A playroom for the kids (that works for adults too!)

I know I've been talking about this space for a while, and today I realized I hadn't shown it to you yet! The playroom is our loft, and used to be just an adult space for watching TV, but we rarely used it for a number of reasons -- I'm not sure what those reasons are, but I'm sure there are a number of them. :)

We used to have our son's toys in the downstairs office, but it was starting to give me the shakes. The room was too small for all the toys, and with the addition of Thomas the Train and his one meeeellion accessories, it was just not working.

So one day, I was at my girlfriend's house, sitting in her loft while the kids played and it hit me like a ton of "DOY!" bricks -- why not make our loft the play room?

Ummm...I'm not sure why I didn't do this before. I absolutely, positively LUUUUURVE it!! I managed to add some kid fun while keeping it a space we love to hang out in too.

The large photo wall was already there, and it's one of two projects in this room I still want to redo. I love the wall, I'm just going to add more pics to the shelves soon:

The wall vinyl was from Uppercase Living, and it will frame out the new flat screen perfectly. (I act like we have said flat screen...we haven't bought it yet, but oh yes, it will be mine... (Am I the only woman who HATES tube TVs now? I feel like a man with my love of flat screens.)

This room has exactly one wall that is workable for any major furniture. And it's about twenty feet tall (hence the wall o' photos). We got the recliners for our wedding (thanks Grandma!!) and although any real designer would throw up a little in their mouth at the sight of them, they are soooo comfortable and we love them:

The train table was an absolute STEAL at Goodwill. (I'll share that with you at the par-tay!) I had it lengthwise against the window but the poor Bub could barely move around it to work his trains. ARGH -- dangit! Function over form in this room, begrudgingly.
The wall color is hard to work with, and as you can see there is MUCH of it. I was trying to pull in some fun, whimsical colors without it screaming THERE IS A KID HERE. I found the caaa-utest scrapbook paper at Home Depot and used it everywhere. I matted a bunch of photos:

The little container I showed you here.
This photo tray was a gift, and I had the photos-of-people-I-don't-know that came with it in there for about a year. Instead of spending the time to find pics, I just added some of the paper in the slots and spray painted the mat. I added some whimsy to the lamp with fun trim from Hob Lob for about a dollar:
One of my favorite parts of the whole room are the letters above the window. I got this idea from Kate when she did it above her window. I got wooden letters, painted the sides and covered the front with the paper. It's the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs. Love it!:

I repurposed some items in the room too -- the TV cabinet I painted black a couple weeks ago. (GRRR...that's an upcoming post.)

The art pad I took from the Bub's room (I showed it to you here first) and recovered the top:
The mirror was an extra -- I asked the builder not to install it in the powder room. They left it for us anyway and it was sitting in the mud room closet for five years. I hung it up just for fun:

Reason No. 513 why you should declutter -- I bought the hardware to hang the mirror, and wanted the flat brackets, but they were too expensive for what I wanted to spend. So I got the cheap ones, and manipulated the molding over them to frame out the mirror. So it bulges out over the brackets:

Last week while decluttering the basement, I found the perfect, flat brackets the builder left for us. Double GRRR.

I used fabric to try to lighten up the space as well. I showed you the drapes here:

The massive Thomas pillow is a family fave:

I showed you that and the plaid pillows here.

Storage is super fun in this room -- the art caddy made from a tool box:

I looked for plain magazine holders EVERYWHERE. Finally just bought some on Ebay (they are Ikea and worked perfectly). I spray painted them, added the scrapbook paper to the sides and then made some more of my cutey most labels:

I use the space in the TV cabinet and labeled everything there:

I hear you -- "Where are the toys Sarah?!"

Chillax people, here you go -- the shelves are FULL:

Target bins hold a ton of toys under the train table:

The recliners are not only comfy, the hide an awful lot of stuff:

There you go! A playroom fun enough for the kiddo, but still sophisticated enough for us to hang as well. This is easily one of the most relaxing rooms in our house, even with the toys everywhere. We love this room.

The best part, even if every. single. toy is pulled out, it still takes less than twenty minutes to get the room looking like this again:

Ask me how I know.

Remember to join the Goodwill part next week! Yes, this includes any transformation you've created from an item from a thrift store, garage sale, anything that is "second hand."

OK, the moment you've been waiting for! The winners of my one year giveaway are:

Deb from Wise Old Owl -- please pick the three items you would like and e-mail me!

AND

Yanira, I will let you know which two items you'll win when I hear from Deb!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Holy crap people, 610 comments! That is so cool!