During my lifetime I have drawn or colored on the walls several times. Although it was never "legal" and there were always consequences, it was still a joy nonetheless. A giant canvas where I could put anything I wanted; how awesome is that? That's exactly what's going on in this bedroom, but this Mom said it's a-okay!
Abbey and her family live in an old farm house in upstate New York and have many renovation projects on their list. Eventually they'll get to the second floor where the children's rooms reside. Until then, mom and dad have given the green light to the kids (and themselves) to draw on the walls and color until their heart is content. Even though they'll eventually cover this surface or tear it down altogether, it's fun for now and seems ridiculously rebellious all at the same time. Now if only they could come up with a way to legally jump on the bed too we'd be set! Check out more on Abbey's terrific blog Aesthetic Outburst.
(Image: Aesthetic Outburst)
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My folks let my brother and I paint our rooms when we reached about 14 & 16 yrs old. A mighty trip to the paint store got us any colours we wanted. My brother painted his whole door a realistic blue and cloud sky, had quotes from friends and life all over one wall and a kooky black/white op-art grid... I had my friends each contribute a handprint in their favourite colour on one wall, and used my dad's old converse sneakers to paint footprints from the door, across the ceiling and out the window, another wall sported a bulls-eye painted above my clothing hamper (tossing balls of socks was pretty fun). Each wall was a different canvas.
It was awesome and liberating and fostered confidence in our growing sense of self and creativity.
This could have been one of the early bricks on the road to our careers as Designers ... :) good times.
When I redid my bedroom in 7th grade I had a built in dressing room, (older home), I left the space white so my friends and I could doodle on the walls, I also did this to the ugly painted floor that my mom did, I hated it and this was my way to rebel against it. That room is now her sewing room and tells me how much she hates what I did to the walls and floor. I guess I should have told her my intentions
i saw this on her blog. love the idea. kids should get a chance to be creative...a great reminder!
My friends all traced there hand or put a hand print on the wall behind my door. The space was just a bit wider than the door itself and my friends loved it. Another friend had her friends trace there hand and it filled the entire wall. Along with the date and friends name.
My parents did the same thing when they were renovating a house- they were stripping the old wall paper and let me and my friends go to town with crayons before it got stripped. I was about 4 years old, it was a ton of fun.
We recently semi-finished our basement (no trim, doors, or flooring other than concrete, but everything else is done), and were left with one white wall we intend to cover with reclaimed lumber eventually. Instead of leaving it sterile white in an otherwise inviting space, we let our then 4-year-old go to town with markers. His obsession at the time was drawing these cute little "monsters", and there are now several variations of the same style monster, along with pictures he and his little neighborhood buddies drew. I love this wall, and am actually thinking we might have to do reclaimed somewhere else so we can maintain this graffiti as part of our space. I will also be taking pictures of him and his little baby brother in front of the wall for a family photo. I love it!
Cute idea but I think it depends on the kids. Hers seem to understand the rules set there. Just slightly too young and it sends the wrong message that walls are ok for coloring (my biggest source for a red behind as a child!)
My parents handed us sharpies right before they gutted the kitchen, and let us doodle on the floor :-)
I colored a picture of my mom (wearing gigantic earrings) on the living room wall when I was a kid. My folks put a frame around it.