Pick again

My youngest is now nine.

Over the past few months she's started to make some rumblings about the state of her room. It seems she's no longer happy to have pink and purple fairies dancing around in there with a big pink crown as a head board.

My youngest seems to no longer think that she is a princess. Go figure.

So, we've picked out a new bedding set.  This one:

It's cute, bold and tweenish. I think it'll work for a few years.

I also agreed to paint her room. 'What colour do you want it to be?' I asked carelessly.

When she asked for my opinion, I told her to pick a colour from the comforter cover. I suggested pink or purple or green or even yellow.

But what does she want?

Black.

Shiny black, please.

Uh, no.

Sigh.

Comments

[Anne]

I love the bedding set, but I am not sure how it will look with black walls. Maybe a lovely shade of purple.

[Recovering Procrastinator]

My favorite part is that she wants "shiny" black. I'm picturing patent leather shoes. Thanks for the laugh :)

[Karen]

Well that's fun. At least black would be easy. My son decided to paint his room "one wall my favorite color, one wall with a mural on it, one wall..."

[Stacey]

And so it begins...welcome to the wonderful world of the pre-teen!

[TammyS411]

About 5 years ago my daughter also said black, I said uh no, just like you. We agreed on navy blue. She's now 21 and living on her own and I'm stuck with this navy blue. Both my girls are gone now and I'm reluctant to do anything to their rooms. Some day.

[margie]

oh wow, i remember when my mother was in the hospital recuperating from a hysterectomy way back when, my father agreed to paint my room. black. i loved it, i will never forget her hobbling up the stairs, holding her stomach and seeing my room for the first time. she died. right there on the stairs. right after she killed my father. lol.

[Keely]

If you have any trouble whatsoever getting her up in the morning, do NOT let her paint the walls black. Trust me on this one.

[Vicki@frugalmomknowsbest]

Uuugggghhhh, up next is white face paint and black hair. Sigh.

Anyway, I left you a pretty award on my site!

[Sandra]

Ah yes, black. We went through that with Allie. We eventually settled on green walls and black trim (baseboards closet doors) It doesn't look bad. What if you did a nice lavender wall with black trim OR add a big piece of Black Board framed on the wall - she can draw, write her schedule, you can leave her messages, her friends can write messages... just an idea

[Holly (me.)]

Like the bedding, but cringing at the idea of black paint. Our almost 9 yr old seems to be holding just shy of Tween for the moment.

[Jazzy Bird's Mom]

"Been there...done that!" A year later she wants to repaint.

As an alternative to black, my daughter and her father (bless his heart and great patience--unusual but, thank god, in abundance on that day), in an 10'x12' room, painted 12" wide black and white stripes (on one wall the white stripes were painted grape sherbet) with dark grey painted on the sloping ceilings. This replaced bright turquoise--again, a colour she had chosen and I had consented, to get her out of our bed. She claimed the tiny ducks and friendly hedgehogs of Suzie's Zoo wallpaper frightened her. Okay, so I admit it, she had well outgrown that wallpaper by age 9. My daughter who is now in a minimalist period--attempting to decrease her environmental foot print, will be painting her room on her own next go round! She's 15. The turquoise we had painted the year prior to black, white/grape sherbet and grey, chilled her to the bones, again, in less than a year. Funny how the skeletons on her runners and t-shirts don't.

Good luck Leanne! Maybe, your daughter should buck the going trend and paint white--maybe just do a really good prime paint-- install the comforter and pillow shams and "live with it for a while"--guaranteed she will change her mind in a year, wait a year, and if she still wants black, she'll be old enought to paint herself or choose another comforter.

As I previously said "Been there, done that!", but welcome the opportunity to vent and console. May the god of paint brushes and Barbara Colaruso be with you and the patience of the all mighty!

[kath]

Ha! I remember how upset our Mother was when she saw Margie's room, but it was seriously gorgeous ... way back when was likely 1968 or '69 if I recall ...

[Mom]

Black, hot pink, and lime green is the current "IN" combination.

Good luck with the redecorating.

[Elle]

Our second daughter wanted to paint her room black for a while, but finally changed her mind and it's now two shades of light blue, but she has a black and white paisley comforter. It was a nice compromise for us.

[RamonGustav]

I think you are not quite right and you should still studying the matter.

[Antivirus_man]

I liked your site, you are very interesting to write. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!