I was absolutely insane this week and I let my 3 and 5 year olds paint their step stools that I got from IKEA last year. It wasn’t as messy as I expected or as neat as I had hoped. I let them go into the dungeon of DIY and choose from the paint we have. My daughter chose black and wants to decoupage flowers to it and paint her name in pink. We’ll probably do all the embellishing this weekend. My son chose an oops green and that we’ve never used. I LOVE IT. Makes me want to paint more stuff green.
One of the stools before
My 5 year old who thinks painting furniture is neat-o.
Both stools now
I learned a few things.
- Men are funny about not wanting wood painted, even if it’s just $20 ikea step stools
- Painting with kids is fun
- Kids are impatient when it comes to painting. They both climbed on their stools before they were dry, so I had some touching up to do.
- Kids have good taste in paint (or at least mine do).
- If you open a can of paint in front of a 3 year old, you should know he’s taking mental notes and may open a can of paint later when you aren’t watching.
- Then, he might mix red and white paint together and get it on himself.
- It will all be worth giving littles the experience of creating something themselves and happily using it later.
Added to Beautiful Life Friday at The Inspired Room.
That is so cute!! I’ve tried painting with Zack. He has an attention span of .4 minutes and then he’s done. Maybe when he’s older.
[Reply]
Beautiful! The kids, the experience, the stools, and the writing!
And I love that they are each on each other’s!
[Reply]
Wow, they came out so well. I’m impressed!
[Reply]
What a great idea for when the kids need something to do. The stepstool looks great painted!
[Reply]
I know all about men and NOT painting wood…what is up with that? The stools look awesome…love, love the colors
-kristiina
[Reply]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by remodelthislife: My latest post Painting Ikea Step Stools: I was absolutely insane this week and I let my 3 and 5 year olds paint t… http://bit.ly/aYfh8J...
those look beautiful!
[Reply]
You can’t ever go wrong with black, and I truly love that shade of green. LOVE!
[Reply]
Love them! It is so much fun to paint with kids- my kids get all kinds of excited when I pull out the paintbrushes. I have been looking for a stepstool just like that one- now I know where to go! (Isn’t Ikea the BEST?)
[Reply]
when i was painting this week – my girls were dying to “help”. something with paint and kids. they love it. your outcome looks great!
[Reply]
I think they did a great job. Can’t wait to see the embellishiing when it’s complete.
[Reply]
I am all about painting things. Your kids must have loved this project!! They look cute.
-FringeGirl
[Reply]
GREAT idea to do this project with the kids!!! You’re training up future DIYers! : )
[Reply]
Oh gosh they are so sweet! Both the kids and the stools
Wish we had an Ikea nearby Kansas 
[Reply]
gorgeous…the stools and the painting with kids! loved #5..if you open it, they will too. but if you show them how to make up their beds, they won’t. what gives?
[Reply]
those turned out so cute (i love that green color too!) and my husband too hates painting wood – we have these bunk beds that i’ve been dying to paint white – oh and my kitchen cabinets – i want to paint them so badly but he keeps saying nice wood is not meant to be painted….
[Reply]
[...] Painting Ikea Step Stools | remodeling this life [...]
[...] Painting Ikea Step Stools | remodeling this life [...]
I am so new to all this online, the more I read the more I realize there’s so much more for me to learn, thanks for the awesome post I will be back! Painting Ikea Step Stools | remodeling this life was a wonderful read.
[Reply]
[...] I handed my kids paint brushes and let them paint their Ikea step stools. [...]
These turned out cute! I am planning on doing this with my son’s preschool class. We are going to do some finger prints on them to make different creatures. I was wondering if you did any primer before painting and then if you put anything at the end to keep the color? Any suggestions would be greatly appreicated! ~Raeane
[Reply]
[...] Painted Step Stool – Photo by Remodeling this Life. As Anneliese gets more sturdy on her feet and more independent with tooth-brushing and such, I’d like her to be able to reach the bathroom sink safely and easily. I have a little step stool but it’s not tall enough for a tiny toddler… it’s only one level like a tiny milkmaid stool. Apparently Ikea has some great-looking wooden step-stools with two steps that would be perfect! I’d love to personalize it a bit, not just leave it one color. [...]