If you’ve got a family in the Jacksonville, FL area, you know how important it is to get your kids involved with big family projects. All too often, people think that their kids might get in the way or be more of a hindrance to a home improvement project than a help - but that can be far from the truth. This is especially true if your painting DIY project involves making some upgrades to your child’s room. It’s their room, after all - why not involve them in the painting process? We have a few tips to help you get your home painting project done with the help (that’s right, we said help!) of your kids.
Know who you’re working with
Before you decide to take on a home painting project with your kids, you have to know what they can and cannot do. Kids are all unique (just like people!), so keep that in mind before you begin painting. Know what type of attention span you’re dealing with, and what your kids will actually enjoy helping with. If they enjoy the task they are given, they’re far more likely to be helpful with your home painting project. Either way, banding together for a home improvement project like interior painting can be a great lesson in life skills for your kids. Not only that, you’ll teach them the benefit of saving money by taking the DIY approach to home painting. Never too early to learn that skill!
Keep them involved step-by-step
This is especially true if you are painting your child’s room, but it can apply to virtually any area of the house. We’ve written here about some of the hottest paint color trends, and your kids can certainly voice their opinions on which direction to take! With a little guidance from the experts regarding color choice, you can give your kids a few options and let them be part of the paint color selection process. Once you narrow down the color options to a few that you like, you can get sample paints to try them out on the wall. You can get paint samples from a home improvement store for only a few dollars a piece.
Prep the room
As we’ve said before in other blog posts, prepping the area is one of the most important parts of the home painting process. It helps protect you home from the mess, and helps to ensure a smooth painting process for optimal results. So the night before you begin painting with your kids’ help, make sure the walls are sanded and patched. Your kids will probably love helping with the sanding! Kids are full of gusto and elbow grease, so they’re the perfect partner for this part of the DIY painting process. In order to keep things neat and tidy, make sure you tape of all of your trim. While you’re doing this, be sure to have a rag handy to get rid of any sanding dust that may have been left behind. Before you begin painting, your kids can also help you prep the walls with a damp cloth. You’d be surprised how having a few extra small hands around will make some of the more tedious painting prep tasks go so much more quickly!
Your kids can be a big help with the prep process when it comes to protecting the furniture. If you work together, you can get tarps and cover up the furniture to ensure that it doesn’t suffer any staining during the painting job. Kids will have a good time seeing the furniture all “tucked in” under the tarps! Just make sure you’re there to teach them how to do the work properly, and check their work when they’re finished.
Easy & important tasks
Since you’re looking for a polished painting job in your home, you may be nervous about handing over some of the painting responsibilities to your kids. It’s okay! There are plenty of easy and important painting tasks that your kids can help with along the way. You will surely require different tools for different parts of the job (i.e. cutting. Vs. rolling). You can enlist your kids to be “in charge” of the tools. When you need to switch from one tool to another, you’ve got a quick and easy system for “tool tradeoff.” If you have older kids, they can certainly help with some of the paint rolling - just be sure to instruct them on proper paint rolling technique before you begin. As with the paint prep, you’ll be surprised how much quicker the job can be with a little help from your little ones!
When you’re ready to take on a home painting project, don’t forget about the little helpers that you have under your own roof. With a little bit of patience, a little bit of training, and a little bit of supervision, you just might be surprised at the painting crew you have on your hands. Who knows? You may enjoy painting together so much that you’ll take on more interior painting projects together in your Jacksonville, FL home!
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