I have been wanting to change the kid's playroom for a while now. It was just not meeting their needs anymore. No place to really sit down and draw, play a game, or build Legos. There was also no place, except the closet, to store anything.
Well, my mom came for a week and we both got busy "growing up" their playroom. We were up until all hours of the night going through toys and everything else that was in there. We spent a lot of time thinking about what we needed to make it more fun and accessible. Then a trip to Ikea and Target and we were set. There was also a trip to a very sketchy area of town, via Craig's list! More about that later. If my mom had been here for a little bit longer, we would have painted. That's next.
For now, it turned out fantastic and the kids have been in there every morning instead of turning on the tv! They both had sleepovers this weekend and all 4 of them were in there playing constantly!! The best thing, for me, was that it stayed picked up. We really tried hard to make the cleaning up as easy as possible. The older sister of Jordan's friend, who is 11, said it was the coolest playroom ever!! Well, I'm not sure about ever.....but that was nice to hear.
Of course we forgot to take before pictures......
This is walking into the playroom. We took the doors off and one of the chalk/magnetic boards that we made years ago. That little storage unit fit perfectly under the window. I'd like to say we planned that!
Obviously this is not a picture of our playroom. This is a picture of the fabric slings mom is making for us, ours will be deeper than the one shown in the picture. There will be 2 of them hanging next to the remaining chalkboard. The fabric we chose is gorgeous and they will be reversible. We're going to put over sized coloring books and other larger items in there. I think it's going to look great. Can't wait until we get them up.
Here's the new table we got from Craig's List. I have never bought anything from there before. I usually just use it to price my stuff that I am selling. Well, we were looking for a table that would work well for art projects and games. We thought we wanted a white round table. We couldn't find one! I looked on Craig's list for one and found this. The listing said nothing was wrong with it they just needed to sell it. We loved the price so we bought it. Mom and I had to drive about thirty minutes away to pick it up in a town called Pinehurst, between Magnolia and Tomball. Anyway, it was getting dark so we were trying to hurry. We passed the road we needed to turn on twice before finally finding it. NO streetlights at all, lots of trailers, chain link fencing with chain locks. Mom said there was no way Rob would ever let me go to an area like this! We couldn't find the house address, trailer address, because it was so dark. We had to turn around in a really sketchy semi driveway. I know Mom was waiting for people and dogs to come out with guns blazing! We finally found it and pulled in the little driveway with huge gulleys on either side. Out walks the girl we were meeting. Piercings and tattoos everywhere on her. I could feel mom shivering behind me. We walked to the front door and the house was empty except for our table. We walk inside to look at it and make sure we want it. Mom actually is shaking the table and sitting in the chairs to test them out. It had knicks in it, but for the price we were paying for 4 chairs and the table, we still wanted it. Out comes this huge guy, also with piercings and tattoos everywhere. He offers to help us carry it to the car. Then a little guy comes out, yes, he also was adorned with tattoos and body jewelry! They all 3 ended up being very nice and polite, Yes Mams and thank you's and pretty darn chatty! They got the table in, mom paid them and we got the #$@! out of there.
The table ended up being so incredibly, disgustingly dirty that it took us about 3 hours of serious scrubbing to get it clean. When we did, it looked great. Even though we put a vinyl tablecloth on it, the wood top is in great shape.
We got a fantastic table for the kids and a story to tell all for $60!!!
The Art center.
Mom and I put together all the furniture in the room. So handy we are!! The little drawer cabinet on wheels is perfect! It has markers, crayons, paper and so much more in there all organized and easily accessible! We even moved the art hanging wire in here. Great place to show off all the creations.
Shallow bins everywhere, not so deep that things just get lost. Places for ponys, bendaroos, and so much more.
This is the reading area. You are not going to believe this, but those book shelves are vinyl rain gutters!!! Is that so cool or what!! We bought 1 length of the gutter at Lowe's and cut it into 3rds. We used the mounting brackets that they sell with the gutters. Entire project, $18. The gutters even have ridges where the books sit. Great for keeping more than one in there. I love that the books are forward facing and they can see what is there. We stored the rest of their books in the closet and will rotate them out.
Took the doors off the closet and found a new home for all of my china. The closet is now a place where they can get toys and games easily.
Reading area in action!!
There is no way I could have done this in a week with out my mom! Thanks Mom!! We love the way it turned out! Painting next???
