Oh what have I done???
I thought it would be a great idea to paint our playroom, yellow. Okay, so I painted the top half in white, really BRIGHT white, I might add, and then I painted the bottom half in yellow, even BRIGHTER yellow. In fact, it was called Caution Yellow. I was planning to put a wooden trim in between to separate the colors, and then some sort of border above the trim. But right now, the colors are SO VERY BRIGHT, I do not even know what to put to sort of calm it all down!!! Originally, I thought I'd sponge on shapes, like triangles, squares and circles, in primary colors. But now, with the walls being so bright, I think I need an idea for something more MELLOW. Do you have any ideas??? The playroom is for 3 boys, ages 5, 2 and 6 months. I would like something with a happy theme, or outdoorsy, or anything really, as long as it will help out the mess I've created! This is the first time I've ever painted anything. I hope you all can help!
Maybe you could sponge or rag a lighter yellow over both the white and yellow you have already painted to mellow things out. Then add your shapes in different colors. Just my thoughts on the subject! Good Luck!
Nah, go with it! If you make it all bright, you can really have some fun with your room! You will be able to tone it down considerably with a few things like this:
-- furniture in a darker color, like a royal blue or dark green
-- A black chalkboard on the wall somewhere, any size
-- An area rug with mostly the darker primaries in it
-- beanbag chairs in primary colors of red or blue
-- Your sponge idea is great -- but maybe a stencil would be even better, especially if you make the shapes a bit bigger than you had originally planned using those darker primary colors, and make them solid, not "spongy" with the faded look to them.
You'll be surprised when you start adding the other colors in how much it will tone down the white and yellow. Remember, these are just your background colors that you're using on the wall. They might seem overpowering, but once you start adding in the accessories and the real workings of the room, you'll be amazed at how those bright colors get toned down.
Darker colors will tend to "anchor" a room. You could use a royal blue for your chair rail to separate the white and yellow, but I'd probably go with a red instead. Have you thought about maybe painting a big traffic light on one wall? That might be a fun addition!
Also, going with a "faded" look is going to look worn out much sooner. You wanted bright and fun -- so you should stick with that! If you're also working with fabric, try some red canvas, or blue denim.
Hope this helps. Best wishes on your decorating!
Jen Wesner
Mission Viejo, CA
Mom of 5 girls and not afraid to paint
(cause you can always re-paint if you don't like it!)
That's a relatively easy thing to fix. Assuming you have at least a little paint left over and an old sponge or rag. Dilute the paint with glaze (available at a home improvement store or Walmart)so it is more opaque and sponge or rag the top and bottom with the opposite color. If you're unsure about technique go online to get more info. This will give a more uniform look to the walls as well as preserving the tone of the color while making it slightly less "shocking". The trim to separate the two areas is a very good idea. You may also want to consider a decor appropriate wallpaper border applied just above (or below) the trim strip. Good luck-you can do it!!
I agree with mwnjw leave the bright colors and as you add the other things in the room the color will calm down. We painted our bedroom in a bright yellow and at first we thought it was far too bright but as we added our furniture and curtain etc. it became a lovely background color. If it is in a playroom the kids will love it being so bright. Let them add their signature it the room . When I did the nursery at church we had all the children at sunday school one sunday dip their hands in all colors of paint and then print them on the wall. It was like a chair rail (at children's height) around the room. The kids all loved it. they could pick out their own prints and took pride in the art work.
relax and enjoy the wonderful colors that you have used.
__________________
Sandy
A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I decided to go with Jen and stitcher45, and leave the bright colors. We picked out a bug theme, because nothing says boys like BUGS. :p So we went to the wallpaper store and bought some really cute bug wallpaper border. I wanted to skip this step initially because I thought it would be too expensive, but they were having a sale and it wasn't bad as I only needed 2 rolls. I just figured out that I am 2 feet short, so I am not sure what I'll do about that. maybe just put a piece of furniture there and skip it?? I also bought a Miss Spider book, and we are going to cut out some of the pages and frame them to hang on the walls. They are really neat pictures, and that was only $12 for art work, plus whatever the mattes(sp?) cost. I will skip the wood and glass frames since my kids will probably knock them off the walls playing ball eventually! And I LOVE the bean bag idea. We have had dh's HIDEOUS Iowa Hawkeye bean bag sittin in the garage for 6 years, and I am going to cover it in some fuzzy fabric in blue or red, and throw it in a corner. Then I'll sew some curtains and I'll be done!!! Thank you so much for the ideas!!! I wish I could incorporate that chalk board idea in there somewhere, but I dont know how! Hey, when I get this all done, mabye I can somehow put a picture of it in here? is that possible?? Thank you again!
Lena
at home mommy to Zane(5) Trace(2) and Cade(6mos)
Hey this sounds like fun, brave you for using the colors and the bugs, GREAT IDEA! Our paint store has some type of magnetic paint for the walls, I keep seeing the display, but I couldn't think of a use for it for myself. Maybe instead of a chalk board you could do something like this in one area and add the letters and numbers and use them to hold up your boys art work, etc. Hope you can get pictures, sounds like a great place to play. Found it interesting to hear of the Hawkeye beanbag. They didn't do too bad this year I hear. Janie from Iowa
I've never used it myself, but I understand that there is such a thing as blackboard paint. It's a paint that when it dries, works just like a chalkboard! You could paint it on at their levels, and paint a border around it, or frame it with wood nailed to the wall
I love the ideas here, especially the bugs!! Great idea with the kid's spider book!
If your wallpaper border has bugs big enough, you could cut some of them out of the border and paste them on the walls in various areas of the room.
Some fun things for shelves would be to paint some rocks as bugs, I JUST DID THIS YESTERDAY! How weird is that??? I've attached a picture here. (When you are ready to attach a picture, just save the pic to your computer then click browse at the end of the screen when you are replying and it allows you to upload it from there)
Playroom HELP!!! 
Just my thoughts on the subject!
Good Luck!
And I LOVE the bean bag idea. We have had dh's HIDEOUS Iowa Hawkeye bean bag sittin in the garage for 6 years, and I am going to cover it in some fuzzy fabric in blue or red, and throw it in a corner. Then I'll sew some curtains and I'll be done!!! 
