nursery decoration: starching stuff to the walls?
Mary S.
forgotten how it works.
So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
Mary S.
--
Mary Sweathe (and wee Charlotte-sprout, 3/3/02)
San Francisco, CA
Hillary Israeli
Mary S. <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
*I think it was Ericka I first heard about this from, but I've totally
*forgotten how it works.
*
*So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
*nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
*and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
*painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
*on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
This may sound lame, but we used a really cool farm animal border we got
at Target and it looks great. They also have individual decals of flowers
and traffic signs and stuff like that for kids' rooms - one of my
neighbors just did her son's room in Target car/traffic motif using a
bunch of them and they look great.
--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net in...@hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)
Ericka Kammerer
> I think it was Ericka I first heard about this from, but I've totally
> forgotten how it works.
>
> So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
> nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
> and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
> painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
> on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
Yes, it doesn't hurt the walls. The only thing I'd worry about
is if you have really delicate walls somehow (though I doubt it would
be a problem even then). All you do is get laundry starch (the blue
liquid). Soak the fabric in the starch and put it up on the wall wet.
Get all the wrinkles out (a squeegee sometimes helps). If you're
chicken and want to do a test run, just put up a little bit (maybe a
cute motif or two) in a relatively inconspicuous place and tear it down
after a month or two and see how it works.
Still, why not paint yourself if need be? It's not hard!
I actually kind of like it. (Good things, 'cause I'll be painting
a couple rooms this weekend, and if all goes well I'll be painting
a whole house in a month or so.) Just buy good paint and a how-to
book (if you've never painted before and don't have anyone to show
you the ropes). You'll be doing fancy faux finishes in no time ;-)
Personally, I don't like wallpaper. Borders aren't too
bad, but wallpapering a room--uggh! Even if you still love the
wallpaper several years from now, you're still going to have to
replace it eventually (doesn't last forever) and it's a *royal*
PITA to take down (gotta do some of that this weekend too).
Plus, it's not fun to patch if anything happens to it and you
have to worry about putting holes in it (to hang pictures or
whatever). Paint is easy--and cheap!
Good luck,
Ericka
Rosalie B.
come in to paint? I've never done that - we've always done it ourselves.
Usually when damage happens it happens within a short time of the new paint
going on. Keep a little bit of the paint to repair damage when it happens.
"Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I think it was Ericka I first heard about this from, but I've totally
>forgotten how it works.
>
>So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
>nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
>and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
>painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
>on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
>
>Mary S.
grandma Rosalie
Cheryl S.
>
> I think it was Ericka I first heard about this from, but I've totally
> forgotten how it works.
>
> So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
> nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
> and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
> painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
> on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
I noticed some stick-on, removable wall borders and pictures at Toys R
Us earlier this week. They had mostly boy stuff left so I didn't take a
close look.
--
Cheryl S.
mom to Julie, 13 months
Not everyone who wanders is lost.
Life is too short to drink cheap beer.
Sophie
>Us earlier this week. They had mostly boy stuff left so I didn't take a
>close look.
>--
>Cheryl S.
Those wall decals have been hit or miss for me. Charlotte had some Winnie
the Pooh ones that stayed up fine but the Barbie ones fell down the same day
I put them up.
--
Sophie
mom to Charlotte (6/98)
Patrick (11/99)
Lewis (12/01)
See us at http://www.mcgehees.com
Mary S.
>
> Have you thought about stenciled borders? Did you actually have someone
> come in to paint? I've never done that - we've always done it ourselves.
We had to have the whole house painted (did a huge renovation) and I was
heavily pregnant, so we had it done. Plus, the oil-based trim and
molding paint isn't the kind of stuff you want to mess with yourself,
anyway (it's got to be sprayed and it's yucko toxic). We didn't have
Victorian specialists or anything, just regular housepainters, but it
was still expensive. I'm just so afraid to do anything like stencils or
wallpaper-type borders because of the new paint. If it were either easy
or inexpensive to repaint it in a couple of years when we get tired of
the decorations, it wouldn't be such a big deal.
Donna Metler
an overhead (borrowed from school), trace the lines on the wall, then filled
in with paint. An easy, custom mural without a lot of work.
--
Donna DeVore Metler
Music Integration/Orff Specialist
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony, 01/01/02 (22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP syndrome)
"Sophie" <fakea...@home.com> wrote in message
news:ucj3k5b...@corp.supernews.com...
Hillary Israeli
Mary S. <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
*We had to have the whole house painted (did a huge renovation) and I was
*heavily pregnant, so we had it done. Plus, the oil-based trim and
*molding paint isn't the kind of stuff you want to mess with yourself,
*anyway (it's got to be sprayed and it's yucko toxic). We didn't have
*Victorian specialists or anything, just regular housepainters, but it
*was still expensive. I'm just so afraid to do anything like stencils or
*wallpaper-type borders because of the new paint. If it were either easy
*or inexpensive to repaint it in a couple of years when we get tired of
*the decorations, it wouldn't be such a big deal.
FWIW, the Target border we used on top of our paint peels off really
easily and doesn't remove paint. I tested it before putting the whole
thing up.
Persephone
actually recommend that pregnant women do not paint the nursery at all, even
w/ latex based paints. :(
--
-Michelle (3/22/79)
Dh-Lyle (12/12/76)
Ds-Caleb (9/24/99)
Dd-Gabrielle (11/14/01)
Happily Married (4/29/01)
Rosalie B.
>"Rosalie B." wrote:
>>
>> Have you thought about stenciled borders? Did you actually have someone
>> come in to paint? I've never done that - we've always done it ourselves.
>
>We had to have the whole house painted (did a huge renovation) and I was
>heavily pregnant, so we had it done. Plus, the oil-based trim and
>molding paint isn't the kind of stuff you want to mess with yourself,
>anyway (it's got to be sprayed and it's yucko toxic). We didn't have
I doubt that the oil based paint is any more toxic than the water based.
(I used to do industrial health evaluations). I've talked to painters who
were concerned about the stuff in the water based epoxy paints, and
basically the story is that we don't know whether it is harmful or not.
The knock on oil based paints is harder cleanup, longer drying time, and
for some people the smell.
For a big renovation, IMHO, removing lead-based paint is more of a hazard
than the new paint. I'm assuming you are not using any of the cyanide
based acrylics like they use in auto body paint - I would see no reason to
use anything like that on a house.
>Victorian specialists or anything, just regular housepainters, but it
>was still expensive. I'm just so afraid to do anything like stencils or
>wallpaper-type borders because of the new paint. If it were either easy
>or inexpensive to repaint it in a couple of years when we get tired of
>the decorations, it wouldn't be such a big deal.
Wall paper is harder to put up (esp if pregnant) than it is to paint IMHO.
Stripable wall paper will come off fairly easily or at least more easily
than the regular kind. You can buy lots of different borders off the
internet, (or shop on the internet and then buy them locally). I found my
daughter some that matched her daughter's bedspread. I have also done
stencils that mirrored the border of a rug around the top of a doorway.
I've even painted murals freehand on the walls of a hall. I have also
recently seen where people put regular fabric on the wall like wall paper.
You can also do sponge painting and the like.
Don't be afraid of your paint. It WILL get marked. Just accept that, and
relax.
RosalieAnn Figge Beasley, C.I.H.
retired - formerly MOSHA Consultation
Ericka Kammerer
> She probably isn't painting herself because of being pregnant. New studies
> actually recommend that pregnant women do not paint the nursery at all, even
> w/ latex based paints. :(
Not anymore--unless you have something to report, Mary? ;-)
Take care,
Ericka
Sarajoyo
"Cheryl S." <spamf...@address.com> wrote in message
news:3CC98EAE...@address.com...
> "Mary S." wrote:
> >
> > I think it was Ericka I first heard about this from, but I've totally
> > forgotten how it works.
> >
> > So I chickened out and couldn't commit to a color, and we painted the
> > nursery boring old white. Talk to me about borders, wallpaper, fabric,
> > and starching stuff up onto the walls. It's SO expensive to have stuff
> > painted around here (really ridiculous) that I'm scared to even breathe
> > on the new paint. Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
>
> I noticed some stick-on, removable wall borders and pictures at Toys R
> Us earlier this week. They had mostly boy stuff left so I didn't take a
> close look.
That's what we've used in our nursery - the stick-ons. We painted the
nursery boring old white too, with beige carpet, realizing that we'll
probably sell and move within a couple of years. I also didn't have the
energy to do any stenciling or anything when I was pregnant, so we kept it
simple. So our walls are decorated with: the stick-ons (a few over her
dresser/changing pad [she smiles at Eeyore when I change her] and a bunch
decorating a big empty patch on the wall), her growth chart, the diaper
stacker, a big framed picture (which will be over the headboard of her crib
when we get the crib), and the comforter from her crib set (it's big and
colorful and pretty, and she likes looking at it from across the room).
I've also got a self-sticking wallpaper-type border that matches the crib
bedding that will go around the top of the room, and I need to get fabric to
make curtains (I wanted to wait until she was born to get either pink or
blue fabric that matches the crib bedding). It's not a very big room, so it
doesn't need a lot on the walls, plus the crib (which will be a big focal
point anyway, whenever DH gets to build it), the dresser, and the big
rocker/recliner cover up a lot of wall space. Oh, and the other decoration
(besides her toys and stuffed animals) is a darling little bookshelf that my
MIL found somewhere - a store was going out of business, so she bought the
shelf, painted it light beige, and painted pictures of Pooh and his friends
reading on it. It's very cute. :) On the whole, I really like the
nursery - it's colorful and bright, but not overwhelming, and while it's
obvious it's a baby's room, it wasn't terribly expensive or difficult, so
it's easy to change at any time. So, Mary, all this to say that I doubt you
have to do anything too fancy if you don't want to, but good luck with the
fabric starching.
--
-Sara:)
Mommy to Laura Anne, 3-4-02
Meghan
> Starching is totally damage-free, isn't it?
I'm not positive, but you could ask Daednu - I think she still posts on mkb
occasionally. I know she starched little bats to the wall around her baby's
crib. :)
--
Meghan, due Aug/Sep with #3 and lucky mom to
boys Tristan (12/6/88) and Killian (7/18/00)
nanamOOn
>have to do anything too fancy if you don't want to, but good luck with the
>fabric starching.
I was gonna say that!!! I used the Blue Jean Teddy Bear Stick-ups in the
nursery and they are so cute!! They also have their birth announcement cross
stitches hung in pretty frames over their cribs. The two dressers,
entertainment center full of toys, toy box and line of ridies takes up the rest
of the room!! There isn't much left to actually decorate. Just remember Mary,
that room will be redecorated lots!! And you will always have to repaint what
you have created...which just made me sad!! =) So I used the stickers and was
done with it!! =)
Rachel
Mommy to Andrew Neil (May 19, 2000) and Lukas Dallon (June 2, 2001), Step-Mommy
to Hailey Marie (May 31, 1996)
Our HomePage http://www.geocities.com/poohrkm
Picture page http://photos.yahoo.com/poohrkm
Sarajoyo
"nanamOOn" <andrews...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020426181615...@mb-bk.aol.com...
> >So, Mary, all this to say that I doubt you
> >have to do anything too fancy if you don't want to, but good luck with
the
> >fabric starching.
>
> I was gonna say that!!! I used the Blue Jean Teddy Bear Stick-ups in the
> nursery and they are so cute!! They also have their birth announcement
cross
> stitches hung in pretty frames over their cribs. The two dressers,
> entertainment center full of toys, toy box and line of ridies takes up the
rest
> of the room!! There isn't much left to actually decorate. Just remember
Mary,
> that room will be redecorated lots!! And you will always have to repaint
what
> you have created...which just made me sad!! =) So I used the stickers and
was
> done with it!! =)
Oh, that Blue Jean Teddy stuff is very cute! I debated about teddy bears
vs. Winnie the Pooh for a while, but finally decided on WtP. (I think I
just knew she'd be a girl long before she was even conceived, and the WtP
stuff we have is good for either boy or girl, but especially cute for a
girl.)
Karen
Style." Bed Bath and Beyodn evidently carries them according to the
website.
Karen
On Fri, 26 Apr 2002 10:33:32 -0700, "Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>"Rosalie B." wrote:
Persephone
to curse you Mary, I swear!
nanamOOn
>vs. Winnie the Pooh for a while, but finally decided on WtP. (I think I
>just knew she'd be a girl long before she was even conceived, and the WtP
>stuff we have is good for either boy or girl, but especially cute for a
>girl.)
I wanted to do WInnie the Pooh (cause I'm addicted to him) and Neil said NO! So
we got this baby blue airplane stuff that is still in Lukas's crib and got
Andrew the Blue Jean Teddy Bear stuff with his new big boy bed. It was a
bribe...and it worked! It was cute and very little boy and the colors and some
of the animals can grow with them at least until they are big boys =) Plus the
stuff is EVERYWHERE!! I have seen it in all the major stores!! In fact Hailey's
other little brother who is 6 months old, has it too!
I knew Laura was a girl too =)
Sarajoyo
> >Oh, that Blue Jean Teddy stuff is very cute! I debated about teddy bears
> >vs. Winnie the Pooh for a while, but finally decided on WtP. (I think I
> >just knew she'd be a girl long before she was even conceived, and the WtP
> >stuff we have is good for either boy or girl, but especially cute for a
> >girl.)
>
> I wanted to do WInnie the Pooh (cause I'm addicted to him) and Neil said
NO! So
> we got this baby blue airplane stuff that is still in Lukas's crib and got
> Andrew the Blue Jean Teddy Bear stuff with his new big boy bed. It was a
> bribe...and it worked! It was cute and very little boy and the colors and
some
> of the animals can grow with them at least until they are big boys =)
Plus the
> stuff is EVERYWHERE!! I have seen it in all the major stores!! In fact
Hailey's
> other little brother who is 6 months old, has it too!
>
lol!
> I knew Laura was a girl too =)
>
Somehow so did everyone, I think. :) Except my sister and DH (and a clerk
in Staples) were convinced she was a boy. I think DH only said that because
I was sure she was a girl - he is not at all disappointed. :) (He says
every daddy needs a little girl.)
Mary S.
>
> Oops....big gigantic brain fart, I thought she was preggers. I'm not trying
> to curse you Mary, I swear!
LOL!
Mary S.
> Don't be afraid of your paint. It WILL get marked. Just accept that, and
> relax.
This is so true. DH and I visited the house yesterday and walked all
around it, hashing out where we wanted to put which furniture and what
kinds of things we need to buy for the nursery and the new rooms.
Seeing all those fresh, clean walls and pristine refinished floors was
so scary -- I know it's going to take a few paint scuffs and wood
scratches before I feel like we can relax into the house.
Then we came back here and ate dinner on our orange crates. Bleh. I
wish they'd just get the dang thing finished.
Mary S.
> FWIW, the Target border we used on top of our paint peels off really
> easily and doesn't remove paint. I tested it before putting the whole
> thing up.
This sounds like a good idea, too. I was thinking of starching up a
fabric border, but the stick-on decorations sound pretty cute, as well.
I'd love to find stick-on flowers and ladybugs and stuff to put around
the bottom of the wall, like a little growing-garden theme. Or a
silvery blue moons-and-stars astrology/astronomy stuff everywhere, that
would be lovely. Or a kind of fish and sailboats theme (I think we're
going to put the aquarium in the nursery). How did you guys ever decide
what you wanted?
Rosalie B.
>"Rosalie B." wrote:
>
>> Don't be afraid of your paint. It WILL get marked. Just accept that, and
>> relax.
>
>This is so true. DH and I visited the house yesterday and walked all
>around it, hashing out where we wanted to put which furniture and what
>kinds of things we need to buy for the nursery and the new rooms.
>Seeing all those fresh, clean walls and pristine refinished floors was
>so scary -- I know it's going to take a few paint scuffs and wood
>scratches before I feel like we can relax into the house.
There's a story about someone (can't remember who - Sinclair Lewis's wife?
- someone like that) who got a brand new blue velvet sofa and other
furniture, and deliberately took a knife and scratched it, and sprinkled
water on the velvet. She said she didn't want her furniture to own her.
>
>Then we came back here and ate dinner on our orange crates. Bleh. I
>wish they'd just get the dang thing finished.
>
>Mary S.
grandma Rosalie
Wendy
>would be lovely. Or a kind of fish and sailboats theme (I think we're
>going to put the aquarium in the nursery). How did you guys ever decide
>what you wanted?
Well, when I was a kid, my mom decorated a wall in our room with
pieces of wallpaper of cute colorful animals and I've had a thing
about them ever since. (I have an apron she made me in a similar
pattern. ;-) ) I've had a hell of a time finding decorations in the
picture-book illustration style I like though; most of what's out
there is licensed stuff or over the top cutesy.
--
Mama to Ben, born 10/08/01
"What if we're all meant to do what we secretly dream?
What would you ask if you knew you could have anything?"
Ericka Kammerer
> This sounds like a good idea, too. I was thinking of starching up a
> fabric border, but the stick-on decorations sound pretty cute, as well.
> I'd love to find stick-on flowers and ladybugs and stuff to put around
> the bottom of the wall, like a little growing-garden theme. Or a
> silvery blue moons-and-stars astrology/astronomy stuff everywhere, that
> would be lovely. Or a kind of fish and sailboats theme (I think we're
> going to put the aquarium in the nursery). How did you guys ever decide
> what you wanted?
Well, I probably shouldn't talk, since I never got around
to "decorating" a nursery, but personally, I'm not a huge fan of
themed nurseries. I like rooms that are just good rooms--nice
colors, nice coordinating fabrics, nice feel. I get tired
of the other stuff fairly quickly. I sometimes get the stick-on
decorations to let the kids play with them (as opposed to
deciding to take matters into their own hands and color on
the walls when I'm not looking ;-) It's not that I think there's
anything wrong with decorations or with themes. It's just my
own personal quirk that I don't like things to look too
purposefully decorated.
So, for instance, if I wanted a garden-y room, I might
choose a soft yellow for the walls and a soft blue or violet
for the ceiling. Then I might add in a pretty floral fabric
with a bit of yellow and some nice, strong colors in it for
curtains or to upholster a bit of furniture. Then maybe a
check or a plaid that coordinated for a crib skirt and a
pillow or whatever. *Then* I might get a cute lamp or some
artwork or a mobile or some pillows or stuff like *that*
to carry out a garden theme. That way, when I got tired
of it, I could move on to something else without having
to change everything else in the room.
Take care,
Ericka
Sarajoyo
"Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3CCB18C0...@yahoo.com...
> Hillary Israeli wrote:
>
> > FWIW, the Target border we used on top of our paint peels off really
> > easily and doesn't remove paint. I tested it before putting the whole
> > thing up.
>
> This sounds like a good idea, too. I was thinking of starching up a
> fabric border, but the stick-on decorations sound pretty cute, as well.
> I'd love to find stick-on flowers and ladybugs and stuff to put around
> the bottom of the wall, like a little growing-garden theme. Or a
> silvery blue moons-and-stars astrology/astronomy stuff everywhere, that
> would be lovely. Or a kind of fish and sailboats theme (I think we're
> going to put the aquarium in the nursery). How did you guys ever decide
> what you wanted?
>
All of your ideas sound lovely Mary. :) We decided what we wanted based on
what we liked, what had a soft spot in our hearts. Both of us grew up with
Winnie the Pooh; my mom used to read us the WtP poems as a kid. I thought
for a while that teddy bears would be really cute, and then I saw some
adorable WtP stuff and fell for it. Overall, it's turned out to be a very
sweet and pretty room.
enigma
> Sarajoyo wrote:
>>
>> Both of us grew up with
>> Winnie the Pooh; my mom used to read us the WtP poems as a kid.
>
> I adore Pooh but I hate that it's been Disneyfied. For one thing, they
> turned Eeyore blue-purple, what's up with that?
not only is he now blue-purple, he is not allowed to be at all negative
or depressed. Disney has declared he will be cheery & saccarine like all
thier "properties". i really detest Disney & thier grubbing all childhood
stories (the Little Mermaid *dies* in the real story... but then they
couldn't churn out endless videos exploiting her, could they?)
>
> She has Alzheimer's now, and while she loves to see the baby when we
> visit, I know it's not the same. I wish she had been able to fully
> appreciate Lotte; she would have just adored being a great-grandmother.
that's sad. my grandmother is the same. she knows my cousin's 2 kids, but
not my son. but then, i had him at the same age she was when *i* was born
& i'm the 2nd grandchild.
at least there is still Classic Pooh stuff available. i bought the books
in an antique store though. i just won't support Disneyfication if i can
help it :(
lee
--
you can't grep dead trees.
Hillary Israeli
Mary S. <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
*going to put the aquarium in the nursery). How did you guys ever decide
*what you wanted?
In my house, the default is animals :) so we used farm animals.
Wendy
>"Mary S." <mswe...@yahoo.com> wrote in news:3CCB92DA...@yahoo.com:
>> turned Eeyore blue-purple, what's up with that?
>
> not only is he now blue-purple, he is not allowed to be at all negative
>or depressed. Disney has declared he will be cheery & saccarine like all
>thier "properties". i really detest Disney & thier grubbing all childhood
*please* tell me you are sh*tting us!
Meghan
> not only is he now blue-purple, he is not allowed to be at all negative
>or depressed. Disney has declared he will be cheery & saccarine like all
>thier "properties". i really detest Disney & thier grubbing all childhood
>stories (the Little Mermaid *dies* in the real story... but then they
>couldn't churn out endless videos exploiting her, could they?)
And let's not forget that every step she took on dry land was agony, like
knives in the soles of her feet, and that Cinderella's "fairy godmother" was
actually a flock of birds, two of whom pecked out her sisters' eyes after the
wedding, or that the father in Beauty and the Beast actually sent his daughter
to the beast to save his own hide - gaaaaah, I miss the old fairy tales with
MORALS and CONSEQUENCES! Muahahaha. No, really, I do love them. Brothers
Grimm, especially - they're so gruesome and the bad people always get theirs
in the end.
Sarajoyo
> Sarajoyo wrote:
> >
> > Both of us grew up with
> > Winnie the Pooh; my mom used to read us the WtP poems as a kid.
>
> memories of my Grandmother reading me the Pooh books. She was our only
> babysitter when we were little, and we'd make her read the Heffalump
> chapter to us before bed every time she was over. By the time I was 10
> or so, I'd catch her reading us the chapter without turning the pages.
> :) She used to take us on nature hikes and we'd all recite the poems
> from WWWVY and NWAS as we jumped across creeks and counted banana slugs.
>
Awww, that's sweet. I don't like the Disneyfication much either, but I did
choose a Disney WtP pattern because I liked the colors better. (Not to
mention that the Classic Pooh stuff is incredibly expensive). The pastels
of the Classic Pooh stuff is pretty, but I wanted something a tad brighter
for the nursery. So what we have is what I would call bright pastels - not
as muted as some of the Classic stuff, but not completely primaries either.
I really like it. :)
> She has Alzheimer's now, and while she loves to see the baby when we
> visit, I know it's not the same. I wish she had been able to fully
> appreciate Lotte; she would have just adored being a great-grandmother.
>
Aw, I know what you mean - while one of my grandmothers is still alive and
doing well, the other passed away when I was about 11. She would have been
really proud of me, I think, and she would have liked being a
great-grandmother too.
Mary Gordon
and places like that, they have all kinds of peel and stick kind of
borders that you can put on and remove without damaging the paint
which are meant for people who are renting and don't want to wreck the
walls).
They also make all kinds of removable decal thingys - big stick on
things of cartoon characters etc. A friend of mine just put a bunch of
Barbie ones up for her 5 year old, and she even peeled them off and
put them in new spots when they were figuring out what would look
best.
Paint is no big deal either - cheap and easy - and you don't have to
redo woodwork every time you do the walls. Stencilling is also easy
and can really look great - my daughter's room is painted wedgewood
blue, and I stencilled white ivy around the top of the room, and it
just looks beautiful (very soft, and looks like wedgewood china) - it
only took a few hours to do the whole room.
Our son's room has two colours - bottom half is dark taupe and top
half is very light taupe, separated by a very colourful boarder print
of sports jerseys in jewel tones (navy, burgandy, dark green, deep
gold). It looks just amazing - and we painted his dresser etc. to
match. Very funky and fun, but inexpensive!
Even regular wallpaper boarder prints are not a big deal to get off
with some water and a scraper. I've stripped a lot of wallpaper, and
if its just a boarder and you are patient, you won't wreck the wall.
Son #2 has a boarder print that runs around the top of his walls (blue
and green thing with bears playing various sports). By the time we
have to redo it to make it into a teen haven, the walls will need
repainting anyway.
Mary G.