I finally finished… is anything ever really done? the playroom!

I am methodically working my way through repainting and fixing rooms up in a way that only makes sense to me. I told my husband that things are ranked in my head from most offensive to least offensive and that’s how I am fixing things up. Aside from the offensive things that would cost to much money the house is coming along nicely. And so it came time for the Playroom to get a little spruce.

These are the best I could find with minimal effort of the before, shortly after we moved in. I am a horrible before picture taker. :)

With a 6 month younger not as much crazy haired Norah front and center.

Not much big stuff needed to be done. The trim was oak before so I painted that White, and then the walls got a nice fresh coat of Benjamin Moore’s Owl Gray it was a buttery beige before as seen in the above pictures. We used the owl gray in the family room and since this room feeds directly into that room it made sense to paint it the same. I then embarked on planking the back wall and painted that white. It makes it feel so much bigger with the horizontal Planks and bright white.  I achieved the planking by cutting 4′ x 8′ luan also called underlayment plywood into strips, this wall is 8″ tall planks. I then just used my nail gun to attach them on the wall, cutting to size as I went. Then I hand brush painted the whole wall with primer and several coats of white until it was fully covered. You could definitely roll the paint but I like the texture of hand brushing on a plank wall.

The Playroom sits at the top of the back staircase which is located in our family room. In the above picture I am standing at the top of the stairs. The door to the right is my sewing room, and the door to the left goes into a small hallway that leads to my closet and two steps up to our master bedroom. You can go through the Master into the rest of the upstairs. The beauty of having two staircases makes the house a loop and we kind of really love that. It makes games of hide and seek rather fun!

The above picture looks over toward the reading area at the top of the stairs, and you can see it has a loft like feel over there being open to the family room.

I was able to get rid of two big boxes of toys without the kids noticing to much. They have asked for two of the things I donated so that’s a win! The shelf below is from Home Decorator’s Collection and  holds two big canvas bins, from homegoods, of dress up stuff, above those are Luke’s biggest trucks, above those are a couple Vintage Fischer Price Play things, and then the top as some random fun stuff. Chalk, bird houses the kids painted, wool felt balls in a jar, a jar of chalk, some vintage toys, a globe I paint with chalkboard paint awhile ago, and a green box with some craft project supplies. You also get a glance into my sewing space which is right off the playroom.

Here’s a better peek at the reading area loft and into the Family room. That’s the brick of our family room fireplace. The reading area up until the redo was just a landing spot for junk that needed to go elsewhere. There was a little armoire, a small table, and a bunch of random home decor sitting here for far to long without a proper home. Now it has a much better function as my children LOVE to read, especially Norah.

 

The Bookcase is the Bitrade from IKEA and was purchased because it was the perfect size and cheap. I am not sure this will last but for now it’s perfect. I used left over planking from the wall and stained it dark, then I nailed it to the back as this shelf has no back. I used a couple more of these green boxes, also from IKEA, to house puzzles and more craft supplies.  Our Play Room Quilt sits perfectly on one of the shelves for easy access.

 

I hung a bunch of random Chalkboards up here. Oddly enough my kids don’t use them to much. I think I like to doodle more than they do. The Bean bags are from an awesome Project Nursery tutorial I came across on Pinterest.  I stitched the zippers closed so we haven’t had a problem with leaking beans. The beans themselves are from clearanced out regular style bean bags from Target. They were the cheapest option I could find for buying beans. The Stripe fabric is from IKEA, and the green on the bottom is a linen I found several yards of while thrifting years ago. This style of bean bag is so much more comfortable and cute than the average ball shape in my opinion, I can sit in them comfortably and play for awhile too!

 

At the top of the stairs we have two wrapped canvases, one of each of the children of their 1 year photo session. Photos are by my awesome brother who along with his wife had a professional Photography business. They are transitioning to new careers now, not for lack of talent. :) The Canvases are from Canvas Bundle and Easy Canvas Prints, they are both 16″ x 20″ and are both super great quality.

 

Playroom art is so fun don’t you think? I love picking art for kids spaces it’s so much more whimsical, bright, and quirky. The La La Love you print I have had  for so long as is from SparklePower on etsy, the Hip Hip HooRay banner I made myself, the Plus Symbol hoop I also made, and the bird I made from perler birds off a picture I saw on pinterest. The chalkboard which you can see in some of the other pictures is one my mom bought me while we were shopping at the Main Street Market in Rockford, IL. Definitely a must go if your in the area.

The Fox Mini Quilt I whipped up last week using Elizabeth Hartman’s fancy fox pattern, the clock is from Homegoods, the Print is from Pen and Paint, and the Bear Head is from Joann’s.

Over by the Teepee (the teepee was my husbands as a child) I hung the Busy Board I made for Luke several years ago, our old rotary dial phone, a small smile embroidery hoop I made, and an embroidered snippet of a bible verse. “you shine like stars”

I painted the shelves for toys white, they were thrifted 5 or so years ago and have been a redish maple color up until now. I  put a new top on this cool old table I found several years ago. It used to have a laminate top with a metal rim. Not quite the style I was going with. The little chairs are a few of the ones I have thrifted. I am a sucker for child size chairs.

I finally figured out how to hang up the kids artwork!!! Like seriously I thought about this sooooo much! I used Tim Holtz clipboard clips I found at Joann’s a hung them directly to the wall. Inexpensive and they work super great!

 

One of the fun things I enjoyed was making yards of garland and stringing it and white globe lights up on the ceiling. I love this aspect of the room and it is so fun to play up here at night with it on.

Lastly I finished the quilt I had been planning for the play room. It is simple half square triangles. It’s a copy of Denyse Schmidt’s quilt she made in her Hadley fabric and Kona Snow as the white. The back is pieced and it is bound in a neon pink solid I have had in my stash for years. This quilt is so gorgeous in person, the colors are super lovely, and I straight line quilted it at 3/8″ apart which takes forever but gives the most amazing texture.

 

Thanks so much for taking  tour or our playroom with me! I love to share the spaces I pour my heart and hard work into with you all!