Imagination at Play

What are the most popular colors kids choose for themselves for bedrooms?

Boys choose khaki, blue or green. Girls choose pink, purple or lime green.

Does painting designs in a kid's room require more skill or creativity than doing living room or kitchen walls?

Kids' rooms can be a bit more fun to do because they lend themselves to more color and design. The good thing is that you can do anything you want in a kid's room and it doesn't have to match your living room.

What percentage of parents will try to paint a nursery or kid's room themselves?

About 80 percent try and paint their kids' rooms. They get so excited about it, at least for the first child. For the second kid, maybe 60 percent do it, and the third child may never get a freshly painted room. Many of my customers say that their child's room is the first room where they have ever tried decorative painting. They sometimes move on to other rooms after that.

What are some good color choices for painting a nursery if you don't know the sex of your baby?

I love greens, green-and-brown, orange-and-tan or lavender-and-brown. Powdery blues can be for a boy or girl. Or you can do a tan room and wait until the baby is born and add a monogram in pink or blue. Some families are using high graphic black and white. There are no more boundaries as far as colors for babies.

You often paint designs on the ceilings of kids' rooms. Is there a reason?

I like ceiling designs of things like polka dots and swirls for nurseries; when babies are on their back, they can see something up there to focus on. Stars and clouds are fun for any age.