Parts of Our Playroom

I rarely show pictures of our playroom for obvious reasons....and that is mainly because there is a lot to update.

We have very, very outdated blue carpet that has been worn down past the cushions by the previous owners, parts of walls that were left unpainted by the original owners, wallpaper that still hasn't been taken down, and I could go on and on. At some point, it will be nice to do a complete renovation of the space and update it, but that is just not in the budget for us anytime soon so we need to work with what we have.
I did use a lot of colorful rugs and added a chalkboard wall to create some sense of design and decor but overall, the space just isn't quite there yet.

Even though the space is not that pleasant to look at, there are great perks about it. Our girls could really care less about the blue carpet, outdated wallpaper, mismatched furniture, the unfinished paint job on the walls, etc. They just really love playing here in this space and they love inviting their friends over to play and show them their toys. It's a great place for them to use their imagination. Plus, once a week, we always have kids over to play in the afternoons and this is the spot they always come to. So I decided to share our play space with you all- unfinished and everything.

You can go here to read about our DIY lemonade stand.

My main goals for this space were to create 4-5 play/educational stations or areas to section off the room so it had a purpose. I knew that we could have a handful of areas for this and so I began with creating the kitchen area. Next came the lounge/reading area, the craft area, and the dress-up area. I also plan on adding a lego table to the back wall where the letters "PLAY" are hanging and building the table myself, but it might be a little while until that happens. Until then, it is just an open play space.

My girls absolutely love it when I change things up in here. And I am not kidding, either. 
Every time I move something around, they seem to find a new toy or something to play with that they didn't notice before and they get SUPER excited about it! It makes it hard to give things away that they don't play with anymore, but we have slowly been doing that because honestly, each toy we get adds to the space and we begin to have less room for everything else. Plus, it is good for my kids to help me with the process of learning that it is good to give things away we don't have use for anymore. They are slowly coming around to the idea.
But I don't like clutter. 
I like organization and for everything to have a purpose, and we are slowly moving towards that with this room. Just taking it one step and day at a time.

The L-shaped table use to be in our kitchen nook at the last house and served us well. We moved it up to the playroom the day we moved into this house and it definitely serves its purpose. The girls and their friends love to color, paint, and make necklaces here. They never tire of creating things! 
And we love being able to sit at that table and look out the window of the backyard...it's so pretty and nice to have a large window there that lets in a lot of natural light.

So even though the room is outdated and doesn't necessarily go with the rest of the house yet, it is functional and it's a great place for our girls to play with their friends and use their imagination. I have even come to enjoy my time up here now that it serves a purpose instead of housing just a bunch of random toys and knick-knacks.

And there you have it, a little tour of our playroom. 
Thanks for reading and following along!!

Source list:
Green rug- a hand-me down from a friend
Floral rug- Office Depot
Lemonade stand- DIY- read about here 
White bins- Target
Kitchen set- gift from family
Curtains- IKEA
Wall rack for dress-up clothes- IKEA
Dresser for crafts- thrift store
China hutch on top of dresser- thrift store (will be painted sometime in the future to match dresser)
Chalkboard paint- Home Depot
Kids small art table- IKEA
Hanging wall mirrors- Target 

Wall Art Ideas for the Guest Room

I am currently in the process of making over our small guest room. 
I haven't actually measured the rooms dimensions, but you can fit a full bed, narrow dresser, and 2 nightstands....that is basically all...which really is quite alright seeing that it is a guest room and there isn't much need for anything else in there anyways. 

Anyhow, little progress has been made over the past couple of months to our guest room,  so I would like to get it done before baby #3 arrives...which doesn't leave much time. So some inspiration wall art using wooden boards is what I have been searching for and found a few that I really like. Maybe one of them will make the cut. ;)
 

I have been wanting to add some rustic elements to the space, so I think I am going to DIY something similar using fence boards. Here are some more ideas:

 

 

There are many other ideas out there, but you get the idea. 

Hoping to make a decision soon and get the supplies so I can get started on this! I'm excited to see it all come together!

Our New Pillows

A bit recently, my family and I took a quick trip to JoAnn's to look at some fabric. Thankfully, they were having a pretty darn good sale on some of their fabric at the time, so I decided to go ahead and grab 4 different kinds of fabric by the yard and had each cut to the proper length needed to make some pillows. (yes, you heard that right...I said I was going to make some pillows with all the fabric I bought. Coming from someone who hasn't really ever sewed much in the past, this was a fun learning experience for me...but I must say that I really enjoyed it and while each pillow is not perfect, they came out pretty okay and I am glad I learned how to finally use my sewing machine- even if it took years to finally learn).
 
For the fabric, I decided to go with a mix of grays and greens to start with (no surprise) and added a little pop of color- pink- to the mix! I don't know if it's because our daughter's room is pink or what, but that color is starting to really grow on me more than it ever has before. And I also think it happens to pair wonderfully with our gray walls. I do, however, plan on adding some more pops of color in here and throughout the house at some point because having light gray walls can really make things a little dreary sometimes, but adding some little pops of color here and there shouldn't be too hard and it should do the trick.

I have to say that I am just learning to sew so if you look closely at these pillows, they aren't the best....but doing something like this on your own and learning as you go is pretty satisfying and in the end, they are just pillows. What I like is that if/when we tire of the color patterns (which will probably be a long while) they can easily be switched out.

And a lot of these photos were taken at night after the girls bedtime, so sorry for the poor lighting. :)

Some other fun facts:
These pillows were all purchased at one of my favorite thrift stores in Williamsburg. A good majority of them are feathered pillows and so I was surprised when I found them in the local thrift store there...I quickly snagged them up...didn't even think twice about it. They were all $7 and under....seriously?! 
Love it! 
I grabbed a total of 6 for this room and paid about $30 with tax for them all...including the 20x20 pillows. Sounds like a great deal to me! The other pillows that were originally in here were moved to our living room.
So if you ever want to pillow shop, I strongly suggest checking out a good thrift store nearby and looking at the selection. In the end, it doesn't matter what the pillows originally look like because if you are going to recover them it doesn't matter, so go ahead and give it a try!

Source list:

Wall color- SW Mindful Gray in Satin
Pillow covers- JoAnn fabrics
Rocking Horse- Goodwill
Globe- Goodwill
Water Pitcher on fireplace- Target
2 end chairs by TV- ReStore and recovered by me
Candlesticks on each side of fireplace- Goodwill
Blanket Storage Ladder- Hand built by us using left over wood from another project
Jute Rug- Ordered from RugsUSA
Metal storage unit by fireplace- Came with the house (was originally used in the garage but has since been cleaned and spray painted in oil-rubbed bronze)
Mason jars- Target
Large picture frames by TV- KMart


As you can see, we shop a lot at thrift stores, but we also mix our older items with new ones from other stores in our area. It makes for a unique collection of things and the hunt for some of these items is always fun- plus it is always fun to save a little money in the process. :) 


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LoveOlympiaJune 

DIY Valance for Under $10

Ok, so my last blog post was about some more updates to my girls' room. What I didn't share was all of the details on how to make the window valances that I put up not too long ago. 
This is one of those projects that I did a little research on and just decided to go for it one day.

To start, the girls and I took a trip to Lowe's to buy some foam. For a package of 6, it will cost you less than $8...so of course with that price, I went ahead and purchased one package. I still have some foam left over so if I decide to do another room, I can use the left overs for it. Here is what the foam looks like:


VIA


Again, with the price you pay for a package of these, each valance (with other supplies needed) costs about $2 a piece. I mean really, that is pretty awesome and don't think it can be beat!


VIA

I used little nails to attach the sides of the foam to the longer part which would be the front of the valance.  

Once the valance was made and attached with nails, I used left over white fabric and attached that with some little staples with my staple gun. I also decided to add a little detail to the bottom of the valance and used my large hole puncher for that part. I just took some scrap paper that had pink, blue, and green colors and then once the holes were punched out, I used tape to attach them to the valance.
Again, pretty simple and easy...and if I want to change the fabric and detail out in the future, it would be pretty easy to do since I didn't spend much time or money on it.

Here are a few more pictures of the valances in their room...along with some cute pictures of my girls. They really wanted to be in the photos for these. :)

 My youngest pictured above...although this photo makes her look not so young anymore. :/
They grow up way too fast!!

Overall, I am pretty happy with the turnout and would do this again in another room if inspiration strikes again!

I'm a still on the hunt for a smaller rug to go in between the beds. I think I want to go with a light blue chevron rug to tie in with the blue headboards and bedsheets. We will see what I can find...and hopefully soon. 

What do you think?? Would you give this kind of DIY project a try for yourself?

A Very Pink Bedroom with some Light Blue Accents

I have made a few little changes to our daughters' room the past couple of months.
First, I started by adding a wooden faux fireplace one of the corners of their room. It is such a cute spot for the girls to display random things like birthday cards or personal belongings, like the wooden birdcage they painted.

I also removed the big striped rug that was in here. It was a cute idea, but just too large for the space and so it kept getting pushed over to one side of the room and bunched up under their beds. After fiddling with it for months, I just decided to move it over to another spot of the house with less furniture so it doesn't move around as much.

I also decided to add some valances to their windows. I will be posting about them soon because they cost well under $10 to make all three!!! Can you believe it?! Having these over their windows adds a bit more of a finished look to their room and as for the price, it can't be beat!

Eventually I would like to get a smaller rug for in between the beds. One that is easy to move around if needed and one that doesn't fit under their beds. I've been looking for one for a while but haven't had any luck. I'm also thinking of something that is not pink since that color seems to be in abundance here. :)

I may also recover their toy storage ottoman with a different print than the zebra one we have right now. I know if I left that decision up to my oldest, she would pick out a pink polka dotted print. That seems to be her favorite right now. 

 Once I get a post typed up about the valances, I will post it. It is really a simple DIY project you can do on your own if you want to dress up a plain window for cheap. Stay tuned!


Details:
Wall color is BM Mellow Pink
Headboard colors- SW Silver Strand lightened by 75%
Valance- DIY I will blog about soon
Rocking chair- Thrift store find
Faux fireplace- Info here
Bed spread and comforter- Ollies

Linking up with:
Share Your Cup Thursday
Katherine's Corner

Girls Faux Fireplace in Bedroom

This project wasn't particularly hard to do, but I am pretty happy with the outcome and so are my daughters. Here is how this whole thing began...

A little while back, I saw this image from a blog (also happens to be a blog from the hosts of Fixer Upper) about a faux fireplace in a little girl's room and fell in love with it. 
Ever since seeing that picture (which now for the life of me I can't seem to find online!) I knew I wanted to do that in our girls room. The faux fireplace would add a little something extra special to their space and they could decorate it any way they wanted to.

So, how did I end up with all the wood to make this piece?
Well, after making more than a handful of buffet tables to sell over that past couple of months, that left me with quite a bit of left-over scrap wood which ended up being the perfect amount for the job. 

I just basically laid out the wood in our garage one day and measured, then cut the dimensions I wanted and that was it! I did use my pocket hole screws to keep the piece together and in the end, had to anchor it to the wall for extra safety. Plus, that way they could hang some things from it and I wouldn't worry whether or not the fireplace would hold up.


Here is where the piece started:

And after some painting and a little decorating with my daughter's things:

There are still a few minor details I would like the girls to be able to add in the future...like little wooden decorations to the top under the mantle part or some finials...and they could paint those too...but for now, it is a pretty basic piece that adds so much character. We love it!!


Some final details about their room:
Wall color- Benjamin Moore Mellow Pink (color matched at Home Depot)
Wooden rocking chair- local thrift store
Basket- local thrift store
Prints of both girls- Staples engineering prints (love that place!)
Wooden bird house- A.C. Moore and hand painted by my girls
Jewelry box- gift from family