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When you love playing with cars, the world is your motorway! Help pave the way for creative play by using paint and masking to turn your kid’s bedroom or playroom into a whole world for them to explore.

The grassy lower walls and floor in this room are painted in Resene Highland while the road is in Resene Shark with dashed lines in Resene Broom and the mountains are in Resene Trojan with snowy caps in Resene Bubble White. To keep the space feeling light, the sky is in Resene Saltpan. The upper shelves are painted Resene Java with clouds beneath in Resene Bubble White.

Add a splash of colour on shelves and accessories

The lower shelf is in Resene Japanese Laurel, the chair is in Resene Anise, the toybox is in Resene Sebedee with a lid in Resene Broom, the hooks are in Resene Broom and Resene Bubble White, and the plant pots, bowls and vases (from left to right) are in Resene Broom, Resene Shark, Resene Japanese Laurel, Resene Anise, Resene Sebedee, Resene Bubble White, Resene Java and Resene Sebedee. Even the peg pedestrians have been painted to match in Resene Sebedee, Resene Broom, Resene Japanese Laurel and Resene Java.

Magnetic magic!

To add another dimension of play, the grassy section of the wall has been given two basecoats of Resene FX Magnetic Magic. Attach strong magnets to the back of other plywood shapes or small wooden toys – cars, trees, buildings, letters and numbers – and your kids will spend countless hours playing out stories on their walls. To make things even better, if you choose Resene FX Chalkboard Paint or Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen as the base for your tinted topcoat colour then the surface also works as a chalkboard. Simply wipe it clean with a damp cloth anytime your children want a blank canvas for drawing.

Fast lane bookends

Kids have a special superpower. When they see a simple shape, they don’t just see a square, circle, rectangle or triangle – they see a robot, flower, spaceship or tree, and all they need is a bit of paint to uncover its true form. A helpful adult can help make a few simple cuts using a jigsaw, scroll saw or similar tool to create basic shapes out of plywood and help to sand down any sharp edges. Just wipe away sawdust, then the real fun can begin!

With just a couple of plywood squares and rectangles, toy cars and Resene testpots, you can put a pair of boring bookends on the highway to fun. We painted ours in two coats of Resene Shark, allowing time to dry in between. To speed things up, you can always use a hair dryer to put the drying process in the fast lane.

Once your basecoats are dry, use high quality masking tape to create the dashed centre line. Simply find the centre of your rectangle, apply strips of masking half a centimetre on either side, then use perpendicular strips of masking to create the gaps in between. We painted our dashes in Resene Broom. While your roads are drying, paint a few wooden or diecast vehicles using Resene testpots in your favourite colours. We used two coats each of Resene Sebedee, Resene Untamed and Resene Mystery for our cars.

Once everything has dried, use quick bond glue to attach your road sections to the back of your metal bookend and each other so your shapes create an ‘L’ shape. Then, glue the wheels of your vehicles onto your roadways so that they appear to be driving up and down your bookends!

For more information on this activity, colour inspiration and accessories, visit Resene.co.nz

Article provided by Resene. Styling by Laura Lynn Johnston. Photography by Bryce Carleton. 2020

Read more on Kidspot:

• Transitioning a Kids Room from Toddler to Teen
• DIY ‘Whatever the Weather’ Bookends and Mobile
• The Low Odour and Eco Friendly Way to Paint Your Child’s Room