From Office to Playroom...

Our house is small.  Cute...but small.  So as soon as we found out we were pregnant the first time, I was determined to not have a living area FULL of toys.  Pfff!  What was I thinking?  As Mia Jubilee grew, so did the amount of toys in our house.  No matter what kind of organizational system I tried to use, there were still several toys lying around without a "home".

In January we found out Baby #2 was on the way!  YAY!...wait.  More toys?!!!!

We live in a 3 bedroom house.  Room #1: Master.  Room #2: Nursery.  Room #3: Caleb's office.  WHERE was this new baby going to go?  We had to make a decision.  Sooooooo.....Caleb's office became the... PLAYROOM and Baby #2 will share a room with Mia Jubilee. :)  Ha!  You thought Baby #2 would get her own room?  Not yet.  Hopefully one day, but for now all of these toys needed a home.  (NOT a home in my living room.)  haha

I'm kind of impulsive when I get an idea in my mind, so within a week of deciding it was going to be the playroom, I had started packing up the office.  Goodbye desk, filing cabinet, furniture, guitars, djembe, and papers!  Fast forward about a month and this is what we have so far...

- The rocking chair came out of Mia Jubilee's nursery so that we could add a 2nd crib.
- The table came with 2 Pottery Barn chairs from a yard sale.  Table + chairs was only $20!  I painted the table, am going to sell the chairs (they are $50/ piece at the PB outlet) & then I found FOUR chairs for $20 at a yard sale.  :)
- See those bookshelves that we just made?  I may even add a third one under the two that are already there.
- And I LOVE the color.  I messed up trying to find a color for the kitchen, so I just used the paint for the playroom. :)

Check this out...

- The shelves on the left and right were given to me a couple years ago.  They were brown, I painted them, added an extra shelf, etc.
- The dresser in the middle was also given to me a couple years ago.  Painted it and painted the knobs (I need to add the other two).  Who would have thought that the shelves would fit PERFECTLY on that wall?!!! Seriously...there is only an inch on each side.
Shelving system = FREE!


Below is the lamp in the room.  I bought it at Target a few years ago.  First, I added this cute owl tape to the bottom, but after a week or so I changed my mind and added pink ribbon to the top and bottom. My sister has a TON of ribbon at my mom's house (she used to make bows) so I just "borrowed" some of it for the lamp.  THANKS, JENNI!!!! :) :) :)

    

 These letters that spell "PLAY" were so fun to make!  I saw a similar idea while cruising through random blogs one day and decided to put my own spin on it. :)  If you want to make them, just print out whatever letters you want onto card stock.  Start by gluing all of the large buttons first.  Then fill in the cracks with smaller ones.  Lastly, use brads that are buttons to fill in the tiny cracks.  Voila!  Cuteness! (I got my buttons and brads at Hobby Lobby.  I waited until they were 50% off to save a little bit of money.  The frames were only $6 a piece at the Dollar Store.  You can probably find some cheaper ones and just paint them though.)  The finished product is so cute up close because it is 3D. :)

Mia has had her polka-dotted piggy bank since she was in my belly.  We used to put a dollar in it on each of her month birthdays, but after a year I kind of slacked off a little.  Hey...it's kind of like started a savings for her, right?

Of course I had to buy Baby #2 a piggy bank for her stash of money as well!  We'll see how well our girls are at saving/ investing their money.

Hopefully they'll be a bit less impulsive than I was as a child. :)

This is the third wall in the playroom.  It is a little "blah" right now, but will soon house Mia's play kitchen that we hope to get her for Christmas. 

For now, this is the perfect place for Mia to watch her fish.  (She LOVES them and tells them good night on a regular basis.)

The table was given to me and was the perfect size to house the tank.  The fish tank came home with me after spending 6 years in my classroom.  Those are some smart fish!

These next two pictures make up the fourth wall.  The chalk board is from PB and was another great yard sale find for $15!  I painted another coat of chalkboard paint on it to touch it up and hung it behind the door to hide the mess that will eventually come when Mia Jubilee starts drawing on it.  I love that it is magnetic too!  We keep her stickers on it, and Mia Jubilee likes to play with the magnets.

  

The picture on the right is actually inside the closet!  The door stays open so that Mia Jubilee can play inside.  There is a play stove and all of her cooking stuff is in the buckets below.  There are stuffed animals on the right and storage stuff on the left.  (I hope to eventually finish cleaning out the closet, move the fish tank inside, and create a fun area for her to read books.  She already likes to go inside and close the door.  It must feel like a little club house to her.)

 This mirror was taken from the nursery as well.  It is all white, but right now I have a temporary piece of ribbon around the perimeter.  I may glue the ribbon, or I may paint a line.  Who knows!  What are your thoughts on it?  Plain white?  Ribbon?  Paint a stripe?

(Can you see the painting above the door?  Caleb did that in high school.  I love having something that he did when he was young.)


Here are a couple close-ups of some of the details...

Fish 

Mia Jubilee's pillow (Made by my aunt, monogrammed by my sister)

My teddy from when I was little!  Mia Jubilee LOVES him!

My little monkey :)  

*Notice how high her puzzles are on the shelf?  Only Mommy or Daddy can reach them!  This has been one of the best aspects of the playroom...having some toys that she can only reach with help. :)

Her "car" that stays on the table.  Yard sale find for $1.  One of her favorite toys!

I took this to show the storage bins.  They house balls, animals, cars/people, misc, etc!  

They will soon have labels.  Okay...maybe not soon.

It is SO easy to clean up with these bins.  Mia Jubilee actually does a lot of it herself. :)  I know...be jealous.  My 1 year old will actually CLEAN UP if guided.  Don't get me wrong though.  This girl can mess up a room in a matter of seconds.  Why do you think I've been teaching her to CLEAN?!!!

I had one of these on each table in my classroom.  The kids LOVED it!  I couldn't have 4 betas at home though, so after giving some away, we are left with this one.  

(I know...I know...he needs a refill on the water.)

So there you have it!  From office to playroom!  I have really enjoyed having a room totally devoted to her toys.  It helps keep me sane.  I must admit though, we STILL have toys in our living room.  But hey...at least the majority of them are down the hall!

Here's one last look...

        

Have a GREAT day! :)