Category: Playroom

A Playroom / Office Switcheroo

There is a room on the first floor, behind the kitchen, that I’ve barely shown on the blog. It’s a former sleeping porch that was converted into what is technically counted as a bedroom (it has a closet), and we thought it would be a perfect office for me until we realized how cold it can get.

Just a couple of months after we moved in, Chicago experienced one of its coldest winters ever and when it had gotten to the point that I had to wear fingerless gloves to type, I said eff this, packed up and went to the third floor.

GUESS WHAT. The third floor was unbearably hot! I feel like I’m coming across as a Goldilocks here, but I’m talking major temperature extremes. It would be 45 degrees in that spare room, but 90 degrees upstairs. The problem was that the old furnace would struggle and struggle to heat the first floor, while the heat would rise, making the second floor comfortable but leaving the third floor roasting.

We fixed that issue pretty quickly with a new furnace for the house, and thermostatic valves for the radiators on the third floor. The house is evenly heated you guys! HOORAY!

Then I was pregnant with Calvin and incredibly uncomfortable. Time to move my desk again, this time into the bedroom. And actually, it was great while I was pregnant because I could quite literally roll out of bed and go to work.

It was fine for a while, but it’s silly that we have this huge house and I was working from the bedroom while other spaces were being underused. We kicked the desk out when I redid our bedroom for the One Room Challenge, and I was again upstairs.

We have this great playroom on the third floor. The kids played up there all the time when it was new, but now they prefer to spend time in their rooms or they bring toys downstairs. The playroom has shelves and bins full of toys! A dress-up closet! A play kitchen! Not a big enough draw, apparently.

There was a desk along one wall with red polka dots behind it, and art supplies in wall-mounted cubbies. I imagined the kids coloring and painting up there, and guess what. A big fat nope. They liked the easel, but not the desk.

I’ve bounced around from the spare room to the guest room, then the bedroom, and now I’m in the playroom — this time, at the desk in front of that red polka dot wall. And you know what? I like it. But I don’t like being surrounded by toys that the kids aren’t even playing with.

A while back, we had a big hole cut out in that wall to rewire the house, and it has since been fixed (with an access door in case we ever need to get in there again). On a whim, a few days ago, I primed over the polka dots. I haven’t cleared out the whole room, but I did clear that side and put a couple coats of fresh paint on. Now I’m thinking about how I want to set everything up — what can I reuse, and what do I need to add?

I’m thinking the house is getting a big switcheroo. Playroom → office. Spare room → playroom.

As it is now, the kids use the playroom on the third floor occasionally but I’m up there at my desk just about everyday. That spare room behind the kitchen is still a bit cold sometimes in the winter, but it has been far better since upgrading the heating system and I think it could be put to much better use now. The kids prefer playing downstairs anyway, and I long for a proper office. I’m excited! I’m daunted! I’m diving in!

January 19, 2017
A Cute New Kids’ Line (& Scalloped Table!)

This post is brought to you by TargetStyle. Shop the new Home collection in stores and online.

I saw it in a magazine a couple of months ago: a round side table from Target with a scalloped edge along the top and brass legs. It was just a little thumbnail-sized image and the table wasn’t even available then, but I made a note to check back for it because whoa, it was cute. I imagined it next to a chair, with a small lamp on top and maybe some flowers. Basically, something like this…

I didn’t have a specific spot in mind for it though, and the table wasn’t even available at that point anyway. Fast forward a month or two and as I was browsing through a preview of Target’s new Pillowfort collection for kids, I spotted the table. I had no idea it was part of their new kids’ line! They were styling it as a play table in the ‘Marvelous Manor’ collection, but I still liked the idea of one next to a chair and I realized that I did actually have a good spot for it.

Our playroom had a couple of vintage chairs in it that I had rescued years ago from an alley. They were outside of a building that housed many doctors’ offices, and I’m pretty sure they were waiting room chairs. Kind of cool, but not actually all that comfortable for long periods of time, so I brought up my floral armchair a while back to have a nicer spot to sit while the kids played.

What better table to pair with my crazy-flower-print chair than an adorable scalloped one? It comes in white, gray, or pink; you can guess which color I went for. I even picked up a little glass lamp for it, along with a party giraffe (why not?).

That’s a happy spot for sipping imaginary tea and eating fake cookies with the kids.

When I’m looking for things for the kid spaces in our house, I choose things with them that they like, but I want to like them too. Calvin’s still so little that he doesn’t have strong opinions on how his room is decorated, but Eleanor and August do. Eleanor likes cute, girly things, but not in the typical girly pink. (Early form of rebellion against her mother? I chose aqua for the lamp in the play room because I knew E would like the color.) She also really likes cages, and anything that looks like it could be used as one. August is pretty into sharks and sea creatures right now, but above all right now, he wants everything to be red. I had been looking for a matching pair of lamps to go in his room, and I grabbed two ceramic column lamps in red for him and he was thrilled. We didn’t need anything else right now, but here’s what caught my eye for each kid.

I liked these for my girl

Floral sheets, but in blue! Shelving that looks like a cage, and then an actual cage as a light! (She would flip.) The lamp that I bought for the playroom with her in mind, and the cutest bear.
— cage pendant ceiling light • circle shelf • floral bear • glass table lamp • floral sheets

I liked these for my boy

He likes the red lamps (I bought a matching pair), and I’m pretty sure he’d be into a red bed with shark sheets and an octopus friend.
— upholstered headboard • octopus • column table lamp • great white shark sheets

I liked these for my toddler

Really cute furniture, a few forest friends, and black and white patterned blanket with trees. We aren’t ready to transition from nursery to big-kid-room yet, but I’m keeping these in mind.
— drum shade ceiling light • mid-century kids’ nightstand • bear • fox pillow • mint kids’ chairs • forest plush blanket

This post is brought to you by TargetStyle. Shop the new Home collection in stores and online.

March 1, 2016
The Playroom’s #100reveal Makeover

This post and giveaway are sponsored by GE reveal^®.

I’ve been making over four spaces in my home over the course of four weeks, using just $100 from Target each time, plus GE reveal^® LED light bulbs. I’ve also had a total of $4000 in Target gift cards and plenty of GE reveal^® lighting to give away so that each week, 10 readers win everything they need for their own #100reveal makeovers! The rules and information are at the bottom of this post, so be sure to enter.

You’ve already seen what I’ve done to update my dining room and work space, and this week I worked on our playroom.

The room is divided into a few different zones with one side set up for art projects, plenty of toys on shelves and a big open space in the middle for playing, and then what I jokingly refer to as the kids’ apartment, over by the window. There’s a nicely stocked play kitchen, a small table and chairs for hosting tea parties, and a couple of chairs that divide the space and provide a spot for the grownups to sit. That’s the side I focused on for my #100reveal makeover. I used my budget at Target to pick up a wire cubby, a large wire basket, a clock, picture frame, and some fake flowers for the kids’ table.

The cubby, picture frame, and clock were hung on the wall to the left of the play kitchen. The cubby is acting as a pantry, the sweet print in the frame is from Petit Pippin, and I figure every kitchen (pretend or not) needs a clock.

I like to have fresh flowers on our dining table, so the kids like having them for their table too and an artificial arrangement is more practical for them to play with. The wire basket holds stuffed animals for tea parties.

I sewed those patterned curtains years ago for my studio, back when I was running my stationery shop and before Brandon and I had any kids. I loved the pattern then and I still do, all these years later! (The fabric is called “Mom’s Couch” by Moda, but it was discontinued ages ago.) There are three lights in the playroom: one in the ceiling fan, a floor lamp, and a matching task lamp. Swapping out their bulbs for GE reveal^®& LED bulbs really made that pattern in the curtains pop! The white walls looked far better at night too, without the former lighting’s yellow cast.

You can see more of this week’s #100reveal makeover in action in the video below.

Eleanor and August patiently waited for me to finish up working on the room so they could come up to play. The new additions were a big hit, and the lighting made it much nicer to be up there as the sun went down.

Giveaway

Do you have a playroom or other fun space in need of some updating? Comment below about setting up the perfect place to relax and play using GE reveal^® and a $100 gift card to Target, mentioning #100reveal for your chance to win!

There will be ten winners drawn. See the complete rules for more information, and good luck!

I’m so excited to be a GE reveal^® #100reveal sponsored blogger. Opinions are my own, projects have been chosen by me, and additional products used in the project were selected by me and provided by GE reveal^®.

March 10, 2015
The Playroom’s Accent Wall (Featured in HGTV Magazine)

The playroom is sporting a different look from the last time you saw it! I showed a couple of shots while the wall was in progress a couple of months ago, but then I couldn’t show any more until the feature with Glidden ran in HGTV magazine this month.

I write for Glidden, so when they asked if I had any painting projects coming up that they could share, I told them about my plans for the playroom. Typically, I’m not one to do an accent wall, as they can seem kind of arbitrary. In this case though, I really liked the white walls on the third floor for the most part, but wanted to bring some of the color over from the curtains on the other side of the playroom. A big block of color (like a traditional accent wall) could have worked, but I thought this would be a good place to try something a bit more playful.

The feature is inside a peel-back front cover in the June 2014 issue of HGTV magazine, along with projects by Kate and Eduardo, who also write for Glidden over at My Colortopia.

Initially, I thought about creating a more orderly polka dot wall, but I changed my mind the day before I started painting and went with a bunch of falling bubbles instead. The walls on the third floor are textured, so the design couldn’t be too intricate. I started with the quick marker sketch you see at the beginning of the post, and then drew large circles for the design on the wall, freehand with a pencil. I used an inexpensive art/craft paintbrush to outline some of the smaller circles, and used a 2″ angled paintbrush for the rest, and to fill everything in.

The other side of the playroom has those floral curtains that I made years ago from Moda’s “Mom’s Couch” fabric. They hung in my stationery studio initially, and were also used in Eleanor’s bedroom in the last house.

I chose Glidden’s Red Geranium because I wanted to pull in that bright orangey-red color and bring it to the other side of the room.

There are bookshelves for toys to the right of the easel, and along the left side, I hung cubbies to keep art supplies within reach, and also put up three large wall clips to use for rotating artwork on display from the kids.

I’m glad I’m finally able to share this updated space with you! We spend a lot of time in the playroom, and the added color has made it even more fun for the kids. And thank you, Glidden and HGTV magazine for featuring the project!

May 20, 2014
A Better Look at the Playroom

Yesterday’s post was more about how we use the space, but today I wanted to share some more photos of the playroom. It isn’t quite done, but nearly so.

I have some clips for hanging the kids’ art that I want to put up, and some other prints and paintings to hang. I sewed those curtains way back when, and now that they’re up, I can take down the old blinds that are still there. The windows themselves though are the worst in the house. I’d like them to be painted white, but I suspect they’ll need repair or replacement, so I’m holding off until I assess my options.

Eleanor has a lot of tea parties here. She setup this little homemade booster seat a couple of days ago, and seeing it was one of those “awwww” moments of parenting.

Both she and August like to use the play kitchen a lot. As much as I like pink, I was hoping for something more gender-neutral in color, but then I found this one on clearance for a great price. It’s well-made and fun to play with, and I’m pretty sure neither kid cares what color it is.

Ever wonder where those flea market mannequins of mine went? There they are! On the right.

Good golly, they really are creepy, aren’t they? It’s like the latex head Brandon used to hide in our kitchen cabinets — you get so used to the weird creep-factor that you kind of forget about it until you see it through someone else’s eyes.

Let’s move on. Dress-up closet!

Outside the closet, I lined up the bookshelves that used to be in Eleanor’s room, in the last house.

Then we have the easel, and the art desk, which you saw yesterday. (And the creepy mannequins again. Hi!)

I’m planning on painting a fun pattern behind the art desk, to break up all the white, and putting up the kids’ artwork will help too.

It may not be done, but it’s working so nicely for us.

March 12, 2014
The Playroom Art Center

Sponsored by Mrs. Meyer’s

I’ve been working on the playroom on the third floor. We’ve all been feeling a little stir-crazy, waiting for spring to officially arrive (though we had a sneak-peek yesterday and today with temperatures in the fifties!), so it’s been great having a fun space inside the house setup for the kids. There are plenty of toys, plus a play kitchen on one side and an art station on the other. Lately, we’ve been going upstairs after breakfast to paint, work on arts and crafts, or color. Eleanor helps set everything up.

Why yes, we do always use a mug with a kitty and fireworks on it when we paint.

August likes to paint at the easel too, or use watercolors, but he wasn’t into it that day so he played with his cars while I helped Eleanor. After a while, he made some cupcakes in the play kitchen which we all agreed were the most delicious ever. They were made of eggs, chocolate and ketchup. Yum.

Eleanor painted a rainbow. For The Rainbow House, naturally.

I keep the tray of the easel lined with paper towels so that it doesn’t get too glopped over with paint, but I don’t stress about the kids being neat. They can do their thing, and then we clean up any errant paint spills and splatters when they’re done.

The paints are washable, so cleaning up is easy. I keep a bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s countertop spray in one of the art cubbies on the desk, and I try to enlist the kids’ help as often as I can. I spray, they wipe. I clean for real, they push a toy vacuum around. (You take the help you get, right?)

The light is so nice up there in the mornings, and the kids have such a good time. It’s one of our favorite places to be.

Sponsored by Mrs. Meyer’s

Mrs. Meyer’s is hosting a giveaway, and the Grand Prize Arts & Crafts winner will receive a custom-designed Craft Center, fully stocked with all of the art supplies and materials you need to enjoy fun, messy crafts in the comfort of your home. Once installed, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day will throw a party for your kids and up to thirty of their friends, hosted by Design Mom’s Gabrielle Blair.

Visit getmessycontest.com for more details, and to enter.

March 11, 2014