Organizing a playroom and keeping it organized can be exhausting in itself, let alone trying to make it more 'fun'. I've been putting off posting about the playroom transformation, in hopes that it would be fully complete. I've now come come to the understanding that the development of it will probably always be in flux, haha.
The room was really basic when we first moved into our house. We knocked down a wall (that was really only a temporary wall set up by a previous owner...we're still not sure why haha). This gave a sightline to the playroom from both our bedroom and the kitchen. We lived with it the way that it was for quite some time, and then I made the realization that this room was boring....really, really, boring! We needed a space for the girls that they could store their toys in, play in, and would help stimulate their creativity. It also needed to be a place where I could watch them while recovering from surgery, or if I was having a not-so-great-feeling day.
We didn't have a budget AT ALL for renovating or updating a room. We had orange curtains (I have a thing for orange), taupe-y/putty coloured walls, and a rug we had put down on the floor (beige, brown, blue, and tan colours). We also had leftover paint from other areas - some white eggshell finish, and a few pre tinted recycled paint colours (which are only $19/can).
This is our room before we moved in.
This is our room now. It's definitely not boring, and the girls love it!
I painted the herringbone pattern on the wall after I found the idea on Pinterest here:
We used white, a blue tint we already had (to tie in the rug) and some orange craft paint I had to tie in the curtains. Really easy to do and visually interesting (Luella loves the wall!). We sold the ripped leather couch we had for a smaller sofa-bed we found on Kijiji, so we had an actual bed for guests to sleep in.
I also added a pennant banner on the wall made from scrapbook paper that repeated the same colours in the room ($10 for the scrapbook paper, with lots left over for crafts). I got the template for the banner here:
We already had the jute string to lace them together.
^^this sign is as much of a reminder for me as it is for the girls...especially if I haven't had my coffee haha!!
^^^My office/craft area is to the left of the tv, as well as the hallway to the front door. On the right is our bedroom and the hallway to the kitchen.
After figuring out the feature wall and the colour scheme, I then wanted to have some 'stations' in the room that were geared towards different things. We made a book corner after being inspired from these Pins:
Picture-ledge book shelves -
'Mountain' wall painting -
And I also painted a dress-up area on the wall similar to this pin:
The bookshelves were made from recycled wood we already had, plus $6 trim from the building supply store. We used paint we already had, and I used a stencil and craft paint for the Dr. Seuss quote. The wooden curtain rod for the dress-up area was one that was at the house when we moved in. I used a chop saw to shorten it, and then primed it and painted it white. I hand-made a shape stencil for the wall, and printed off lettering and used transfer paper to sketch it on the wall, and then painted the letters and 'snowflakes/sparkles'. A removable hook for jewelry, a mirror I hadn't found a place for yet, and the girls dress up box they already owned completed the area.
I knew I also wanted a chalkboard area and a magnetic board. I found ideas for these here (and also in previously posted links)
I already owned the chalkboard paint for the signs I make, so we used that on the wall. (Although, after living with it for a while, we are going to make the chalkboard section go right up to the shelf, and right down to the baseboards). We also paid $25 for the sheet metal. Both of these areas still need to be trimmed out with white trim. We sold the smaller used play kitchen the girls had, and found this larger one on Kijiji. Both girls are able to play with this at the same time, and they love love love they washer/dryer! There was no cost difference between the two kitchens :)
I'm really big on organization, but I also wanted the girls to learn where to put things away themselves. Everything needs to have a place to go to at the end of the day. We have a tall storage bin (which we had in the basement) which holds play food, colouring books and crayons, water paint and lacing toys. I not only labelled with words, but also with pictures, to help the girls learn and understand. I also have four bins that I keep off the floor and have on a cabinet in the hallway that I allow the girls to play with one at a time - blocks, musical instruments, Little People sets, and sorting/stacking and other learning toys. They have to clean up the bin they are playing with if they want the toys in another bin. This was to save MY sanity, as I was getting exhausted from cleaning up tiny toys all the time. We used a bookshelf and dollar store fabric cube shelves to hold all the other toys. (Note - each girl has their own stuffies and books in their rooms, but no noisy toys)
I found some great organization pins here:
We store the train set in two plastic bins under the train table (which doubles as a great playing table). We had found the table (which can turn into an easle) and the wooden train set and art accessories on Kijiji for $50. This was the girls big Christmas present :)
I used every inch of this area, including the hallway.
I make the art clip signs and growth rulers for my home business, so it was just the cost of my supplies to make it for the girls. The craft cabinet was a gross, super-ugly cabinet that was left in our bathroom when we moved in. After some cleaning and $5 polka-dot Contact Paper, it looks great! This cabinet holds their paint and craft supplies, as well as their puzzles. (I lock it, haha). There is a hook on the side for their art smocks, and their car mat is stored in the corner.
We also needed some of the space for a make-shift broom/linen closet. We hardly have any storage in our house, so we have to get creative. We had 0 money for a closet organizer or shelves. But what I did have was lots of drawers. I had removed the drawer-front for my signs, but hadn't figured out what to do with the boxes. I had an "Aha" moment earlier this week, prepped and cleaned e drawers, and screwed them right into the wall for a "floating" cabinet look.
We store towels, brooms, our vacuum, bedding, and floor cleaning supplies in this area. There is also a place for two little brooms so the girls can help clean - $1.50 from the dollar store :) I also put hangers on the back of 5 of them, and used them as cubby shelves at the top of the feature wall in the playroom to display Jaelyn's Preschool artwork and a few toys. No paint was needed, as they are beautiful all on their own!
So, there it is! There is still work to do, like patching some holes in the wall, finishing painting the walls and chalkboard, trim on the doorframes and both the magnet and chalkboard...but it is getting there. All it took was some inspiration, just a little bit of money, and lots of effort.
I encourage you the next time you are looking through Pinterest to keep your mind open to what could be done with what you already have on hand. I don't aim for perfection, because that is overwhelming and expensive. Decorating doesn't have to be either.
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