Showing posts with label playroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playroom. Show all posts

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Expanding Life

LOTS of life has been going on! Almost a month ago we welcomed a nine pound bundle of joy named Luke!


Dablet is now officially a BIG SISTER!!

I don't know if my joy or hers hit higher on the scale, but capturing this moment was worth everything we went through to get to it! It was a whirlwind of a month! We moved into our new multi-generational living set up the end of August:

thought it deserved a selfie!

Two weeks later Dablet turned THREE!! I cannot believe it! How is she so BIG?!?! And given the move we are VERY excited to properly give her a big girl room and fabulous playroom - details to come soon ;)
A short fifteen days after that Luke was born via a scheduled repeat c-section. He is absolutely perfect! Love truly does multiply with your children, and Dablet is quite the big sister! 

Having both kiddos home in a new house has inspired me to do some things with this blog and the relationships I have been lucky enough to develop over the last several years to bring you all some fabulously fun things! Life is still chaotic, but there is always time in between loads of laundry, meals, and diaper changes to bring chic moments to the craziness! They are more fabulous than ever now because Dablet appreciates chic moments of her own!

Until next time!


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Dablet's Playroom - Phase One

The design, and redesign, of Dablet's playroom has been the center of attention around here for quite a while! When we sold our printing company early this year, we moved a large chunk of equipment and paper back to the house that quickly took up our formal dining room. I always knew that we would never use our formal dining room because we have a large open concept eat-in kitchen...but I did not expect it to turn into a storage room! It was especially disturbing to have it become storage because its one of our two front rooms when you first walk into the house...bad impression?! I think so!
This is what we had for a while as an eye sore while we tried to shift things around, purge, and clear out the room:
This is what can happen to your life quickly!

Clearly, that's not what anyone wants to live with! Once Dablet was interacting with everything around her in a much more hands on and mobile way (crawling too!), it because obvious that this room needed to be a playroom! We cleared it out and painted the "builders beige" walls with Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl (one of my FAVORITE grays!) and immediately the room looked better! 



We found a fabulous chair from IKEA that was supposed to have legs on it, but we never screwed them in!
Find this chair online here

It was the perfect height off the ground for Dablet to be able to safely climb in and out on her own. I'm contemplating getting a second one of these chairs for her in our family room and making a fun bright slipcover for this one! She clearly loves it!


Kids and tags!!!

This Solsta Olarp Chair was the perfect reading chair for her reading nook! I brought down a bookcase I was originally going to use in my new office because the teal popped so well against the gray! Once (some of) her books were on the shelves it brought SO much color into the room! That's one of the things I love about the gray backdrop; it's a perfect canvas for all kinds of colors. It's essential to have lots of color in a child's space:
I found this piece at HomeGoods!

Because the opposite corner in the room is going to be her crafty area, we decided to put her main toy storage on the same wall as her reading nook. Of course the most important part to any playroom (aside from the color!) is the functionality. Toy storage has to be more than just easy for me to quickly return order to the room, Dablet needs to be able to use it herself! Safely too!


Again we went to IKEA for this one! The Trofast Toy Storage series is PERFECT for allowing you to get what you need based on what you have to store! Different colors, and bucket depths (all mounted on easy sliding brackets) make a custom look possible!


Added bouns, Dablet has NO problem emptying everything out herself, and I have no problem quickly putting things back together!

Her foam ABC, 123 mat will soon be replaced by a rug, but the pop of color has been welcome!

So far I have this wall done, with the opposite wall "under construction"! The artwork that Nicole ap! created for us is being framed and I cannot wait to finish off the look! Dablet is accepting appointments to come check out her playroom, as long as you don't mind getting on the ground and enjoying it with her! This project has allowed me to think like a kid again, and lay to rest thee stigma against having playrooms as soon as you walk into someone's house. Maybe you'll disagree with me, but when this look is done I am confident it will be a nice sight to walk in the door to!


Monday, July 23, 2012

Mommy Monday - Paint & Playroom

Happy Monday everyone!
It's been a crazy several days, productive, but CRAZY! Our dumpster kitty, Meow, had back surgery last week and is home now "enjoying" her digs that she will have to deal with for the next four weeks.

Also to add to the chaos, we finally had our yard sale this past Saturday!! I felt SO good to purge, and we will donate the rest to one of our local organizations. The best part...we profited over $800!!! The two rooms these funds will go to first in our home makeover are my office and Dablet's playroom! Speaking of home makeover, I painted our half bath! I was true to my word that I'd end up starting with the smallest room in the house!
I used Benjamin Moore Peacock Blue and a lot of 1.5" blue painter's tape! I reminded myself why people often resort to hiring professional painters. It's not that the painting itself it hard, but you spend at least half of your time prepping and touching up!
This was the "before" and the Koi painting from our Honeymoon was the color inspiration
Prep, edging, and during photos
Final look! Amazing how much different a coat of paint will make a room!

With paint on the brain, I think I have a background color for Dablet's playroom! Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl has been one of my favorites for a long time! It's a pale blue gray (at least in my house!) and with all of the other colors I want to use in the playroom, and the chalkboard paint wall, I think it will be a perfect canvas!
Now for those yard sale dollars!! 
I have been browsing blogs all weekend for inspiration and I found some at one of my favorites Focal Point. Lynda lives in Arizona, and I think I might just need to get my butt out there and figure out a way to get these fun finds back to me! It's a good thing I'm headed out that way this October!!
I NEED this for my office!!!
I'm slightly in love with the black and white fabric trim on this chair! 

Another fun thing I tracked down this weekend perusing IKEA's website for Dablet's Playroom was this:
The bins come in all different colors, you can place them in any orientation with the grooves that you wish, they also have a white frame and you can always paint it! It's from the TROFAST collection and this frame runs just at $114. I can picture putting words and numbers on the bins for teaching not only clean up practices, but also what's what!

Two other requirements for our playroom creation are a reading nook and chalkboard paint!! Here are some of my favorite pins for my ideas! You can find more on my Playroom Board!

See the pin here
See the pin here


See the pin here
See the pin here


I hope you all have fabulous success with whatever projects you have going on, and please be sure to share photos! I'd love to see!

Monday, July 2, 2012

OlioHop Organize!

"Do a little dance, create a moodboard, let's organize...ba dum ba dum, let's organize!"


Can you tell I'm super excited all over again? That's because it's the first Monday of the month and that means OlioHop! Last month we talked about nurseries and kid's rooms, and today it's all about organization. I am thrilled to not only be involved for the second OlioHop, but also to have been invited to continue to come back every month! Lots of OlioLove going on from this chick for Olioboard and the other Olioistas!


How to make organizing easy:

  • Give yourself plenty of creative space
  • Label and designate separate areas
  • Spend 5-10 minutes in each room that you use on a daily basis putting things away
  • Allow the space to change with your needs
  • Take "stock" once a month and purge things you find yourself not using

The last time we OlioHopped, I got to spend some time talking about my daughter! Well, my little diva is on the move in major ways! Part of our home makeover includes turning what should be a formal dining room into a playroom for her! If there is only one thing I could pass on about parenting it would be accept life as a controlled form of chaos! This mantra doesn't only apply to parenting, but to organizing as a whole!
To see the Olioboard and shop this look click here!
For more Playroom ideas see my Pinterest board here!

Playrooms pose an interesting challenge by not only needing to be organized and hidden, but also easy to navigate, creative, and kid friendly! I love the numbered baskets from Layla Grayce for the simple fact that I can see myself telling Dablet "Please put your foam blocks away in bin #3". She will just stare at me and smile now because she's only 9 months old, but this is a great way to teach numbers and organizational skills! Along the same lines, I am all about having art space in playrooms! Whipping out chalk and drawing on your own table with a parent friendly "just push everything off the top" drawer built in! I could make a great DIY project hooking up a paper roll holder to the side of this so we could pull across paper and use markers too! Let's face it, kids like to toss everything together! As long as it gets it out of the way, it still counts as basic organization.
The best piece for this playroom that screams functional organization (because that's the easiest kind to keep up with) is the changing table bench! It takes up VERY little space, can be put on top of any bookshelf, and hides any diaper products away in its own drawer!

Moving on to the idea of hiding things away, let's talk closets! How many of you have been guilty of cleaning up a room (any room, but especially a bedroom) and just shoving things in your closet and shutting the door?!?! I'll start the support group here! If your room isn't organized, and your closet isn't organized, this will be a perpetual cycle of back and forth mess and you will get nowhere! See my Closet Storage Pinterest Board Here
Here's a look at organization behind closed doors that is EASY to do, keep up with, and adapt to your "growing needs".

Why a results step one? Because needs are ever changing! You shouldn't expect one form of organization to always be the one that works best for you. This was done before Dablet was born, and almost 10 months after she arrived it now looks like this:

Her other spaces for in-room organization:
Changing table that has storage, easy access, and books!!
In-room reading nook and toy storage!


Moving on to more "adult things", you may know I am working on a design for my new home office and client meeting space. Olioboard has been an instrumental part in pulling together ideas for the overall look of my new office, so I wanted to pull some ideas together on how to keep it user friendly! Also, if I'm planning on having clients into my lair, I might want to be able to keep up with the fabric swatches, pens, sketch pads, and idea books!


To see the Olioboard and shop this look click here!
For more Home Office ideas see the Pinterest Board here

I am obsessed with the idea of using old library card catalogs for storage! I think this is a FABULOUS way to organize crafting areas because you have lots of drawers and a very easy way to label! Keeping a desk pulled together is also essential so you can actually sit and work at it. Having a fun pencil/ruler/etc storage piece like the teal bubble one seen above takes up less of your surface area and provides ample space. I'm also a fan of wall mounted hutches! Want to make it a bit more chic? Try bowls of different shapes, sizes, and colors to store things you need easy access to. They'll serve a purpose and be nice to look at!
Chalkboard paint is in!! If you're looking for something less permanent, you can always use the wall decals! Tile them, make a weekly calendar, or cut them out into shapes you would rather see on your wall.

To make ANY and ALL of this work remember that the easiest way to stay organized is to give everything a  marked place and try to reduce the amount of "stuff" you have floating around your home or office. Goodwill is a fabulous way to purge (with the tax deduction benefit), and I've found some great pieces there for re-purposing! Have questions or need additional help with a specific project? Visit my Services or Contact Us pages for more information, I'd love to work with you!

Need some extra inspiration for now? I took a trip to The Container Store last weekend and here are some of my snapshots!

Walls of boxes in every color, material, and size!

Fun ways to keep your papers organized, marked, and things hung up!
For more storage ideas, see my Pinterest board here

Thank you SO much for joining me today! Have you created an account with Olioboard yet? If not, go for it! It's very easy to use and I'd love to see what you create! Post your Olioboard links below so I can take a look and follow you!
Here's the hopping part! There are 15 other fabulous bloggers blogging with me today during this OlioHop and would love to share their ideas with you! Take a look and enjoy your week!



Friday, March 9, 2012

Let's talk baby

I don't mean, "Baby, let's talk", but seriously "let's talk about babies". Before someone in my family (or Kyle) sees this and thinks "Holy $#*% she's pregnant", I assure you I'm not. However, I am utterly IN LOVE with my little diva! Recently I have been satisfying my inner design demons by virtually flipping through inspirational books of home decor photos. Everything I think about doing to our house right now orbits around Abby.
 She's going to be 6 months old next week (minor mommy freak out moment), and we have ordered a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (featured on TLCs DC Cupcakes), AND I just found out that they are going to open a store in Boston!!!!!! Unfortunately, I no longer live there, but my mom does, and I can assure you it will be added to my list of "must visit" places as soon as I get off a plane. Of course, Abby won't be able to actually eat the cupcakes, (her pediatrician would probably verbally abuse me), but she can play with the frosting!
Anyway, I recently did a post about her playroom, or the idea of her playroom. What I have recently come to decide is that our second floor NEEDS HARDWOOD floors!!!! Carpet is great, but with 3 dogs, 4 cats, and a soon to be crawling still drooling child....they have got to go.
Personally I'm loving how this new (potential) home improvement also means I get to pick out area rugs...but I'm getting ahead of myself. The BIG change next week will be Abby moving to her big girl room. It's funny that I still call it a nursery at the same time, but she has been sleeping in our room since she was born. Before I get chastised by the people against room-sharing, she goes to bed by herself, sleeps through the night, and does just fine thank you very much. It has been SO much easier because our master is on the first floor. Also, I'll add that it's been MUCH CHEAPER because we only have to worry about climate control on one floor!
Since my darling diva will be upgrading very soon, I feel it's time I finish decorating her modern safari themed room. Here are a few pictures of what we have so far (thanks to Britten Berry Photography from my maternity shoot)
Tree hand painted by yours truly...Giraffe from Melissa & Doug
Crib is from the Catalina collection of Pottery Barn Kids (big thanks to Kyle's mom aka "Mimi")

Changing table is literally the Ultimate Changing Table also from pottery barn (big thanks go to my mom on this one, aka "Grandy")
We also have hot pink framed black and white photos I took on a safari in Africa, but I am dying for a little more "omph". I know, it's a room for an infant, but I want her to be able to explore and discover things in it. I have some ideas up my sleeve, and a strong desire to pull something off this weekend.
I'll post my dreams (and some fun before/after shots of Abby's closet renovation *BIG thanks to Kyle*) later tonight or tomorrow.

Until Next Time....

Dabble

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Designing a Playroom....

When I was pregnant with Abby I was very much into the lime greens and neutral tones, there was something in me that wouldn't let me go SUPER girly. Whatever "that" was, it's TOTALLY gone now and I love having a little diva to remind me of all of the fabulous parts of just being a girl!
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how we're re-doing our house. I should probably just say "doing our house" because in the (almost) two years we've lived here we have grown more personally than we've grown into the house. The walls are still the off-white color, and there is not much feel to our surroundings. Now that I'm going to have some "change of schedule", and potentially a shift in concentration of subject matter within my schedule (yes I know I'm being vague)...design can pull itself into the fire of the front burners of my brain.
Here are some chic moments, and chic mommy moments for Abby's playroom...Enjoy!
I have been ALL about vintage/modern (crazy combo I know)
 Dwell Studio Kids rug found at Layla Grayce
This worlds Away Star Light reminds me of how toddlers are everywhere at once!
Changing table/toy trunk...LOVE THIS!!
Abby will be 6 months old in just 11 short days. The time has FLOWN by so quickly, and I await the days to come with excitement and a few tears for the days that have past. She is an absolute joy of a child, and makes me proud to be her mom! I cannot wait to help her explore her creativity and artistic abilities!! (I should probably make sure I have plenty of stain remover handy....)

Until Next Time...and the next room....

Dabble