Painting Services, Products and Stores

Q. You have two teenage boys. What color are their rooms?

Debbie: When we first did [one son's room], it was lime green and the walls were blue. And then he went away to camp. He was 14 at the time. [I asked a couple painters from the show], "Come on, help me do his room."

By the time he came back I'd repainted the shelves that were high up in Hammerite. It's a great product, like a car metal, so it looks like battered steel. We tried to funk up the room a bit. We did the walls in a pale yellow, like a Philippe Starck-type yellow, and all of the cabinets, chest of drawers, and shelving was done with this Hammerite, which you roll on or spray on.

Nurseries and Murals

Q. Any tips for parents decorating nurseries?

Debbie: If you don't know the baby's sex, go for something neutral. I love the cornflower blues and yellows. When you're decorating a nursery, you need to think of yourself. Because you're going to notice way more than that baby is.

When you're sitting there at 4:30 in the morning breastfeeding or whatever, you need to be relaxed. There's been a lot talk of black and white -- how it's visually so fabulous for a child -- but I don't think I want to be in black-and-white room full of abstract patterns in the middle of the night. You need to be calm, not having your heart pumping.

I remember one mother saying that she filled the nursery full of all these wild and stimulating things. Of course, the kid is there half asleep nursing away and you're there in this wild nursery at night.

You need a really good chair or you need a daybed. Think of where you're going to be comfortable. And then you need more practical things like curtains. You need blackout fabric. Get it now, before the baby is born so it really is dark. And lamps -- things that have soft lighting so you can easily access lights when you walk into the room without putting on a full light and waking the baby.

Q. Any decorating secrets?

Debbie: Most people don't have the talent to do a mural. But there are so many budding young artists who are in art school who are desperate for money, who would much rather paint a mural than go work in a coffee shop. You can get a mural done for a couple hundred bucks. Keep it simple. Just put an ad in the local art school, and you'll be amazed at the talent. A couple of hours and they'll just whip it up.

Better Homes and Gardens

FIND HELP FOR THIS PROJECT