Just a little over a month ago, we moved into our new beautiful home! I have had a Pinterest board going for this home for almost 2 years, so to say I was excited to get my hands on decorating our brand-new home, is an understatement! The house we moved out of was small and inefficient for allowing Millie to get messy and play with her toys, so I knew that in any house we would buy we needed a dedicated space for her to play and imagine! And guess what!? Now we do.
Our new home is about 2000 square feet 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms with a loft/family room upstairs! The loft is what sold us on the floor plan for our new home…This room could be a place for my kids to play, get messy and build memories without me feeling like I constantly have to pick up.
Turning the loft space into the dream playroom did require some major must haves…first, and foremost it must be FUN and be a technology free zone! Second, it must be gender neutral (baby brother is on the way), third it needs to have organization, forth, it needs to be a space that was pleasant for me to be in (since I will spend just as much time in there too) and lastly, a space for potential guests to sleep.
All the factors put together makes for quite the project…I have decided to document the process and share how things are progressing! The playroom isn’t quite finished yet, so read on to see how Operation Playroom Part 1 went!
The Beginning: The playroom is 16ft by 18ft room and a complete blank canvas. This was a dream come true and completely intimidating all at the same time. I had to determine a layout that worked with the space but was still efficient for toys and organization. I knew I wanted the space to have a focal wall that would set the feel for the rest of the room. I also wanted “stations” throughout the room to help make the space as efficient as possible. So...what says accent wall more than stripes and huge letters spelling “PLAY!?” Below are some pictures of the progress as we painted and de-cluttered the room!
*Side Note: To paint straight stripes, we bought a $20 laser level from Home Depot. We then determined the size of stripe we wanted and measured the whole wall from top to bottom divided it by the thickness of strip we wanted (I think we ended up doing 18" stripes). We ended up keeping the initial wall color (gray) and just added white stripes that matched the trim. This process was no big deal and took 3 evenings to accomplish. I LOVE the finished product!!
The Stations: I wanted a wall dedicated to cube organization for holding toys, a coloring corner with a table and coloring utensils, a cozy reading nook for snuggling up with books and a corner with a tent and stuffed animals for fort fun.
1. Cube Organization: I ended up purchasing white cubes from Target. Two 6-cube organizers and one 4-cube organizer. I determined these sizes based on the size of the room and the amount of storage I wanted. I also decided to do "bench like seating" on the lower cubes so it could be multi-functional. Below is a picture of the AMAZING finished striped wall with the storage cubes. Organization? Check! Cuteness Factor? Check! First station complete? Check!
2. Coloring Corner: Millie loves to paint and color and do all things crafting, so whats better than a little corner dedicated to just that!? We will eventually add in an art hanging system as well as a trimmed-out chalkboard, but for now this is what her adorable crafting corner looks like! I wanted a table was unique looking and not plastic. I found her this adorable wooden modern table and chairs at Walmart!
3. Reading Nook and Fort: the final two stations are a work in progress. I made the little tent as seen in the picture below (Check out my Etsy Store Mountain Baby Co to snag a tent for your kiddos too!) I am hoping to find a little faux fur rug and some other cozy qualities to finish out the fort section. As far as the reading nook, my vision for this part of the playroom are some bean bags and a sleeper sofa for a comfy place to sit and place for guests to sleep as well.
Be sure to watch for my next blog on Operation Playroom Part 2 for my final reveal of our playroom! If you have any ideas or ways to make the playroom even better, I would love to know them! Leave your ideas in the comment section below!
Abby is a Mom and an amazing team member of Baja Baby. She lives in Colorado with her husband Alex, their beautiful daughter Amelia Grace, baby boy Amos Lee and Maple the dog. You can find Abby on Instagram by clicking here.
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