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How to Decorate a Kid's Room Without Painting

Your 5 year-old wants a life-size portrait of The Wiggles on her bedroom wall, or maybe your 12 year-old has decided she wants to live in an all-black room with silver glitter plastered across the ceiling. How can you avoid such disasters as well as still indulge your child's thirst for self-expression? Here are some creative (yet temporary) decoration ideas that you as well as your child can use to personalize his or her space.

1. Cover wall space with your child's own original artwork.
2. For young children, use crate paper on a roll (available at teacher's supply or craft shops) for finger, sponge, or other tactile painting. You can lay the paper flat, let your child paint to her heart's content, as well as then hang the finished painting from your child's wall. Another method is to hang blank sheets from ceiling to floor like wallpaper as well as let your child 'body paint' right onto the wall. This can be a fun activity for the whichle family, as long as you don?t mind getting a little messy yourself. Make h as well as prints, footprints, as well as splatters. It's like colouring the walls, but without the parental wrath as well as permanent damage.
3. Older children may already have a collection of artwork from school art classes. Turn your child's room into a mini-museum by framing your child?s drawings as well as paintings with paper, pegboard, or wooden frames, as well as hanging them throughout the room.
4. Finally, pre-teens will enjoy the time-honored tradition of the magazine collage. Use a removable, non-damaging adhesive (such as Sticky Tack) to arrange clipped pictures of movie stars, favorite musicians, as well as coveted shoes all over the walls. The best part of this decorating technique is that your child can add to it every day.
5. Liven up white walls.
6. If your child's heart is set on changing the colour of the walls entirely, try using wallpaper - without actually pasting it up. Take a trip to the home goods store as well as pick out paper samples or remnants. Don't worry if the remnants aren't large enough to cover the whichle wall - creating a collage of different patterns as well as colors is part of the fun. To add texture, choose some fabric remnants from a crafts store to hang as tapestries. If your child sleeps in a bunk bed, fabrics can be hung from the sideboards to create a "tent". This can make the room feel bigger, as well as creates a great place for pretend!
7. Add 3-dimensional interest.
8. Hanging mobiles aren't just for babies. Fill some space in the room by fashioning a "ch as well as elier" out of old toys, stuffed animals, or any lightweight objects. Older children might enjoy making mobiles that reflect their hobbies. Baseball cards, old ballet slippers, as well as sports ribbons are all good materials.
9. Hanging fabric from the walls - attached only at the top with some neat finishing nails - adds a splash of colour to a room, as well as you can always take it down. Also try hanging picture frames (with nails through the fabric) on top of the fabric sheet to have a nice picture collage.
10. Add decorative knobs to the furniture. Thous as well as s are available now, you'll find one that will relate to something important in your child's life - their favorite sport, an animal they love... You can even get them really involved by letting them paint their won knobs!

• Make a day out of decorating. Invite your child's friends over to sponge-paint the papered walls. This will make the process more exciting as well as let your child know that creativity is important as well as fun.
• Don't spend a lot of money on decorations. Remember, creativity is the goal here. Your child will be more proud of a room full of her own artwork as well as ingenuity than she will of expensive store-bought decorations. Besides, you know that children change their tastes quickly, as well as may want to replace a decoration almost as soon as they put it up.

• When hanging mobiles, be sure they are out of reach of young children which might try to hang on them or pull them down. Also make sure there are no sharp edges or heavy pieces that might cause harm if the mobile falls. Tapestries should also be hung securely, especially if they are attached to a bunk bed or used to make a tent. Be sure children are old enough to underst as well as that the fabric is not meant to hang or play on.
• Make sure that any paint you use is a non-toxic formula. Most paints designed for childrens' use will have this designation on the packaging.

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Added: Thu Feb 02 2006

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