All Moms of Georgia

Hey A.,

I am a interior design student at GSU and single mother. I am currently trying to get a small bizz off the ground (decorating and organizing) and I have experience painting walls. Currently I am making my bathroom jungle theme on top of the orange I painted for my little girl, and I plan to do pink bubbles over the blue I painted in her room. Anyhoo, my business is doing pro-bono (FREE!) work to gather pics for a portfolio, and my roommate is a muralist so she gives me tips and advice. Depending on where you live, I would seriously consider painting for you, all you would have to do is buy the supplies. If you decide you want our service (all we ask is to be able to take pics of the before and after and use for our portfolio), feel free to email us at ____@____.com

I'm afraid when you talk about hiring a muralist or decorator, then you're probably starting to get out of the cheap range! However, there are lots of places online with great decorating ideas and books at the local library. I would start by looking at IKEA. They have fantastic and cool kid's decor, furniture and toys -and it's REALLY cheap! Most of it holds up very well though. Make sure they have a table with puzzles, markers, play-doh, paper, etc. in their room and maybe a big chalk board mounted on the wall or else the type of paint you can get that works like a chalk board on the wall. Definitely put some books and maybe a little tent or "cave" type area in one corner with pillows. The older boys would probably really enjoy a fish tank. Don't forget to let them keep some favorite toys in there -maybe a train system or huge Lego set -whatever they're really into that can keep them occupied for awhile.

Go to www.whatisblik.com. They make really cool decals that go on your kids' walls and are not permanent. In other words, if, a year down the road, your child doesn't like it anymore, you can peel them off and they don't take the paint underneath off. My son has really cool robots on his walls. They were, I think, $45 for the set. A whole lot less expensive and definitely less of a long term commitment.

Hello, my name is P. and I know the perfect person for you who can put your boy's room in Good Homes and Gardens catalogs. She did a Winnie the Pooh wall in her room and it was great. She is so detailed and creative.

Call me ###-###-####.

My sister, who is not an artist, borrowed an overhead projector and projected an image of Thomas the Train on her son's wall. Then she just traced it and painted it. It turned out really well and hardly cost anything.