organic and ethically sourced items. I love the Conscious Collection sheets and pillow cases - my husband and I have them in our bedroom as well.
The rattan mirror and tray are also from H&M Home a while back! I wanted to keep things simplistic, still, so the environment wouldn't be too stimulating for bedtime. We keep most of the girl's toys in baskets in our living room and larger play items like our IKEA play kitchen are in our basement playroom.
You can check out all the links to product pages from this room below.
So, what do you think? Should I do a tutorial of how to achieve a "watercolour" look with wall paint?
Sources:
Hanging Baskets: Amazon Home
Rattan Tray: H&M Home (sold out)
Polka dot fitted sheet: H&M Home Conscious collection (sold out but they seem to have the same sheets on and off)
Cotton pillow cases: H&M Home
Macramé Light: Marshall's Canada