Posted on January 12, 2021 by KylieMawdsley
How to Choose Paint Colours for a Girl’s Room (baby, toddler or tween!)
Are you looking for a paint colour that both you and your child love? Or maybe your wee one isn’t even BORN yet and you want to create a welcoming space for their arrival. Whatever your situation, I’ve got some great colours for you.
Now, to be TOTALLY honest, I struggled with this blog post. Why? Because I know that there should be no ‘masculine or feminine colours’; that boys can love pink and girls can love blue and so on and so forth. BUT, for the sake of Google search and reaching those who are looking for a certain RANGE of colours, there are definitely ‘keywords’ that are traditionally applied to many of these colours.
Storage Ideas: The Best Little Cart Ever
What I’m trying to say is that OF COURSE, you can put these colours in ANY kid’s room, I’m just trying to make this blog post ‘Google search’ friendly so that those who WANT these colours for ANY reason can find them! Does that even make sense? Long story short, my heart is in a good place.
Tips for choosing paint colours with your kids for their bedroom…
TIP 1 DON’T LET THEM PICK ANY COLOUR THEY WANT
- Ask them to tell you two different colours that they would like on their walls (ie: green or pink). Go to the paint store (by yourself) and pick up three to four different versions of these colours that you can live with. Now don’t go all boring and earthy – stretch your comfort zone a bit and look for colours that bridge the gap between their need for bright and your need for sane.
- When you get home, show them the colour chips that you’ve pre-approved and let them pick the one they want, and really, let them pick it. You may have a fave, but you’ve already narrowed it down to what you can live with so leave the rest up to them.
Shown above, Sherwin William’s Embellished Blue
TIP 2 IF HONEY BOO-BOO INSISTS ON A CRAZY COLOUR, CHOOSE A SINGLE WALL FOR THAT COLOUR TO GO ON
- Tell them that THREE of the walls will remain white/cream and they can put WHATEVER colour they want on their one feature wall (usually the wall that the bed is on). When they get bored of this colour (which they will) it’s an easy change. Consider Cloud White or a soft subtle gray as your main/neutral colour.
Shown above BM Simply White with BM Black 2123-10
TIP 3 INSTALL A CHAIR RAIL
A chair rail is basically a piece of trim, usually 3-5″ tall (1/2″ thick) that is placed horizontally around the room at approx 36″ from the floor. Choose a neutral/off white/light gray for the top of the walls and let your wee one choose the colour for the bottom (either their own choice or one of the ones you’ve narrowed down for them). This works for a few reasons….
- When they inevitably get bored with that months’ favourite colour you won’t even need a ladder to change it up. All it will take is a gallon of paint, a bottle of wine and an afternoon.
- If lil Janey chooses Flaming Pink as her most fave colour, it won’t feel like you get punched in the face with colour every time you walk in the room as the colour will essentially be only on 1/3 of the wall space.
- You don’t ever have to change the top colour. If you choose a colour that is neutral/off white/white/gray, then all you ever have to change is the bottom.
The 8 Best Benjamin Moore White Paint Colours
Benjamin Moore’s Best Cream Paint Colours
Shown above Benjamin Moore Pink Bliss
Shown above Benjamin Moore Lily Lavender
Now let’s get down to the fun stuff!
How to Pick the PERFECT Paint Palette for Your Kid’s Room
STEP 1 CHOOSE THE MAIN WALL COLOUR
It’s important to set the foundation before you dive into the fun parts…
BENJAMIN MOORE GRAY OWL
Gray Owl is a light gray with very subtle undertones of green/blue. Learn all about this beautiful colour here – Colour Review of Gray Owl.
The 12 Best Whole Home Gray & Greige Paint Colours
BENJAMIN MOORE PINK BLISS
Pink Bliss is a soft colour that says pink, without being bubble-gum about it. See a cute pink girl’s room here.
Shown above, Benjamin Moore Pink Bliss
BENJAMIN MOORE OCEAN AIR
Ocean Air is a soft blue with a hint of gray and green to calm it down.
BENJAMIN MOORE SIMPLY WHITE
Simply White is a brighter warm white with just a wink of cheery yellow – see more whites here.
Benjamin Moore’s 8 Best White Paint Colours
BENJAMIN MOORE LIMESICLE
Limesicle is just the right amount of green to give a fresh, organic look without being too earthy, punchy or PEA-inspired!
The 7 Best Green Paint Colours
BENJAMIN MOORE PORTLAND GRAY
Portland Gray is a nice NOD towards violet without committing 100% to a colour that’s OVERLY purple.
The 9 Best Purple (Violet) Paint Colours
SHERWIN WILLIAMS CREAMY
Creamy is a GORGEOUS off-white cream, which means it has a yellow base. However, with its neutral backdrop, it offers a more passive, subtle warmth compared to more traditional cream colours.
BENJAMIN MOORE WATERFALL
Waterfall is a light-medium depth paint colour with a blend of blue/green and gray. This is a ‘colour first’ colour and the gray is only there to soften and tone it down a bit.
The 8 Best Blue-Green Paint Colours
Of course, there are many more gorgeous paint colours out there. If you don’t find what you need here, I’m happy to help you pick the PERFECT one for you and your chickadee via my E-Design. (You can also check out OTHER blog posts)
Shown above, Benjamin Moore Icy Moon Drops
STEP 2 CHOOSE YOUR NEUTRALS
While this might SEEM like the non-exciting part, this is where things really start popping. With the introduction of a neutral or ‘foundation’ colour, your other accent colours (STEP 3) will come to LIFE!
- These are just some general colour ideas, don’t take them TOO literally. You can tweak them to feel more vintage, lively or earth-toned – whatever suits your kids the best!
-
For accent colours to be effective they need to be seen THREE times in a room. Ideally, you’ll be able to draw a triangle between the three so that your eye will carry the colour throughout the space.
Undoubtedly, you’ll be heading out in the near future to grab paint samples – stop right there! I want you to check out SAMPLIZE. Samplize offers peel and stick paint samples that are more AFFORDABLE, EASIER and more ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY than traditional paint pots. Here are just a FEW reasons why I recommend Samplize to my clients…
- Samples arrive ON YOUR DOORSTEP in 1-3 business days, depending on location
- At $6.99, they’re more affordable than the samples pots/rollers/foam boards that are needing for traditional paint sampling
- If you keep the samples on their white paper, you can move them around the room
Visit the SAMPLIZE website HERE
STEP 3 CHOOSE YOUR FUN ACCENT COLOURS
- If you’ve chosen one or two NEUTRAL accent colours from Step 2, choose only one, two or three ‘COLOURS’.
- If you’ve chosen two or three NEUTRAL accent colours from Step 2, choose only one or two ‘COLOURS’.
Do you want your own customized paint colour for your girl’s room?
Check out my affordable and fun E-Decor and Color Consulting Packages!
READ MORE
The Best GRAY Paint Colours for a Kid’s Room (THE SERIES – PART 1 of 3)
The Best Paint Colours for a Kid’s Room (THE SERIES – PART 2 of 3)
How to Create a PAINT COLOUR PALETTE for a Kid’s Room (THE SERIES – PART 3 of 3)
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2017, UPDATED IN 2021
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We have loved the Palladian Blue and Pale Avocado for our girls rooms and have no complaints (or requests to change colours) after 2 years 🙂 – This will be handy in a few years when they want a change!
Thank you for commenting Amy – I just LOOOVE those colours – in particular Palladian Blue just melts me everytime I see it!
I love this!!! I love your color choices. My daughter wants a pink and lime green room. Most of her pieces in her room are bright pink. I was thinking of doing the walls lime green but am afraid it is too bright. I am not afraid of bright colors but are afraid of it looking tacky. Any ideas?
Thank you Kelli! You are right, lime green can look super tacky and kind of abrasive. If it were me and my daughters furniture/things were mostly bright pink, I’d want to look at a soft (but spunky) green so that the pink still ‘popped’ without the whole scheme becoming overwhelming…
Check out these ones….
1. Celadon Green 2028-60
2. Wales Green 2028-50
3. Fresh Cut Grass 2026-50 (a lil punchy, but still manageable)
So, that’s what I would do for sure, I hope that helps!!!
The other thing you could do is put up a chair rail at approx. 34″ from the floor. You can then paint the top of the walls something like Cloud White and THEN you could put a pretty wild green on the bottom without feeling like it’s taking over the room…if you did that you could look at…
1. Pear Green 2028-40
2. Apple Green 2026-40
Let me know how it goes and send me some before and after picture – I love them!
~Kylie
Hi Kylie,
I came across your blog while researching paint colors to suggest to my parents as living room, dining room and library/sunroom colors. Just wanted to say that while I love the calmer color choices here, when I was ten I picked out a green close to Benjamin’s Moore’s Spring Leaf. Ten years later, I still love the color. It goes well with the white and pale pink curtains, pine furniture, and various red wall decorations and bedsheets. The color is bright but oddly soothing; I think the north-facing windows offset some of the yellow in the green to calm things down a bit.
Just wanted people to know that bold colors can be quite beautiful if done well, even in a bedroom!
Cheers,
Archana
Author
Hi Archana, thank you for the note! It’s comments that these that help readers think outside the box and it sounds like you made a beautiful choice!
If a room has a lot of lavender in it already (with bedding and rug,) what color family would you suggest to put on the walls? My four year old wants more purple on the walls, but I think it will be overkill… I was thinking some calm shade of blue to offset it? Or maybe a very light shade of lavaeder (almost white)? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you!
Author
Hi Erica, thank you for the note! When it comes to personal questions I really do need to take the time to look at photos and go through a questionnaire, this way I can give you ideas that actually make sense for the room, rather than just guessing! If that interests you, it is affordable and fun! Here’s the link…. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
I love your blog! As a Mom of twin girls who is struggling with the seemingly daunting task of deciding on not one, but two colours for their bedroom makeovers, I appreciate all of your guidance. There are so many choices that it is so hard to know where to begin. I love the suggestion of chair rail and a vibrant colour below.
Author
Well thank you Christine, I’m glad it’s been helpful and I LOOOVE the feedback 🙂
I have chair rail everywhere in this house and hAte itbut before I go to the effort of removing it should I try the white top colored bottom approach or jus take it off?
Author
Hi Julianna! Check out this blog post https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-best-way-to-paint-a-wall-with-a-chair-rail-dado-rail/ as it shows you the different options when you have a chair rail. Sometimes taking it off can be a pain, depending on how many times a room has been painted as there can be quite a big ‘paint ledge’ where the rail was that will need to be REALLY sanded down. If the room was painted more than once, this could be a pain in the butt!