Friday, June 14, 2013

Playroom/office Demo Mode

Also known as the before pictures, or 'oh that's better already'.  Here the first of a very full load of panelling that went off to the dump.  Buh bye!

This is what my hubby does on his days off!

The west wall as looked when we first moved in and used this as our playroom.  
Built in shelves play now you see me now you don't!
...and here we go in demo mode
playroom now...
 More of the west wall with a peek at the funky panelled window sill and valence. Fancy pants.
More befores. See the pink lump on the floor? She's 5 now.
And R watching Grover there? He read The Hobbit, on his own.


Wow did we have a lot of toys.  We just did all the toy editing and sold stuff on craigslist/ gave stuff away.  The books were especially hard to sort through.  And almost all the Little People are gone.  Ah Fisher Price, those were the good old days.  Now its all Barbie and Skylanders. Sigh.


Particularly hideous close up. Panelled valence and
not one but TWO types of shiny bamboo wallpaper.
But they go together so well!

...looks much better stripped to the studs.
North wall with the pink quilt on it...





















Can't wait to move forward and start putting things back.  The wall that faces the carport is already reframed.  He needs to do a few electrical and plumbing things that I don't understand or care about.  Apparently I will care if we can't plug anything in the new room or if the main water pipe breaks behind the drywalled ceiling.  I guess it is a good idea for him to do his plumbing/electrical stuff.  But as soon as it's done I expect to move on to pretty things, ok?




Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Chalkboard much?

A while back (cough* 3 years *cough) I did a post about chalkboards.  This is my kitchen vinyl chalkboard that we use as a note pad, calendar, and all round organizer.  I love it.
I have had this little (fake) silver tray painted with chalkboard paint in my kitchen for quite a few years as well.  Usually it just says 'Welcome' but here it is being all festive.  I always meant to hang it on the wall but never did.  Lazy you ask?  Yes, yes I am.



I somehow made this framed chalkboard also, quite a while ago.  I can't even remember where I got it.  I definitely painted the frame myself.  I can't quite recall if I painted the chalkboard part myself too, but I think it came that way.  From my mom? Thrifted? Not sure, but boy has it been put to good use.

Behold a few examples of chalkboard usage in my house
Winter fun


A verse in the fall
Same verse different accessories

For a baby shower

Christmas photo prop

Christmas decor


Birthday decor


More birthday decor

For a wedding celebration


For Halloween

Song lyrics at Christmas

Another verse

And here is the most recent version: a saying I read on pinterest that was originally on a t shirt.  It made me laugh so I wrote it up on the chalkboard.  Quite frankly I still laugh to myself every time a pass by and it has been a few weeks.  Easily amused I am.

Monday, June 10, 2013

L's Big Girl Room: Details and Pinspiration




My sister's ballet slippers
inspiration shadowbox
So here we go.  A few little details and the "PINspiration" behind the ideas where applicable.  There is nothing like a bit of visual research during the project planning stage.  

Visit my pinterest board for all links if you're interested, or inspired (pinspired?) as it were.

collection of dress up clothes

inspiration book shelf from YHL house tour
IKEA spice rack as a book shelf
our own collection of vintage quilts and blankets

the captains bed and two dressers
layout inspiration


Built in shelving made by Daddy
our shelving inspiration
Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray (HC 170)



That's it.  The full room tour.  Phew.  Now you've seen it all.  If by chance you want to see the other posts, the bedroom layout is here, and the closet details are here.



Sunday, June 9, 2013

Inside the Pink Closet

So here is the (much delayed) view of the inside of her renovated closet.  Keep in mind that these pictures are from before her birthday (in April, I'm such a slacker).  Now there is a giant 3 story Barbie castle in the middle of the closet.  It has a dance floor if your Barbie wants to come over and play sometime. Can you see her collection of fancy dresses hanging in the corner? We made one section of full height hanging going sideways to take advantage of that corner of the closet that is hard to access.

 There is so much shelf space we don't quite know what to do with it all.  A few memory boxes are tucked on the very top shelf, one with baby blankets and clothes and one with crafts and school treasures.  From this angle you can see the hidden shoe storage in the white shelf.  The pink boxes hold smaller toys, jewellery, etc. and the higher ones hold shoes she is growing into.
 When the doors are open during the day it is a fun little hit of colour.  This little girl loves pinky pink and this mommy is so glad the whole room doesn't look like a bottle of pepto.



We have been living with this layout and closet organization for a few months now and it works great!  Lost of room to play, separate bins for all her different toys, easy access to her books, and lots of carpet space to play despite the small square footage of the room.  I am so thankful that A is handy enough to build the things we collectively dream up.  I love sketching my ideas on a scrap paper and then (after a bit of a wait) seeing how he can create them.  This space is a hundred times more useful than it was, and it gives L a special place to play and read and sleep.  Perfect.


AHH! I just found some before pictures I think this highlights how full the closet was before
 and also highlights the particularly useless sections on the sides.
right side is now full height hanging and where doll beds live
Left side is where the white shoe shelf is now
still keep toys here, now Barbies instead of Little People