Last Updated June 2024 by Stephen Cochrane
The best paint for bedrooms, especially kids bedrooms is a low sheen to semi-gloss washable acrylic paint with low VOC and smell. These are easier to clean, show fewer imperfections and are safer for kids. Whether you’ve got a little one on the way, are updating a kids bedroom or renovating your own bedroom, you must choose the right paint. You must choose smart. Bedrooms are a unique area in your home because you’ll spend eight (in an ideal world) hours a day in there. Kids spent upwards of 12 hours a day in that room, so don’t skimp on the paint work.
If you’re planning on painting your bedrooms yourself, learn more here about choosing paint colours and here to budget your paint job. Learn more of what you need to consider if doing an interior painting project with kids.
Top 5 Things to Consider
All bedroom painting needs to be done with great care. Kids rooms especially are high-traffic areas, prone to shenanigans, and let’s face it, some unpredictable behaviour. Unlike your room, there’s a pretty good chance, at some point, somebody… could lick these walls. There’s ALWAYS that one kid at the birthday party isn’t there? If in doubt though, if the room is in rough shape an you’re brand new to all this, don’t risk it, it’ll end in extra expense and a terrible result – know when it’s time to give up and call in the best painters in Perth!
1. Bedroom paint should have low toxicity
Children are still growing and developing. They are more vulnerable and sensitive to toxic fumes and chemicals. You need to use safer paints, especially if you are painting a baby or toddler’s room. Look for a paint with low or zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) that are also free of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). This technology is new and very welcome. We’ve been house painters in Perth for over nine decades, and these advances in paint safety are simply amazing. Its high time and we’re so glad to be able to provide you with safer painting options now.
Avoiding these chemical additives is helpful for your health, but it also helps the environment!
2. Low fumes
Paints with strong odours can be irritating and it can be the difference between getting back to your routine in a day or a week! Low-smell and low-toxicity paints generally come hand in hand. The smell is usually from the paint fumes as the paint is applied and dries. It’s not recommended that you sleep in a freshly painted room before the paint is fully dried and the room fully ventilated. If you’re painting a child’s room, consider any risk of respiratory illness.
3. Washable
Washable paint is a no-brainer for a kid’s bedroom. The walls will be touched with dirty hands, scuffed, spilled on and stained with all sorts of mystery substances. Accidentally, or not. That means you need a washable and tough paint. Washable paints are made with water-repellent technology, so it makes it easy to clean up spills and stains. And with your busy lifestyle as a parent, why wouldn’t you want to make life easier?
4. Adding texture to bedroom walls
You can do everything from washable paint to uniquely coloured walls to manage dirt on your kid’s bedroom walls. But let’s face it, it’s never going to stop them from taking a crayon to the wall or playing with messy toys. And now you’re left to clean it. After all, kids will be kids! In mum and dad’s room, a textured feature wall can give the room a warmer feel and you know, mess happens to adults too.
Consider using a rolling rag or applying a sea sponge finish to add a fun texture to the wall while also hiding and disguising imperfections on the walls. It will be less maintenance for you later.
5. High quality paint
The must have for bedroom painting, especially kids bedroom painting, is high-quality paint. You need a lasting finish. With parents and children entering and exiting multiple times a day for naps, sleep, and playtime, kid’s rooms are high-traffic areas that need a high-quality, durable paint.
Cheap paint will peel and chip. You don’t want the room to look rundown. But more importantly, it’s not great for paint fragments to be inhaled by little nostrils. Quality paints aren’t just aesthetically more pleasing, they are also better for your family’s health.
As Dulux accredited painters, we can help you choose smart. The wrong cheap paint could cost more than money. Painting kids bedrooms is too important to skimp on and in the long run, not renovating your bedroom or your child’s bedroom any time soon is cheaper than those few extra pennies to get the best paint! Saving on a bedroom renovation may be as simple as choosing the right paint and the right painter at the start because nothing costs more than cheap.
