From Habitat plus - kids' spaces
These quick DIY projects can add a touch of fun to any room and you can even get the kids to help!
If you're not a confident artist, you can still create large natural shapes with a cross-stitch or pixelated effect. First draw your image on grid paper with coloured pencils. Then lightly pencil a grid pattern on the wall and recreate your drawing with paint. This subtle cross-stitch tree is perfect for an older child's bedroom. Recreate it using tonal greens and light browns with a creamy highlight for the swing. Start by painting the tree in Resene Sisal, Resene Caper, Resene Pale Leaf, Resene Soft Apple and Resene Parchment, then the swing in Resene Moon Glow. The wall is Resene Half Opal, the floor is Resene Colorwood Mid Greywash and the bedside table ties everything together in Resene Soft Apple.
Top tip: If you're uncomfortable drawing freehand, you can download lots of fun stencil shapes from www.resene.com/stencils.
When you love playing with cars, the world is your motorway. Help pave the way for creative play by using paint and masking to turn your child's bedroom or playroom into a whole world for them to explore. To add another dimension of play, the grassy section of the wall has been coated in Resene FX Magnetic Magic then topcoated. Attach strong magnets to the back of plywood shapes or small wooden toys – cars, trees, buildings, letters and numbers – and your kids can enjoy countless hours playing out stories on their walls. For even more fun, choose Resene FX Chalkboard Paint or Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen for your tinted topcoats and the surface will also work as a chalkboard. Simply wipe it clean with a damp cloth.
To create a mural like this at home, be sure to plan out your design first on paper and then pencil your design onto the wall. Work from back to front with even coats of paint. For most colours you'll need two coats. Painter's 'washi' masking tape, available from your local Resene ColorShop or buy online at shop.resene.com, is great for creating clean, straight lines, while a high quality paint brush – a soft one with lots of bristles – will make it easier to navigate when you're painting shapes freehand. Feather these strokes towards the middle of your painted shape and then use a small roller to fill in the rest for the smoothest finish.
With just a couple of plywood pieces, toy cars and Resene testpots, you can put a pair of boring bookends on the highway to fun. We painted ours in Resene Shark. Once dry, use masking tape and Resene Broom to create the dashed centre line. While this is drying, paint a few wooden or diecast vehicles using Resene testpots, such as Resene Sebedee, Resene Untamed (try Resene Verdun Green) and Resene Mystery. Use quick bond glue to attach your road sections to the back of your metal bookends and each other so your shapes create an 'L' shape. Then, glue the vehicles onto your roadways.
Lower walls and floor in Resene Highland, road in Resene Shark with dashed lines in Resene Broom, mountains in Resene Trojan with snowy caps in Resene Bubble White, sky in Resene Saltpan, cloud shelves in Resene Java and Resene Bubble White, lower shelf in Resene Japanese Laurel, chair in Resene Anise, toy box in Resene Sebedee and Resene Broom, hooks in Resene Broom and Resene Bubble White and shelf accessories (from left to right) in Resene Broom, Resene Shark, Resene Japanese Laurel, Resene Anise, Resene Sebedee, Resene Bubble White, Resene Java and Resene Sebedee. Even the peg pedestrians have been painted to match in Resene Sebedee, Resene Broom, Resene Japanese Laurel and Resene Java.
A wooden set of drawers can make the perfect canvas to add a special detail to a themed room. To create an eye-catching fire truck like this one, paint a basecoat of Resene Cotton Wool then add in the details with Resene Rocket, Resene Blue Jeans, Resene Hi Jinx and Resene Bright Spark. The outlines and ladder are in Resene Ragamuffin (try Resene Quarter Pearl Lusta). Draw your design on paper first and decide which colours will go where then pencil it lightly on to the drawers. This look can be easily adapted to other types of vehicles – how about a police car, a monster truck or a Volkswagon beetle? Drawers like these make a great statement against neutral walls and flooring such as these ones in Resene Gull Grey and Resene Colorwood Mid Greywash.
Top tip: Paint furniture in Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss so it is easy to dust and wipe clean.
Fire engine drawers
Tic tac toe
Polka dot room
This simple design and colour scheme is an easy way to go bold with a primary palette that's perfect for a playroom. Resene Sea World on the wall grid, Resene Havoc on the table, crosses and hanging pot and Resene Shooting Star on the chairs and noughts provide a colour pop against the neutral wall and floor painted in Resene Pearl Lusta. Paint the square grid in Resene FX Chalkboard Paint or Resene FX Blackboard Paint over basecoats of Resene FX Magnetic Magic or even paint square cork tiles to bring a whole new dimension to the way your kids play.
Hand-painted polka dots mimic the look of wallpaper. Wall in Resene Wafer, dots in Resene Double Alabaster, floor in Resene Pearl Bush, bedside table in Resene Big Bang, toy box in Resene Urbane with triangles in Resene Big Bang, jars in Resene Umber White and Resene Spring Wood and plant pot in Resene Dust Storm.
updated July 2021
Habitat plus - kids' spaces
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