For starters, here's what we were dealing with back in the spring/early summer:
Steve did so much work in this room. First, we demoed the wall that you see in the above picture. Behind the room to the door was a closet that though spacious, better suited us as open space. We took down that wall and instead did built-ins. Shelves are the best storage solution for us, as we've learned.
Getting rid of the dark ceiling and overly verdant walls gave the room an instant face lift that allowed us to see more clearly what we wanted the room to look like.
We were making such amazing progress on the room and were all set to keep going, but then I went into labor, and well, the room took a backseat while we fell madly in love with our littlest baby Longenecker.
Once we had some normalcy resume, we were both antsy to finish and complete the room. We ended up doing the same floor treatment in here as we did in the workroom. We really loved how it turned out and it was incredibly inexpensive. We chose to replace the solid door to the hallway with a glass planed door. We keep it open for the most part, and we can see through it to the wall which makes it feel more open in the hallway itself. When I do shut the door I can see in from the workroom when we are doing school, and I can know where and what Moxie is doing. This is crucial if you know Moxie at all.
Once the floor was sealed we moved a few toys in, but my hunt for a rug was hastened when every five minutes someone was dropping wooden play food on the floor and it was echoing down the hallway. I decided to look at Home Depot for something to hold my design loving ways over until I found what I really wanted (RugsUSA is amazing for this eye candy) and found a clearance indoor/outdoor rug that was okay. I didn't love it but it was on clearance and I wasn't going to keep it long anyway. When we checked out, the rug rang up for 1 cent. I made the cashier double check and saved the receipt to prove my savvy to Steve, so for 1 cent I had secured a rug for our new play room!
Steve made the kids a new play kitchen custom for the space as well. Their Melissa and Doug kitchen was well loved, and the pieces had begun to fall apart. I passed it along to a teacher friend who was keen on fixing it up, and just like that our playroom was in working order.
Since Christmas we have now organized, purged, donated, and or hidden every single toy, puzzle, game, stuffed animal, musical instrument, or building set in this house. It feels amazing to have a place for all of these things, which has in turn opened up our living room to be a living room again. As one thing always leads to another, in a very good way, this expansion allowed us to rearrange the living room, shuffle some closets around (and some dressers), and we now have a coat closet, an open and welcoming living room, and a work closet that is not stuffed to the brim with odds and ends. Not to mention, a workroom that has been an amazing multi-purpose room for our family to accomplish schoolwork, Lego building, arts and crafts, home office duties, and provide a flat surface for organizational projects and let's be honest, a fine recluse for my eldest when he's looking for some time away from little hands attempting to destroy his latest Lego structure.
I am still decorating and styling the playroom, because, well, I really enjoy doing that sort of thing. It's been fun to make the space usable but also fun and inviting. The kids now have a place to play with their things that enables them to imagine, create, and pretend together, and they don't have to hunt for things because they know right where everything is now. The best part of this room, is that it connects to their bedroom through that white door. It's like their very own English nursery - fulfilling my childhood dreams one room at a time!
I didn't want to wait any longer before I posted an update for fear it would never materialize, so even though it's not picture perfect, here is the playroom as of today.
I'll share some more of the workroom in action because it really is an amazing space for our family. And I really just love it a lot.
The playroom is forever evolving, which is as we intend it; to grow with our children as their needs and wants change as they grow and mature. We are so grateful to have these spaces to call our own in this home of ours. Truly, so very grateful.
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