When decorating your children’s bedroom it can often be easier to just do it all for them, after all if things go wrong when decorating there’s always the risk that it could cause a lot of damage.  If you’re daring though, getting your kids involved in redecorating is a great way to give them the feeling of ownership over their room, as well as giving it some individuality. One idea for a reasonably safe task that can have a big impact on your child’s bedroom is letting them paint a window blind.
Window blinds are a really big canvas for kids to get creative with, but if it all goes wrong it only needs to be visible during the night. Whilst we probably don’t recommend you try this if you have expensive custom fitted blinds, off the shelf blinds are reasonably inexpensive and shouldn’t be too difficult to replace if need be.
Choosing your paint:
The paint you choose depends largely on what kind of material your blind is made from.  A good all-purpose paint is stencil paint which has a thicker more elastic like consistency compared to most paints, which means it shouldn’t crack when rolled. Stencil paint doesn’t do very well in a washing machine though, so if you have fabric blinds that you intend to machine wash you might be better off choosing fabric paint.
The technique:
As with any painting there are numerous ways you can approach it. You’ll need to detach the blind from your window and find a flat surface or clear piece of floor to lay it out on. If you can find a board big enough to clip it too you’ll find it easier to paint on when it’s well stretched out, and, as with any craft activity put down an old sheet or lots of newspaper to stop paint getting where it should not.
The actual painting can be done it lots of ways, if you’re brave you could just give your children paints and brushes and let them have at it, but there are ways to give yourself a little more control that shouldn’t take away from your child’s independence.
Stencils or printing are both fun ways to paint really colourful blinds, some of the most effective designs I’ve seen came from hand prints.
If you were visualising a slightly more detailed blind another idea is to trace the outline onto it first. Have your child come up with a design on paper, or even find a picture in a magazine, transfer it into tracing paper then use carbon paper to put the outline onto your blind, after this it’s just a case of your children painting within your outline. Once they are finished and the paint is dry you can neaten up their outlines by going around the edges with black paint.
Once the painting is finished and dried you can then hang the blinds in your children’s window leaving them with a bedroom that they can be proud of.
This article was submitted on behalf of Interior Goods Direct by Ewan MacDougal. For more budget decorating ideas check out their website.
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This is a very good way to bond with your children. They will definitely feel like they kinda got the sense of ownership if you have them participate on painting their blinds.