playroom

hey hey!

The playroom was one of those projects that as soon as we started it, all we could think was 'it seemed like such a good idea at the time!' ha ha!  It really was worth it in the end though, the kids just love it.. the space works so much better than the little room they were in.  James and I find ourselves hanging out in there with them more and more as well! ..love that.

We chose not to put the train table into this room.. we kept it just in case, but we wanted to see what Harley would think of it not being in there.  You know what?  He has played with his trains every single day since.. using his imagination, setting up tracks and roads.. with the train table he never did that. We would build them, he would play.. and then get bored.  We still help him build, but his little imagination takes over and soon he has it spanned across the entire room.. and is as proud as can be.

The pallet beds are inspired by the very talented and so inspiring Ashley Ann.  Switched up the colours, since the room is connected to the family room downstairs.. big open archway.  We wanted it to flow with the family room.. almost as an extension of it... instead of overwhelming toy land. lol

Out of focus picture of the 'crayon tray' ..how on earth do we have so many crayons? lol  Ah well.. you can never really have too many can you?  I took these pictures before my new lens came in.. so I was taking them with my broken one.. using manual focus the best I could... but it still had a mind of it's own!  In the end, I gave up and let it win.. it was definitely a loosing battle!

Some of Laine's favourite dress up clothes.. some vintage hats that my mom found... little Harley has claimed the one on the left. ha ha!  That is a whole other blog post my friends! hee! ;)  I found the cute turquoise 'dream' hook thingie at Winners (but of course).. and the yellow banner, Cheryl sent in a yummy Cartwheels goodie box.  So cute.  The boy and girl prints are from my Etsy shop (which is still on 'summer' vacation for some bizarre reason.. yes I am rolling my eyes at myself).. I think I might have to do this super fun technique that Marcy did on the Cartwheels blog.. a little clothespin makeover, Kitschy Digitals style!  Cute little feather clothespins would be super cute clipped to that banner!

That is the fantastic chair that I brought home from my mom's in August.. still want to recover it, but it is fine like it is until I find the perfect fabric for it. Yep, I think this is my favourtie little corner of the room.

Where the desk is, is where the bar in the 'man room' (the original plan for this room) was going to be.. so there was lighting roughed in, and a fridge built into the wall where the chalkboard is.  So this corner was a bit of a challenge! lol  It ended up working out like it was meant to be though, we placed the desk under the lighting, so the kids can sit behind.. looking out into the room (which is awesome).. lighting totally looks like we planned it for that all along! ha ha!  Then, for the massive fridge sized hole in the wall (biggest challenge of all).. we hung this sheet of metal (heavy duty 60 pound sheet of metal.. OMG) with even heavier duty glue (how we survived that task without snapping at each other ..James and I that is... I still have yet to figure out lol .but yay us!) ..it was almost impossible.  We couldn't get a grip on it.. it was sticking really well, but sliding down at the same time.. ohhhhh, I get all grumpy just thinking about it!  We were going to leave it metal, and have it just be a 'magnet board' but it came cut with a huge heat/burn mark in the middle... and that just wouldn't do!  So, James saved the day with a can of chalkboard spray paint, and gave it a quick spray before we hung it up.  Love how it turned out.. even though it was pretty much a nightmare from the start! lol  

Can you tell that there is a fridge sized hole in the wall?  I am starting to forget it was there already! hee!

Another out of focus picture! ha ha!  I really should have gone and re-shot these.. but the playroom is no where near this clean anymore.. and it just would have been too much work.. and I am well, lazy! lol  

 

I think there are feathers in almost every room of the house now, yes.. obsessed! ha ha!  While I was raiding the storage room for decor items, I found the pine cones in the Christmas decor.. perfect!! I tried to incorporate a mix of everything in here.. new and old, glam and rustic.  I really love how it turned out, flows with the house, but still has a bit of fun/whimsy that appeals to the kids.. a win win for everyone I think! 

Yes, more birds.  Yes.. they are the same birds that are in my blog banner ...and yes, they are the same birds as my tattoo.  Uh huh.  I am obsessed.  Who knew turning my tattoo drawing into a Photoshop brush could result in so many fun projects!! ha ha! I used the Photoshop brush, 'stamped' each bird individually onto a letter sized canvas, printed, cut out.. traced onto vinyl and cut out with my scissors.  Super easy!!  

I used the wonderful Eye Candy Overlays to print out some 5x7 images for these (many) cheapo wooden Ikea frames, a 2 Peas digital scrapbooking kit (Jennifer Pebbles) and KI Memories digi kit as well as assorted vintage car ads/images.. mixed in with a few stock images and family photos = fun art wall! 

Love redecorating by stealing things from other rooms.. so cost efficient! lol  Like this fan.. totally stole it from the living room.  Much better in the playroom window.  

Well.. that is all. :)

A lot of work (but not at the same time).. well worth it!  If you want to read more, you can pop on over to Cartwheels In My Mind ..it is the subject of my newest 'Update Your Room' article.  Lot's of handmade love in here.. there are links to different projects from the Cartwheels article... like the paper flower mobile hanging from the ceiling. :)

Anyhoo, just wanted to finally share... sharing on here is motivation for me to get things done!  Is that weird?  One of my favourite things to blog about though!  Thanks for reading along my friends!! Happy Thursday.. which up until now I thought was Friday... and I was wondering where the week went.. doing better than I thought though, a whole day ahead of myself! ha!  Later!

Oh.. and the toys...

Gotta love big closets with big curtains.. to hide all those big toys! lol  They do pull these all out, and it does get turned into crazy toy land.. but I just love love love that they all have a home, and we can close the curtains and it turns back into serene/happy/calm playroom.  Like I said.. win win for everyone! hee!

OK, later!!!  (for real this time) 

Comments

[Alicia]

Where did you get the vintage looking fan for this room? Im trying to track one down for my guest bedroom and I love it!

[shawna [of styleberryBLOG]]

I just discovered your blog (here from a link on pinterest!) and love your style! I am planning a room makeover next week & am wondering if you'd be so kind as to share where you found your metal sheet that you painted with chalkboard paint! I was going to use magnetic paint first, but this seems so much easier! Added you to my rss & look forward to more! just beautiful!

[Elisa]

love the new playground :) it´s perfect for a child.
love the turquoise 'dream' hook, it´s so perfect

[Jennifer]

what a gorgeous space!

[marcy penner]

lucky lucky children! love it jen!

[mom]

wish I was your kid. wish I was a kid.