Comics Influence Boy’s Room

comic-books-influence-boy's-roomw - CopyIf you’re having trouble coming up with a good theme for a boy’s bedroom, take a clue from the comics. With their bright strong-contrast colors and powerful graphics they can quickly turn a room into an attention-grabber. Let’s take a look at how this room became a comic-book lover’s dream with very little effort or cost.

Bedding: Children can shift interests often, so it’s smart to choose lower-cost theme items for their bedrooms, allowing you to change things out in a few years as their tastes evolve. Bedding is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make a change. A bedspread, shams and a throw pillow start the theme off with recognizable yet relatively generic comic-book images such as stars and lightning bolts. The black European shams on the bed work well with the look yet can be recycled when your child moves on to other interests.

Paint: The red stripe on the wall behind the bed does double duty. It operates as a visual headboard and it dramatically links all the vivid elements together with their common red theme. This is also an easy-to-replace choice. Simply paint the wide stripe in another color or paint the entire wall.

Art: If you have a talented artist in the family, then you can have them create images like these on blank canvases with acrylic paint. If not, look for the right art in comic book stores and poster shops. You might even want to frame some favorite comic book covers or pictures of heroes to personalize the room.

This is a fun theme, so have fun with it. You could add shelves for action figures or table space for piles of comics. This could be your comic-loving child’s best dream come true!

Recreate this Charming Chest

whitewater-bedroom-1-webThoughtful touches can turn a child’s bedroom into something special, even on a budget. This chest, seen in the Whitewater model at the Oasis at Queen Creek community, has a charm that is easy to recreate.

You can find a simple chest like this one at an unfinished furniture store or thrift shop. If the piece is unfinished, be sure to prime it before painting. If it is finished, wash it and sand lightly before painting.

Now is the time to decide if you want the piece to have a flat or glossy finish. Select the right paint for your decision. You can also shop for scrap paper or wrapping paper in designs and colors that work well together. Your final purchase is a jar of decoupage medium such as Mod Podge. Be sure to choose a finish that matches your paint choice.

Start with a couple of coats of white paint. You can eliminate brush strokes and speed up the process by using spray paint. Just be sure to work outside or in a well-ventilated area.

Spray using multiple thin coats following the instructions on the can. Remove the drawers and paint separately, inside and out. Spray paint dries quickly, but you may want to wait a minute or two between coats, so you are not spraying wet paint on wet paint.

When you’re done, decoupage the papers on the front of each drawer, cutting to size before with scissors or after with a very sharp knife. Add a couple of extra coats of decoupage medium to each to protect the papers.

Finish with white knobs or choose knobs that coordinate well with the papers. Then just enjoy your handiwork! For a closer look at this chest, we invite you to visit our models at Oasis at Queen Creek.