Well, today is the big reveal day for me!!!! Along with 17 other bloggers, I declared that I was going to Fall In Love with a room in my home and I chose the playroom.
Well, I’ve worked hard the last 6 weeks to improve this space dramatically. It is by no means totally finished as there are some ceiling issues to deal with still. But the reality is I am one woman- a working mom, writing a blog, running a vintage barn sale business, training for a half marathon, watching soccer games, carting kids to soccer and dance, doing homework with them, refinishing projects and shopping for the barn….. oh and did I mention the minimal budget part? So I did the best I could and am really happy with the results. One day when I am making millions, we will hire a contractor to help with our ceiling. 🙂 And don’t get me wrong- this is no “woe is me”. I am thrilled! I am just keeping it real for you- I think most people can relate to having kids, jobs, low budget, minimal free time; am I right? But it doesn’t have to stop us from having spaces we love!
Remember where we started? It looked roughly like this, and looked this rough. 😉 (The map wall had already come down.)
I wanted a space that suited all of their needs for play, dress up, wii, creativity, lounging to read or watch movies. I wanted a space that would inspire them to read, create, draw, use their imaginations. I wanted a space that would remind them of the magic in some of our favorite fantasy books, and I wanted them to remember to believe. I wanted a space that would be eclectic and fabulous enough that I would want to be there playing with them! I am happy to say that I now have what I wanted.
And now let me show you the after! (And let me preface by saying this room gets pretty much zero natural light, so I did the best I could to capture this space.)
As you can see this is a large room divided into two areas. The first area you see when coming down the stairs is where most of the toys and games are stored, and all art supplies are located. The table and chairs serves as a space for the kids to play games, create, draw, etc. The table was finished a while back with polycrylic, and glitter glue just peels right off! The chairs were once in my dining room as head chairs, and Sawyer in particular loves them, so I brought them in for him. He let out a jubilant “Oh yay!!!!!! We got the comfy chairs!”
This space also features the huge chalkboard wall and Narnia inspired door (forest wallpaper can be found at Design Your Wall). I turned off all of the lights and took this shot below with a 30 second shutter speed.
You might spy something else new in that photo above! Before we had a hideous fluorescent light above the table, now we have the glorious Possini Euro Design sputnik style light from Lamps Plus!!!! I am in LOVE with it! It modernizes the space and makes it slightly more grown up; and it will allow this room to grow up with my kids, too!
Let’s take a closer look at that light….
Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!? And just perfect for this space? And lucky me, I have a bachelor neighbor who is an electrician and about the nicest guy on the block (aside from Chris, of course!). It’s great having neighbors like that, especially bachelors who enjoy being paid in beer and homemade baked goods. And the light? Well it just completes this space in my mind (aside from where the ceiling needs to be repaired where the old light was).
Here it is off….
And on….
We have two expedits from Ikea in this area which help keep us organized. On the larger one we store games and puzzles on higher shelves, and the bottom shelves are full of baskets that are filled with toys. To the left you can see I hung some clipboards for the kids to display their art.
On the very top of the expedit shelf, I placed some of the things that inspired this makeover. Below you see a lion my mom and I found at homegoods, whom I am calling Aslan. I also brought down my Lord of the Rings quote for this space, and some of the kids artwork. The top cubbies were filled with large dinosaurs. I also added the boxed sets of The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as a thrifted unicorn and a vintage globe.
On the lower expedit shelf, I’ve stored more toys in basket (imagine that!) and a huge portion of the kids’ books.
The vintage swan bookends were found by one of my vendors who texted me a picture and asked if I needed them. This woman could be my personal shopper- of course I needed them!!! And yes, we are O’s fans here!
And the artwork was a yard sale find- the crests reminded me very much of Narnia and Harry Potter. I love that they are animals!
To the left of this shelf I added a vintage brass cart I found at a flea market; and to the top of that I added a tray from Ikea filled with the kids art supplies, so they can easily move it or lift and carry it to the table. The lower portion of the cart, which I believe was once intended for records, stores the kids coloring books. The big numbered basket came from Ikea, and it’s perfect for storing all of the miscellaneous balls.
And yes, my kids actually do keep the crayons organized like this, in color order. I did it for them once, and they now prefer it this way. I did purchase new crayons and markers for this reveal because I noticed how shoddy ours were looking!
One other portion of this space I should talk about are the vintage lockers. These lockers store the kids dress up as well as more art supplies. The metal baskets on the top store stickers I don’t want the kids accessing easily…. (otherwise they will all be used in one sitting and found on walls, doors, lockers, etc….. and I just noticed there are a few stray pom poms on the floor- ha!).
Now let’s head into the back portion of this space, which is a nice cozy lounging area for them. I removed the coffee table, added a new rug from World Market, and made it more open and conducive to the activities they partake in over here- playing wii, watching movies and lounging on the pillows from World Market, and singing loudly with Emmy’s karaoke machine. These kids just need ROOM and comfort!
I also added two end tables I had on hand. These were once used as our coffee table when we first moved into this house, and they ended up working perfectly and brought a little of the blue from the lockers to this area. One of my favorite new parts of this space of course is the photo grid gallery wall. The awesome prints from The Animal Print Shop paired with the grid layout and printable quotes make it sophisticated but still youthful. I also added a great capiz light from World Market. It it not on below, just catching the light from the window.
The TV nook was one of the first areas of the playroom I tackled. I knew I wanted the TV to be lost in a black wall (I used chalkboard paint) and I wanted the credenza to pop. I also added a DIY capiz garland at that time. And of course no space is complete without a disco ball. Emmy and I found two of these at the flea market and one went here, and the other in her American girl nook.
The credenza also got some new hardware! Home Depot sent me these gorgeous sea glass knobs, and they were perfect to add to the sliding doors!
On the tables on either side of the couch, I stacked the kids magazines neatly. We’ve got Lego Club, Highlights, American Girl, all available for your reading pleasure.
Speaking of American Girl, on this side of the playroom is the nook under the stairs where Emmy has her little American Girl Nook. It’s behind that curtain, with Oz. Outside of her closet hangs an awesome piece of art featuring a leopard- I found this locally at Silk & Burlap. Under that hangs an Ikea hex mirror which I thought would be perfect to serve as a fun dress up mirror. To the right of the closet hangs a woven storage piece that is perfect for all the American Girl clothes. As you can see, Emmy labeled them herself. 😉
And inside the closet, it looks like this when it’s clean and organized. 😉
And I think that wraps it all up for now!
Like I said, I still have a couple of construction type projects in there with the ceiling, but all in all, I am thrilled with how far it’s come! My kids have a space they can play safely in which serves all of their needs, and which will hopefully inspire them and feed their creativity!
Now be sure to visit today’s other reveals at Wills Casa, Nalle’s House, Brittany Makes, and Number Fifty-Three.
And see the schedule for the week below:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Sharing here: Link Party Palooza, Best of the Nest
