Top Tips for Decorating with Children

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know I have been painting the house for the last two days.

Normally the thought of doing this with the children around would induce stress and headaches before a brush was lifted.

I did though manage to get through it fairly stress free. The following tips may help you.

Tip 1. Where possible do all decorating whilst children are away! 

Tip 2. See Tip 1. Only joking there are times that the children cannot be avoided. For these times make sure to have some small flat artists paintbrushes available and a small paint tray. 

Tip 3. Find an area that is unlikely to be seen. Unless someone is on their hands and knees, or furniture needs to be moved.

I used the space behind the couch. 

Tip 4. Make them feel that the bit they are doing is the most important and that you trust them to do it right. Confidence is key.

Tip 5. No matter how badly they do it. When they ask, tell them they are doing a great job. 

Tip 6. Do not overdo tips 4 and 5. This will lead to them wanting to do more and asking to upgrade to a bigger brush, or the Roller! This cannot be allowed to happen.

Tip 7. Do not let more than one child assist at a time. It is too difficult to keep an eye on more than one location at a time. Keep in mind you are only distracting them so that you can work fast to get the job done.

If you follow these tips successfully. After a short time, during which hopefully they have not made too big a mess of it. They will get bored leaving you to do the rest uninterrupted.

Are there any tips you have for little painters ?