Help, son wants a purple bedroom

[Thegreatgiginthesky]

My 4 year old son is quite adamant this is what he wants. I am a bit worried however that as he gets older he will want it changed as it could be seen to be a bit girly by his friends.

We have been looking at shades and we both like Little Greene Thai Sapphire as a slightly more masculine shade but am worried it could be too dark. What do others think?

https://www.littlegreene.com/thai-sapphire

We will use it just on one wall. Does anyone know of something similar but slightly higher in tone? I am keen to avoid lilacs.

I'd just choose a colour he liked and not worry about the future - kids are going to be more interested in the toys he has than his room colour for a long time.

He's 4, let him have a purple room. If he changes his mind in a couple of years, which he likely will, what does it matter, you can paint it in another colour. How about getting a selection of colour cards from various manufacturers and letting him choose which one he likes best. Keep flooring neutral as that's expensive and a waste to change, but a purple duvet cover is cheap.

It’s a wall. Why shouldn’t he have purple? You can easily paint over it if it isn’t what he wants when he’s a bit older.

This feels like a very old-fashioned attitude.

My 17yo DS has brinjal 🍆 on 2 walls and a pale whitish colour on the others. It’s great. That’s a F&B colour.

That’s a great colour. If you want a lighter colour for the other walls, how about a grey with a purple tinge to it? I have Dulux Chic Shadow in one room and in some lights it looks quite lilacy

@Radiatorvalves our spare room is Brinjal all over, it's a fabulous colour!

Little Greene Palatine could also be worth looking at - it's very purple indeed but a lovely colour.

FWIW, I'm not wild on a feature wall, I prefer having the whole room done in one colour. If it's a bit dark, how about doing the woodwork (skirting, cornice, doors etc), and maybe even the radiator, in purple and having the walls a neutral colour?

Love that colour. Could mix with a bit of white to lighten it up.

DS, now six, has hot pink on two walls, and a grayish white on the other 2. It looks great and he loves it. Prep the wall properly then the hard work is already done should you need to paint over it again I'm a couple of years time

My 23 year old still has a purple bedroom at his own house. It has always been his favorite colour. If what you have is too dark maybe pair it with grey

Agree @biscuitcat And fwiw he’s not very girly. He’s well over 6 foot and obsessed with rugby and playing in the 1st XV. I don’t think any of his mates have commented on the decor!

Its only paint, if you're that worried just do one wall, and the rest something more neutral.

you can tell it’s school holidays when someone posts about purple not being ‘masculine’ enough for their 4 year old…

Why not just let him have his room in the colour he wants, @Thegreatgiginthesky? If he changes his mind in the future, you can just repaint.

Why are you worried about this, OP?

Jesus, enough with the gender stereotyping ? It's just a colour ffs he's not asking to transition.

If you're THAT Worried, could you paint some furniture and get purple bedding and accessories ?

Why not just let him have the colour/shade he wants, and then if he wants it changed when he’s older just repaint it the next colour?

He's 4. The colour of the day will be orange in 3 months. Just say no.

Paint the room neutral colour and get him lots of purple accessories that are easily replaceable.

My lad has purple on two walls and blue on two others plus a Minecraft style green rug. Looks great. None of his friends have ever said anything. Doesn't look girly.

And then boys grow up to be men, and we moan that they have no eye for colour, or aesthetic sense. Because it's been conditioned out of them ☹️.

For his last pair of glasses, 8 year old DS chose a magenta pair. As far as I am aware, not a word was said- and most of the little boys in his class come from very "traditional" families.

I painted my room this colour as a 90s teenager. It gave me migraines and you needed a torch to find things in wardrobe.

Paint colour is easy and relatively cheap to change so I wouldn't worry about this but I'm intrigued by what wall colours could have to do with the summer holidays

It would be perfectly reasonable of @Thegreatgiginthesky to tell her son that, if he gets his purple bedroom, they won’t be changing it a few months down the line - it’ll be purple until it needs redecorating.

And I’d suggest that repainting the room (in a couple of years minimum, though, not a few months) would be cheaper and more eco friendly than replacing a load of accessories, @Eart.

Thanks all. To be honest I am just not keen on the paler purples/lilac so would prefer to go with a compromise that I like too in case he does change his mind. Thanks to those who suggested alternatives, really looking just for a slightly lighter shade.

That's a gorgeous colour! But not what I imagine a 4 year old means by purple.

I would think he means something more like Barney!

@Thegreatgiginthesky

either let your son go with you and choose the colour, or tell him no & go choose what you want. Don't get something 'purple' that isn't HIS idea of purple.

purple is a perfectly fine unused colour, no one's going to tease him (frankly other kids probably wouldn't even notice/care unless he excitedly tells them).

personally I'd let him choose, then you can choose things to go with it. Yes, he might get fed up with it in time, but paint needs redoing periodically anyway.

he's only little once & they don't have much say over their lives at 4, choosing his room colour seems an obvious 'win'

@Thegreatgiginthesky

Just take him to B&Q (other shops available) and look at the colour cards.

I'm sure you'll find one you both like.

I'd do all the walls.

As someone whose child requested acid green walls and I did it, let him have his colour in his space. You get to decide the entire rest of the house colour scheme, this is his room, let him choose the colour. It shouldn't matter whether you like the colour, why would you not want to make him happy with the colour he chose?

If you are worried about repainting over it in future you can put up lining paper.