I am pretty excited for this post! For the last 5 years the playroom in our basement has gone untouched. Toys have been placed in there but that’s literally been the extent of my decorating. Matt and I were talking a while back and he made the comment the girls weren’t getting any younger which made me realize, if I wanted to give them an awesome play area I better get started on it sooner rather than later. So, a few months ago I designed and created a mood board for the playroom which you can see here. Over the last week I worked hard to get the room done and can’t wait to show you the finished product!!
Before:
Is that not the most boring, un-inspiring room you ever did see?
After:
Just a little better, right?!?! I LOVE it so so much!!
The first step in the playroom makeover was painting the walls a bright shade of white. Since the playroom is in the basement with no windows I wanted to keep it as nice and bright as possible. I painted it silky white by BEHR.
Matt replaced the ugly ceiling fan with this little cutie which you can buy here. I thought the light fixture would be a tad bigger but it really does put out quite a bit of light and is super fun and adorable; perfect for the space.
Chalkboard House
The chalkboard house is one of my favorite aspects of the room. I found a few pictures on Pinterest for inspiration and then kind of winged it from there. I will be posting a tutorial soon for you guys!
Wallpaper Mural
But I think my most favorite aspect of this space is the wallpaper mural. I searched HOURS for something for this wall. A lot of other murals I found were out of my budget and others just didn’t leave that big of an impact. I finally came across this shop on Etsy and it was a done deal. This was definitely where a lot of my budget went but it is 1000% worth it.
Later this week I will be posting a tutorial on how to put up stick and peel wallpaper. Through trial and error I have figured out the best way to do it and will share all my tips and tricks with you guys!
Emmy kept coming up to this bear and giving it a hug when I revealed it to the girls; made my heart melt.
Puck Light Trick & Shelves
I have had this green sconce saved in my cart for probably at least a year and finally was able to use it in a space! You can purchase it here. Because I did not want to pay to have this hardwired in, I used the puck light trick from Nesting with Grace. I used these puck lights and glued one of them to a plumbing part that actually can screw into where you would typically put your lightbulb. Wa-lah, instant light!
These floating shelves were very easy to put together and go perfectly next to the chalkboard.
Storage in Playroom
We have had these bookcases now for well over 5 years. I purchased these new bins from Target which are very affordable and house a lot of the girls’ toys.
I have found the best way to store toys is LOTS of baskets. Using baskets helps the space look more organized and is easy for little kids to pick up. In the past I have tried to have bins that are labeled and other ways to organize the toys, but baskets are the way to go.
Each of these prints is on Etsy and I used Walgreens to print them out.
You can find the owl download here.
The other 2 downloads you can find here and here.
Twinkle Lights
I added these twinkle lights I had found on sale at Hobby Lobby because what kid doesn’t love the glow of magical lights?
The best part of the whole project was watching my girls’ reaction when I showed them the room. The whole time I worked on it, I locked the door and didn’t let them take any peeks.
Their play kitchen and other items is still in the room on the other wall so they can still play with those things. This project was somewhat healing for me in a way. The last few months have been hard for various reasons, we all go through hard seasons sometimes, right? And I found solace, purpose and an escape from my over-worked, anxious brain working on this room. That’s what I love about creativity. Working with your hands, turning something plain into something magical, that is therapeutic for me. And making someone else happy is always a remedy for struggles in your life. This sure made my girls happy. 🙂
