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Upcycling children's bedroom furniture

A child's piece of furniture is upcycled like any wooden furniture — clean, sand, prime, two thin coats of Multi-Surface Eggshell — with two precautions: a water-based paint compliant with the EN 71-3 toy standard, which every Mylands paint is, and a week of curing before the piece goes back to its owner. After that anything goes: two-tone, blocks, stripes, a drawer of each colour. A piece of furniture is far easier to repaint than a wall when the child grows up.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Child's chest of drawers painted a soft pale blue in eggshell, wooden drawer knobs, against a warm white wall, a paper mobile above — Lambeth Walk No.210 in Eggshell: soft in the light, washable with a flannel

Safety first

What a paint has to be for a child's room

A child touches, licks and chews whatever you give them. The paint on a child's furniture must therefore be water-based, low in VOCs and compliant with the EN 71-3 toy standard, which limits the migration of heavy metals — every Mylands paint is, wall and multi-surface alike. It must also be cured: a film that is dry in three hours takes two to four weeks to reach its hardness, and a piece handed back too soon keeps the marks of teeth and toys. Allow a week at least, more if you can.

What the standard does not say, the finish does: Multi-Surface Eggshell washes with a damp flannel, resists washable felt-tips and hands, and stays soft under a bedroom's light. Satin resists still more for a desk top or a small chair; Dead Matt, chalkier, suits a wardrobe that is rarely touched. For the walls, Marble Matt Emulsion, class 1 washable, and our page Child-safe paint for nurseries and playrooms.

The method

Upcycling a piece in six steps

01

Dismantle, check, make safe

Knobs, handles, doors, drawers. Use the moment to tighten what wobbles, re-glue what is coming loose, sand a sharp edge: an upcycled child's piece must come out sturdier than it went in. An old piece painted before 1990 may carry lead paint: do not dry-sand; dampen, wear a mask, and if doubt persists, strip it chemically or choose another piece.
02

Clean, de-wax, sand

Wash with mild detergent; wax remover if the piece is waxed. Sand with 120 to dull a varnish or an old paint, with 180 on bare wood, along the grain; round the corners. Knots sealed with knotting solution on pine. Dust off carefully.
03

Prime

One coat of Multi-Surface Primer on bare wood, melamine and any marked change of colour; rub down with 240 after 3 to 4 hours. It is what keeps the colour on under the toys.
04

Mark out the colour zones

For a two-tone or blocks, paint the lighter shade everywhere first, let it dry, then mask with tape and paint the darker. For a perfect line, brush a thin coat of the light shade along the tape's edge before the dark one: it seals the tape and the dark cannot creep under.
05

Two thin coats of finish

Brush along the grain, small foam roller on flat panels followed by a lay-off with the brush. Thin coats, second coat after 3 to 4 hours, tape removed while the second coat is still slightly damp. A night of drying flat before refitting.
06

A week before handing the piece back

Refit the drawers and knobs the next day, but keep the piece out of reach for a week, two if you can: the film hardens, the already faint smell goes, and the first toy-car wheels leave nothing.

Small chest on trestles, drawers out and lined up in front, masking tape marking out a colour block, pale blue and honey yellow, a brush resting — Step 4: the light shade everywhere, the tape, then the dark

The ideas

Six ways to upcycle a child's piece

A child's room is the one place in the house where you can play with colour without risk: the piece is repainted when the child grows. Six ideas, each with the wall that goes with it — and, for the walls themselves, our soft colours for a child's room.

Two-tone, top and bottom

The body of the piece in a soft shade, the top and plinth in a deeper shade of the same family: simple, grown-up, and the top hides marks better.

Body · Lambeth Walk No.210 Top · Boathouse No.33 Wall · Whitehall No.9

Rainbow drawers

The body off-white, each drawer a different colour, from the lightest at the top to the brightest at the bottom: the child learns to tidy by colour.

Drawer 1 · Kensington Rose No.22 Drawer 2 · Cornhill No.128 Drawer 3 · Hurlingham No.181 Drawer 4 · Coral Orange No.277

The colour block

A rectangle or a half-circle of confident colour painted across the piece, running onto the wall behind: piece and wall become one. See Freeform shapes.

Block · Circle Line No.45 Piece & wall · Greenwich Time No.8

Stripes

Two close tones in wide vertical stripes on a wardrobe or a headboard, with tape: the pattern you do not regret at ten.

Stripe · Walpole No.42 Stripe · Notting Hill No.213

Tone on tone that soothes

The piece in the exact shade of the wall, in Eggshell: for a baby's or toddler's room, a calm space where nothing jumps out.

Piece & wall · Mint Street No.95

The accent on one piece only

Light room, white furniture — and one small chair, one stool in a vivid colour. The accent that is enough, and changes in an hour.

Chair · Vermillion FTT-010 Wall · St Clement No.11

To avoid

What people regret in a child's room

Handing the piece back the next day. The film is dry, not hard: every toy prints into it. One week.
A paint not made to be chewed. Check the EN 71-3 toy standard; every Mylands paint meets it.
Dry-sanding an old piece. Lead paint is wet-sanded, or not at all.
Too many colours on one piece. Three shades of one family are enough; beyond that the piece shouts.
Dead matt on a desk top. It marks with felt-tip and water glasses; Eggshell or Satin on what gets used.

Finished child's room: pale blue chest with a mid-blue top, warm white walls, small wooden bed, wool rug, wooden toys on the chest — A week later, the chest is back in its room

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Are Mylands paints really suitable for toys and children's furniture?

Yes: water-based, low in VOCs, compliant with the EN 71-3 toy standard (migration of certain elements). That applies to Marble Matt Emulsion and to the multi-surface finishes. Let it cure for two weeks if the object will go in a mouth.

Can a cot be painted?

Yes, with the same method and attention to the bars, which the child chews: Eggshell, thin coats by brush, two weeks of curing. An old cot may carry lead paint; in doubt, strip chemically or replace.

How do I clean a painted piece in a child's room?

Damp flannel and mild soap, after curing. Washable felt-tips come off with water; a permanent marker needs a light sand and a touch-up — keep the sample pot for that.

How much paint for a child's piece?

A small chest or a desk is 1.5 to 2 m² of visible surface: one 250 ml tin of finish is enough for two coats, and a 250 ml tin of each shade for a two-tone.

And if the child wants fluorescent pink?

Negotiate a drawer. The FTT range, our vivid studio shades — a pink, a vermilion, a bold yellow — exists in multi-surface and makes a terrific accent on a single element, in an otherwise calm room.