Expert: Rebecca Bushner - 5/10/2009

Question
i recently re-decorated my teenage daughters room pink , i haven't exactly got a dab hand with a paint brush so had painters come in and do it for me, i hadn't quite realized the effects of painting pink over BRIGHT purple.I now have a very frustrated teen who really doesn't like her extremely bright pink room!Me and my husband are very busy and do not have time to re-paint do you have any suggestions of how we can tone down this colour into a lighter pink? white furniture maybe ? Her room is very large with a 6m bay window so the whole room is very light
any help would be VERY much appreciated!


Answer
Dear Rebecca
Outside of re-painting the whole room a brand-new color (prime over the pink if you want to totally cover it), I suggest two other fixes to cover the walls:
1. Put up floor-to-ceiling drapes and cover the walls with fabric. Make the room look like a Sheik's tent. Use opaque fabric or if you choose the right sheers, you can alter the pink: try white sheers to lighten.
2. Cover the walls with lots of artwork, tapestries, etc.

If you decide to paint or invest in new all-white furniture, you might as well repaint the room. painting  furniture is more labor-intensive than walls.
NEXT TIME: prime walls when covering a very intense or deep color.
2. Always do a paint-out of the new color(s)by ordering a small can and trying it out on the walls. LIVE with the new color for a while just to be sure.
3. When children and teens want very bright/dark colors, limit the brights and darks to one accent wall (Hot pink, lime green, black, deep red, deep purple, etc. all all popular)and do the other walls in a neutral.
4. If the child or teen insists on all black (Or any other color they will likely tire of soon) walls, let them have it but make sure they understand they have to paint the walls themselves when they want to change their room.
Good luck!
Reb