Playroom Makeover…In Progress

Note: I spent forever working on this post, then got to the end and thought “Who cares?!”  Bloggers, does this ever happen to you?  Anyway, I hope somebody will find this interesting!

In case you haven’t noticed, the “Homekeeping” section of my blog has been sorely neglected lately, with most of my posts being about The Littlest Apple or food.  That’s a pretty accurate reflection of real life right now.  Home projects and all home keeping but the bare minimum have come to a screeching halt around here not only due to sickness, but also because of a a very demanding Little Apple and upcoming Christmas expenses.  That bathroom makeover?  Still working on it.

But I do have one little project to share with you that is very much still a work in progress: The Playroom.  We have this loft-like space upstairs with vaulted ceilings that is perfect for a playroom.  It was one of the reasons we picked this floorplan.  It is most definitely an awkward space- long and somewhat narrow with LOTS of doors: 7, to be exact (leading to the office, the master bedroom, the laundry room, the linen closet, The Littlest Apple’s bedroom, a bathroom, and the guest bedroom).  The vaulted ceilings make it seem a little bigger than it really is.

My original plan was to use a bright fun color on the walls.  I envisioned apple green walls with white furniture and other brightly colored accents.  See how fun this room looks with the green walls?  NOT my room!

image from Ohdeedoh

But when I painted our playroom apple green, it was disastrous. It was just too bright and there was too much of it.  Maybe it would have worked better in a bedroom with lots of white furniture and bed linens  to offset the green, but in this large open space, the center of our upstairs, it was just not working.

I repainted using the very neutral Rice Grain from Sherwin Williams.  This is SO MUCH better than the green, but it isn’t that much different than the builder’s original paint color.  This space definitely needs a color that is light, but I’m tempted to repaint it just a shade darker so the white furniture really pops.

Because of the shape of this space, it is extremely hard to get a photo that shows most of the room all at once.  Here’s a sneak peek at what it looks like now, mid makeover:

Here’s a breakdown of what I selected for the room…

The couch is the Karlstaad Loveseat from Ikea with a long white slipcover:

The shelving is the  Expedit Bookcase from Ikea.  I keep seeing these pop up everywhere, and they really are the perfect storage system for kids rooms, craft rooms, play rooms, anywhere!

For the curtains, again I went with white.  Simple twill and a basic rod, hung as close to the ceiling as possible.  There is only one small window in this room, so I didn’t want to take away from the natural light.

Rug: I am absolutely in love Dash and Albert rugs.  They have so many great stripes and other patterns.  The Pond Stripe is the color scheme we were looking for.  A little bit of color on the floor should go nicely with this otherwise neutral space.  The large size we need was back-ordered until this month, so I’m hoping to get it soon.

I searched and searched for pillows that I thought would complement the colors of the rug (judging solely from the rug photos online).  I wanted pillows in a pattern, but NOT striped, so as not to compete with the rug.   Then one day at Target, I ran across these pillows on an endcap, not near the other pillows.  They were pricey for Target pillows, but I grabbed two, then found two in the solid blue to match.  I also found a super soft throw in the same shade of blue.  LOVE!  I’m not convinced as to how it will look once the rug is in the room, but for now, I am completely enamoured with my pillows. (I couldn’t find them online to give you a link, nor could I remember the designer.  Sorry!)

We hung a huge mirror from Homegoods over the couch to make the room seem a little bigger.  My husband and I argued over how high the mirror should be hung.  He won.  I think it is too high, but maybe everything just seems high because I’m only 5’0″.  Or maybe we just need an even bigger mirror.

I’ve also got these wonderful sketches of our family, drawn by my father in law, that I wanted to include in the room somehow.  Aren’t they amazing?!

I think the frames and/or mats need to be more colorful and the off-white mat I used looks a bit pink, but they work for now.

So, that’s what I’ve completed so far, and I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made.  But there is still lots left to do!

Here’s my list of things I still want to do in this space:

• New side table
• Table lamp
• Shelving unit or entertainment center for niche
• Baskets for Expedit shelving.  I’m picturing baskets in each square with tags/labels on each so you know what toys are inside.  That way you’re not overwhelmed with the color of all the toys at once!   
• Colorful artwork for above the shelves  (right now I’m using some old children’s album covers from my childhood, but I want something different)
• New light fixture
• Add beams or other visual interest to the vaulted ceiling
• Chalkboard paint on the laundry room door

So, what do you think?