playroom pretty

The entryway from our attached garage leads directly into what we've dubbed the playroom. It's a cheery room with the same light grey/taupe walls as the rest of (most of) the downstairs. Toy storage is an issue, and if it were my grumpy mom way, I would have all the toys always put away and there would be no trace of little gremlins in my decor. What a mean mother. But, the toy explosion is inevitable. Oh the toys. We have probably 2/3 of the kids' toys in the basement play area and the rest are in the playroom (minus a handful residing in Brynlee's room).

So I would like to have our "playroom" still be friendly and a little whimsical, but still mesh with the rest of the downstairs (since it's pretty out in the open) while concealing the overabundance of TOYS. My dear parents agreed to construct some MORE built-ins, this time for the playroom, much like the living room ones that they created to house all my favorite prettiness (these pictures were taken in August so things have changed a bit here and there since then):

The mercury glass knobs make me about keel over with delight.

My mom has already whipped up some window treatments in this fabric:

I'll add some new storage bins like these: 

And the grand finale... I just ordered THIS for a fun accent wall:

 

I can't wait.

We also desperately need a new light fixture. I'm thinking one that's pretty flush to the ceiling, and I love this drum shade. I love the pattern, but it may be too much... maybe one in a solid grey would be better. We will see.

I do have a rug in the room already (it's the "gold" version).  I can't wait to see it all come together in the end.

I promise to share before & afters. I'm silly over these upcoming changes!

52 in 1: WEEK 49 - wallpaper & a little stepstool - part 2

I can't believe I only have THREE more weeks in my 52/1 challenge. It's been a fun ride, although I must say I am not putting such pressure on myself for awhile! Haha.

So I knocked out two projects this week... okay, I'm lying. My mom did one, I finished the other! I had been wanting to put up wallpaper in the back of the built ins that my dad is working on for our living room and found exactly what I was looking for after a long search. My mom was over the other day and put the wallpaper up in in about two seconds while I laid motionless on the couch (this pregnancy is knocking me out in pretty much every way possible). It is EXACTLY what I envisioned! The color, pattern, subtleness (apparently spellcheck doesn't think that's a word, but I do!), everything.  Can't wait to finish up the cabinets and get all my pretty little doo dads up on the shelves.

{doors will be put on the bottom part}

And ta-da, a finished stool! In hindsight, I should have just spray painted it since I needed about 4 coats (and probably should have done like 5) of paint. Oh well. I am in love with the fabric and Brynlee gave her approval, so I'm happy. :) 

52 in 1: WEEK 48 - a little stepstool - part one

Last summer, I picked up this little stepstool to re-do and put in Brynlee's room and I've finally started to tackle it. I painted the bottom part a mustard-y yellow (actually, it needs another coat) to coordinate with the fabric I ordered for the top part. And, the fabric didn't come in yet (I totally thought it would be here today), hence the "part one" of this project. I'll finish it next week, and hopefully even tackle another project AND finish it.

The stool before: so charming, so un-ME.

I unscrewed the hinges, sanded the wood, etc.

 

The backing stuff and staples were a bear to take off!

 

pretty yellow

The pad thing that was underneath the nasty old fabric was in surprisingly good shape and wasn't smelly or anything at all.  I had fully intended on replacing it, but don't really see a need to now.  Score!

 

So, this is the after, for now.  Can't wait to finish this up... Brynlee's gonna love it!

52 in 1: WEEK 45 - a birthday party for my 3 year old

Well, almost 3 year old. Our sweet girl's party went amazingly today... I'll let the pictures tell the story. Thanks to all who attended and helped us celebrate Brynlee... Enjoy!

(Thanks again to Carrie for being my personal photographer- don't know what I'd do without you!)

Love this last little montage of Addison feeding Trey... such a sweet sister!

52 in 1: WEEK 44 - knotted linen bunting

Bethany has been having a monthly craft night for a little less than a year, and I am so glad to be able to be home and participate now. Craft night fell on this past Monday for the month of March, and we all worked at our little projects with a vengeance. Alyssa helped me make the knots for this great (easy, easy, easy) bunting (tutorial here) for Brynlee's upcoming birthday party. It's so simple and I love the look. Kinda disheveled, bright, and fun. Just like my sweet almost 3 year old girl. :)

I used linen and linen-look fabric.

Alyssa, Sarah, Bethany, Christy, and Kimi. So much talent and beauty in one room!

Love it!

52 in 1: WEEK 41 - kitchen tile

Ahhh, finally. After a little over a week, I have my kitchen back and pretty new tile to enjoy! The tiles are bigger than the others, and we used a super dark charcoal grout (even though in the flash pictures it looks lighter). Next up, painting the cabinets (white!) and installing the pretty glass knobs that are just waiting to be put to use and admired (I swear a ray of sunshine comes out of that box and I hear a choir sing every time I open it... baha!). I've been collecting lovely plates to display on the wall near the sliding doors and Ryan just ordered new blinds for those doors (the ones that are up now are so old, dirty, and, most importantly, broken).

So, of course I waited until there was practically no light left to take these pictures (and I hate using a flash) so I apologize for the orangey glow.

Our starting point:

Before and after!

The color looks like this in real life- had to turn the flash on to really capture it.

Yay!

A few more things to make me happy today:

Angel face baby boy.

Aqua nails (OPI's "fly" from the Nicki Minaj collection- can't believe I admitted that).

Abbott's in March- my husband is THE best.

#febphotoaday

It was super fun to participate in the February photo a day challenge on Instagram. I cheated a few days (like posting two pictures in one day to make up for missing the day before) but I did it! Now for March... I think I'll take a break. :)

1- your view today.  It was nice enough to play outside that day, and Mac was happy despite his pinkeye and double ear infection. :(

2- words.  A new print (on wood!) for my crafty room.

3- hands.  My little artist.

4- a stranger.  Brynlee may know who this is, but he's a stranger to me.

5- 10am.  Working in the church nursery.

6- dinner.  Thank you Wegmans.

7- button.  I had just picked up my vacuum from the repair shop (after not having it for a few weeks!) and am so grateful for its 5 year warranty (and for the little boy finger that snuck in).

8- sun.  Compliments of you know who.

9- front door.  Welcome!

10- self portrait.  The Ashleys!  Haven't forgotten about the Ward weekend post.  Gah!

11- makes you happy.  Chatting with Elmo at the museum- might make B more happy than it makes me!

12- inside your closet.  Just a snippet.  You think I'd post my (mostly still unpacked) mess?!  Ha.

13- blue.  Pretty birdie salt & pepper shakers purchased in Franklin, TN!

14- heart.  Obv V-day, complete with (kind of) heart shaped pancakes.

15- phone.  When Alyssa gave this to Mac for his birthday, it took Brynlee a bit to understand what it was, since there is a dial and the handset part is attached.  Funny that our kids will probably never even understand why phones once had cords!

16- something new.  Hexagon tile love!

17- time.  Cuddle (and TV) time!

18- drink.  Creamer with some coffee.

19- something you hate to do.  Most definitely do not like to unload the dishwasher- but I'm sure I would hate washing dishes by hand even more!

20- handwriting.  We're working on it.

21- a fave photo of you.  My favorite family pic!

22- where you work.  Best job, even though my bosses can be quite demanding.

23- your shoes.  Wish they were flipflops.  

24- inside your bathroom closet.  I thought this was the weirdest and most random subject.  

25- green.  My sweet, handsome breakfast date while B was having a sleepover at nana and papa's.

26- night.  Dinner date with my favorites.  Kitchen was still unusable at this point with the tile work going on so we *had* to eat out.  So sad. ;)

27- something you ate.  Wegmans' chicken pot pie.  It has crust on the top AND the bottom, not just a tricky crust on top.  Amazing.

28- money.  My wallet.

29- something you're listening to.  Loving Audrey Assad's new album!