Painting a small, dark kids bedroom

[User287264]

Any recommendations please for paint types and colours? The room window doesn't get much natural light due to its position looking onto a smallish side return area. It's currently a creamy yellow but I really want to stay away from anything with yellowish undertones. It looks like a heavy smoker's room now. White might be too cold I think. Blue? Our hallway is green so probably not a green room off a green hallway.

Why is it that there are hundreds of colours in the world but I can't think of any to put on my walls?

It's ds10's room, he would like it to be dark blue. That's not happening.

I've seen paint advertised that claims to reflect light, is that any good?

I want something energising if that makes sense, the yellowish colour that's up there now is just a bit draining, it sucks the life out of you.

Also any recommendations for paint types please? The last couple of rooms we've had decorated we've used one of these places that makes the paint up for you and I don't think it has been very good. You can't wipe marks off it, it seems to look quite greasy where people have been touching it with their hands.

But it is a kids bedroom, it will probably have a fair few posters on the wall, so we don't need top of the range paint.

I'm a bit shit at house decorating, I'm trying to grow up a bit and be a bit wiser and learn a bit more, not just go for cheap and cheerful any more.

I'd appreciate any guidance. Thank you

In my previous Victorian terrace house, the north facing bedroom over the side return started as guest room, then our son's room. We painted it Farrow and Ball Borrowed Light - when it became the nursery we then added fab colourful curtains of the Quentin Blake cockatoos. So bright posters would work too.

It is a lovely colour and very versatile.
More blue in real life than it looks on the colour chart, but not "in your face".

If it's a small ish room, I'd go F&B as the overall difference in cost won't be much and their colours are lovely with highly pigmented paints (btw - I don't work for them, but probably should!!)

PS - I've also used the Dulux light and bright paint, which claims to be light reflective etc (in the dining room directly below the room I posted about above) and it wasn't that noticeable as more light reflecting. Okay but not all that and I much preferred the effect of borrowed light.

If you go F&B go Modern Emulsion and not Estate Emulsion- much more forgiving and wipeable

Oval room blue?

But dark colours could work well too so a dark blue might work if that's what your dc wants.

if it is dark it maybe can't be brightened up so just embrace the dark and go with the dark blue your DS wants unless it's rented and you have to have light colours

3 white walls and one blue will look nice

I did my DS’s room 2 walls dark blue (dulux sapphire salute), 1 wall white and 1 wall brick wallpaper (with blues in it as well as rusty red) - really love it. Add some of those led lights in.

Ive used the Dulux light reflecting paint and it was no good as there wasn’t much light to reflect!

We did this, half blue half white walls - meant there was dark blue but also light, looked great. I preferred it to doing a single feature wall.

I’d embrace the dark and do what your 10 Yr old DS fancies. We have a painted all the walls and ceiling Hague Blue and it’s so cosy. Or if you don’t want to go totally blue the photo above works really well with warm woods.
Someone has suggested Borrowed Light up thread and whilst this is a really lovely colour it’s quite cool. We had our daughters room in Borrowed Light for a while as she wanted a ‘Frozen’ feel.

How about Pitch Blue - not as dark as some of the other F&B blues, but still a gorgeous dark blue.

There is a school of thought to paint a dark room a dark colour! Make it a super cosy den.

We had a very dark living room years ago and painted it dark blue. It was lovely! Really cosy and quite dramatic. Sometimes there’s little point in trying to “brighten” up a dark room - it just doesn’t work. Maybe embracing the dark is the way forward?

Skylight by F&B is lovely. Could you use tape to paint the bottom third of wall dark blue and the rest pale? Google split painted walls