Home Renovations - Playroom - Before

Ok, Ok, I know I never did blog about the house like I promised back in the fall although I still hope to do that. Maybe by the anniversary of our purchase date which is March 27?? Anyway, when we bought our house, nothing needed immediate attention but there are certainly areas that I want to put my touch on. I'm a designer by trade so my mind is always swirling with ideas. My wallet is not necessarily swirling with extra green stuff. Jacob and I don't believe in debt (other than a mortgage) so any home projects are always paid with cash which means they sometimes get put on hold. Now that we have been in the house almost a year and I've set aside some Critterbug & Cricket moolah, I'm ready to start tackling a project. The first room on the agenda is our playroom/craft room because we have a serious storage situation in there. After 2 more birthdays and a Christmas, we HAVE to figure out how to store the toys better. They are currently hugging the perimeter of the room in a very unpleasant manner. My current sewing area is no better and I'm embarrassed to even show it. I know it appalls Jacob but I call it "organized chaos." I like to believe that once I have the space "perfect" then I'll be a little more organized.  Right.  As creative as I can be - organization is not one of my strong points - but I desire to improve. All that to say, I thought I'd go ahead and post the before pictures of the playroom and craft room so that I won't get too behind later. It is a big room with LOTS of potential but it may take a little time. If you have any thoughts, share them!

The theme of the room is going to be modern/woodsy.  We live in the woods so I want to respect that but I also want a room where I can just have FUN with some wild colors and unique decor.  What better room than my craft room and the kids' playroom.  Color scheme - light blue walls above bead board, chocolate bead board (think land and sky).  Other prominent colors to be used - ORANGE, lime (ok, that color scares Jacob a little so we'll see) & Cherry.

Not much is going to happen on this wall.  The wall and bead board will be painted and I'll put some pictures up.  Down the road I would LOVE a mantle but that's not a priority.

Left of the beam is going to define the "learning" space as I am calling it.  The bookshelf will stay under the window because it's a perfect fit but I hope to paint it a fun color.  I bought maps of the 7 continents to hang on the wall.  I would like a long rectangle table that could seat 4-6 kids (NO I am not having that many!!) where crafts, puzzles and the like can take place.  To the right of the beam will define the toy nook.  The couch will be up against that wall.

This will be the future toy nook and t.v. watching area.  I'm treating it as its own room defined by the beam above.  The couch will be on the left wall and the wall right of the door will be a built-in for the t.v. and bins, bins and more bins for toys.  I bought 2 adorable decals for this wall from Graphic Spaces on Etsy.  The tree branch will be on the left pointing right and the raccoon will be running along the bead board pointing left.  I'm also going to remove the track lighting that runs parallel to the beam.  So I don't have to mess with patching the ceiling I will just put a swag-type light in it's place and center it in the "nook".

Isn't this stinkin' cute??  The only differences in the one I purchased and this one are that I chose orange birds and a darker green tire swing.  Oh, and it says, "The Cartners".

I really like this fabric and would like to make some large pillows for the very faded and stained Pottery Barn couch that I can't afford to recover.  I'll hopefully find several fabrics to coordinate.  I'm not 100% sold on this one yet but it's in the running.

 This entire wall will be a built-in.  Floor to ceiling and corner to corner.  There will be an assortment of depths and heights for the shelves.  I am in search for fun/unique bins for it.  Lots of color.  The color of the actual built in is still undecided.  The TV and VCR (Yes, I said VCR.  All of our Disney movies are on VHS) will be housed here too.

This area will now house my sewing stuff including my sewing table and my craft table that my father-in-law built for me.  I would like this wall to have my dry erase board and possibly some fabric covered cork boards and a ribbon rack.  I love these prints of puppies on the docks done by a Greenville artist that my parents bought in the 80's.  Unfortunately they still look like they would fit that time period.  I hope to remat and reframe them to give them new life and put them somewhere.  I'm all about recycling!  Dad actually saw this guy at Artisphere this year and he's still selling the same prints.  Ha.

This is just another view of what will be my crafting area.  Not sure what I am going to put on this wall but I am in desperate need of a clock down here.  I would love a huge clock but so far I haven't found "the one".  If you find one, let me know.  It needs to be a decent size (and decent price!).  Anybody need an entertainment center?

I didn't mean for this to turn into a dissertation.  Obviously you can see my excitement...and in the time I just wasted writing this, I could have gotten a coat of paint on the walls :).  More to come later!