Let Them Help: Decorating With Your Kids' Input!

Every now and then I hit upon something that I know is a good idea. And, though this doesn't happen very often, this is one of those times. There's no way around it: decorating your kids' rooms with their help is a great opportunity for you and for them. Oh, I know there are lots of little bugs in the idea and potential complications--but that doesn't change the fact that it's a good thing to do.  

Taking a room that was decorated with younger kids in mind and turning it into "hip, way cool pad" is a great way to let your kids know that YOU know that they're growing up. Taking down the wallpaper borders of stuffed bears and turtles and replacing it with something more age-appropriate will make your kids feel important. And involving them in that process, seeking their input and listening to their suggestions will make them feel that they are on the path to growing up--they're actually an active force in the creation of their new room.

Surprise Makeovers are Cool on TV, But Not So Much In Real Life

If you still need convincing that it's a good idea to involve your kids in the process, then think about it this way: on TV, surprise makeovers are cool. They really are. But that's because we don't normally watch the recipient of the new room beyond their initial reaction. We see them when they first whip off a blindfold and stand blinking and squinting in the bright lights as they try to take in their new surroundings. Everybody's happy and giggly and the show ends. We don't see the couple standing there 12 hours later, now that the cameras and energetic TV personalities are gone, staring at the new walls and wondering what happened and how anybody ever thought that bright orange was a good look.

 

Your kids feel the same way about their room as you would about your home. Their room is their space--their world away from the world, especially as they get older. Just as you wouldn't likely appreciate it if your husband or your neighbor just dropped by one afternoon and repainted your living room in colors of their choosing, neither will your kids necessarily be receptive to the changes you bring about one day while they're off at school. Your vision for their room isn't necessarily their vision for the room. You've got to make it your goal to discover a mutually acceptable vision.

 

Involve Them, But Remember Their Limitations 

To that end, involve them in every aspect of the process. Take them to the store and let them look at colors. Let them flip through wallpaper books and mural books. Let them explore the world of Faux Painting. However, make sure that you keep the outings short and sweet--no marathon shopping trips that will frustrate and wear your kids out. Remember that their attention spans are not like yours--keeping the trips to a limited amount of time will make sure both of you enjoy the outings. And don't forget to think bigger than just a trip to the paint store or the furniture store: try to tie your decorating trips in with a nice dinner out or something like that. 

 

Taking the kids to the paint store and listening to their suggestions and then taking them out to dinner will be one of those special moments kids remember. If you treat their opinions as valid options and listen to their thoughts and take the time to discuss things with them over dinner, they will start to feel like an intricate part in the decision process. And trust me, I may have young kids and I may not have had much experience in the world of psychology, but I know this is a good thing. You don't have to be a genius to see that by involving your kids in something so small as decorating their rooms, you're basically telling them that their opinions matter and that you value their thoughts. 

 

What If . . ? 

Alright, now you're probably thinking that I'm living in a world where everything is puppy dogs and lollipops. Sure it sounds good to involve the kids in the decorating process, but what's going to happen when they pick out Sponge-Bob Yellow and Bright Red for their walls?  We'll cover that in the next post.

4 Simple Tips for Perfect Paint Storage

The search for the perfect method to properly store paint is one of those Holy Grail-type quests in the painting world.  Everybody everywhere has an idea (or two) as to the best ways to ensure that your paint doesn't dry out in the can as it sits on your shelf.

Some people argue that the ideal thing to do is to store your can upside down--because it will prevent air from seeping in.  Others claim that the best thing to do is to lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the opening before pounding the lid on:  this will provide an extra seal, again preventing air from seeping in. Some folks pour water into their paint before they store it, others coat the rim with vasoline, others vacuum seal the can little plastic bags.

The ideas are endless, but really, most of them either don't work or simply aren't necessary.  (We'll deal with some of these methods and discuss why they don't work and should be avoided in a later blog entry).

For now, instead of focusing on all the novelty ideas out there, here are 4 tips--solid, reality-based tips--that will help you make sure that the paint you store today will still be ready to use in a few years.  

Transfer your paint to a smaller container you can fill to the top.  If your paint gallon or quart is half full or less, don’t just pop the lid on and store it that way--it will dry out quickly.  Instead, move it to a smaller, sealable container that you can fill to the top. This will keep it in liquid form much, much longer.  A variety of different containers will work in these situations--the key is that you're able to fill the container AND that it will seal well.

Keep the rim of your container clean and free from built up paint.  Many people use the rim of their can as a "wipe off" point for their brush.  As a result, paint accumulates in the rim and can often be dried and hardened by the time you're ready to put the lid back on.  

Avoid this by using a pour spout (available for less than $1 at any RepcoLite store) and working out of a secondary container (this is important for other reasons as well--see here).  This way you can keep the rim of your paint can clean and free of paint.  

When you’re finished painting, take a couple extra minutes, before storing your paint on your shelf, to wash and clean out the rim so that your lid can achieve a good, tight seal.  If there's paint in the rim you can't clean out because it has hardened, use a rag and some hot water.

Along these same lines, when putting the lid on your container, use restraint!  You may have the power, the rage, the enthusiasm of Thor (see inset), but please, don't use those superpowers when pounding on the lid.  It will only result in sorrow, misery and a bad seal that will cause your paint to dry out prematurely.  

See, pounding the lid on with extreme force (some might say 'brutality') never works.  We've all done this.  We've all thought "if I just hit it hard enough, it will go on."  Well, it doesn't.  It just bends the can, warps the lid and prevents the can from ever sealing well again.  

So use restraint.  If you follow Step 2 and keep the rim clean and free from paint, you should be able to tap the lid gently on with a small rubber mallet. 

 

Finally:  store your paint in an area that will not freeze and which is not subjected to extreme temperature changes.  This rules out most of our Michigan garages.  Once latex paint freezes and thaws, it’s usually unusable--so find a good storage place in an area with controlled temperatures.  (Think basement or lower level storage area!)

Do these things, take these precautions and you’ll find that 5 years from now, when you need to do a couple touch-ups, your paint is still usable and in perfect shape.

Bad Uniforms and What They Teach Us About Paint

The year was 1976.  The team was the Chicago White Sox.  The Sport?  Major League Baseball.  Yes.  Major League Baseball.

Maybe some of you remember this, maybe this is new to many of you, but for 3 games in 1976, the White Sox sent their players out on the field wearing...yes, shorts.  And not cool, baggy shorts.  No.  Tight, clingy shorts.  With their socks pulled up all the way to their knees.  

This alone would have been bad--a fashion faux-pas of epic proportions--but the designers of this sleek little number weren't done.  They added to the shorts what would have been a boring white shirt were it not for the GI-NORMOUS 1970's black collar.  

Together, the whole outfit was so horrible, I'm pretty sure opposing teams refused to even take the field against the White Sox.  White Sox players themselves likely spent hours in counseling and therapy sessions after being ridiculed and laughed into oblivion by former fans.  

And yet, what's interesting to me is that underneath that ridiculous outfit, these men were still Major League Baseball players.  They are/were more successful than me by a long shot and yet, looking at the pictures, it's almost impossible to think of them that way. 

It's a perfect example of that old saying about how the clothes make the man (or, of course, woman).  When we say that, we know that clothes don't CHANGE who we are, but they certainly affect how we are perceived.

For example, think of the manliest man playing the game today--I'm not going to name names, you just get somebody in your mind.  Picture that player and then dress him--in your mind--in this bozo outfit from the 1970s.  Give him shorts and white socks with black stripes pulled up to his ankles.  Put that little shirt on him with the big fluffy disco collar.  I guarantee if you do that, you'll be unable to take him seriously.  The goofy get-up doesn't change who he is, but it certainly changes who we think him to be.

Now let's shift gears and talk about paint.

Your home--your living room, your kitchen, the exterior of your home itself--can be in great shape.  It can be solid, well-built, brand-new.  It can be composed of the highest quality materials and consist of the best workmanship known to mankind.  It can be all of those things, but if the paint colors are boring or were poorly chosen, all of the quality underneath remains hidden.  

Look again at the pitcher in the top picture.  He may be a tremendous athlete (and even if he wasn't, he's still likely 20X more fit than most of us).  And yet, even though that may all be true, he looks so silly in his little shorts and his big collar and pulled-up socks that I look more manly sitting here typing this story about paint colors than he does throwing curveballs and 4-seam fastballs.

As I said earlier, clothes MAKE the man--they alter our perceptions--and the same is true with your home.  You can take the best, highest quality workmanship and hide all that quality beneath poor paint jobs and lousy color choices.

It's a remarkable concept:  an athlete takes years and years of sweat and work and effort to hone him or herself to be the best he or she can be in their sport.  Just like those White Sox players.  And yet, all that work can be tossed out in a minute when you cover them over with a stupid-looking uniform.  You can spend hours and hours and tons of money making your home exactly the way you want it, but if you choose the wrong paint color--something that simple and that superficial--the rest of the work is cheapened.

So all that to say, choose wisely.  Color matters.  The right colors can make your home look like something out of a magazine and the wrong colors can make it look like kids built it.  Choose the right colors! 

How to Clean Up Latex Paint Spills

On a number of different posts here, I've talked about paint tools you need to own:  certain brushes, certain rollers and so on.  However, a must-have tool for every do-it-yourself painter or professional contractor is something that's not as obvious:  a wet/dry vacuum.

Believe it or not, this can be one of the most helpful, time-saving (and potentially life-saving) tools in your arsenal.  See, when people paint inside their homes, one of the most common occurrences involves a ladder, a paint tray and the innate human desire to take short-cuts.  Typically, it works like this:  you've got your paint tray hooked to your ladder and you're happily working your way around your room.  At some point, you decide to move the ladder and, because you're almost at the end of your project, you decide just to pull the ladder--after all, if you do it carefully, there'll be no problem, right?  Well, normally there isn't.  But every now and then, the ladder hits something and before you know it, the paint tray goes over the edge, hits your carpet (it always misses the dropcloth!) and you've got a mess.

And that's why having a shop-vac on hand is such a life-saver:  it gives you your best chance of dealing with the mess and preventing it from becoming a disaster. 

However, having the right tool on hand is one thing.  Knowing how to use it is another.  So, with that in mind, here's how you go about using your shop-vac to clean up a LATEX paint spill:

• DON'T PANIC.   The first thing you need to do--as is the case with any emergency--is to resist the natural urge to freak out.  Yes, you spilled paint on the new carpet.  Yes, it's a mess.  Yes, you'll probably be in big trouble with someone else in your home.  But freaking out and running around in circles isn't going to help you save your neck.  Calm, cool thinking wins out every time.  So stay calm.  That's step one.

• COLLECT YOUR TOOLS.  Calmly (but quickly) grab a bucket of water, some old rags and either a couple wide (6"-10") putty knives or some scraps of cardboard.

• REMOVE PAINT FROM THE SURFACE.  Start your clean up by removing as much paint as you can from the surface.  You can do this by scraping it (carefully) off with the wide putty knives or the ripped up scraps of cardboard.  Use either of these items to scoop as much paint off the carpet as possible and return it to the paint tray--NOT THE BUCKET (since you don't want to add any contaminant to your paint bucket).

• BRING ON THE DAMP RAGS.  After the excess paint has been removed and you're left with the paint that's soaked into the carpet, bring out your damp rags.  Use these to sponge the spot and remove as much of that soaked-in paint as possible.  

• BREAK OUT THE WET/DRY VAC.  After you've done all of this, it's time for the WET/DRY vacuum.  Hit the spot carefully and pull up as much paint as possible.  Introduce more clean water, work it around with your fingers or hand and then vacuum it back up.  Do this again and again and again until the paint has been completely removed.  Don't quit with this step until you feel you've pulled out as much of the paint from the spill as you're going to get.  Once you let it dry, you're done--you can't go back for a second try tomorrow night.  

• DRY THE CARPET WELL.  Once the paint's removed, carefully blot the wet area with dry towels (don't scrub the spot with your towels as you can damage your carpet that way.)  Blot the area, removing excess moisture and then put a fan on the area and allow it to thoroughly dry.

If you follow these steps carefully and thoroughly, in about 24 hours, the spot should show no signs at all of the near tragedy that happened there.  And all because you had a wet/dry vacuum in your tool belt!

Ancient Greece: The Importance of Paint REVEALED!

If I say the words "Athens, Greece", what do you think of?

Chances are, you think about about white marble statues and temples--beautifully simplistic art and architecture. That's what comes to mind when I hear those words. But, apparently, my understanding of history and culture and Greek architecture and art are a little skewed. And I'm betting some of you have a warped perception as well.

See, apparently all those white marble structures and statues we think of are only white because time and the elements have worn off their original coatings. Yes, they were painted! Bold, bright, vivid colors. And all, apparently, without good prep work, since the paint all peeled off!

Check out this article for a perception-shifting look at Ancient Greece and the importance paint has played in the lives of people throughout the centuries....