The boys have been begging to share a room for some time now. We have plans to build them a bunk bed. Sh! Don’t tell them! Since our project list is long and generally takes forever to get through, we decided this fall to just put them in the same room with two twin beds.
That left an open bedroom. What should we do with it?
I’d love a dedicated office space, and that is still in the back of my mind, but I thought a playroom would be more immediately functional. So with just a few tears, we put the boys in the same room and attempted to make a playroom.
What looked like this:
Is now this:
I wish I still had that wider angle lens I had when I first took the nursery pictures! I couldn’t back up enough to get a good shot.
This is another “Use-What-You-Have” Transformation. I just moved things around from room to room, and now the boys have a perfect play area. I did not buy anything to organize the toys. While I’m sure it would look prettier with matching bins or stacked toy towers, this way I don’t worry when something is broken and the room is functional NOW. The organizing bins are just old ice cream containers, storage tubs, or baskets we had lying around.
The play kitchen was relocated from the boys room into this room. They do have toy food, pans, and such. It is in an old ice cream bucket between the wall and the kitchen. See the black handle sticking out? That’s where all the kitchen odds and ends are.
Stuffies tend to tend to take over. I have a love/hate relationship with them. They are cute and cuddly, but they end up all over the house! I didn’t have a great solution, so I just tossed them into this green crate that I’ve been holding onto since college.
Oh, and the trucks. Do we ever have the trucks. This isn’t even all of them. There’s another excavator and dump truck, at least, roaming around the house somewhere. These are probably the boys favorite toys now. Well, these and Legos, tough call between the two of them.
I kept the chair in the room so there’s a nice seat for an adult (aka snoozing spot for daddy!). The boys and I still read books often up here, so it’s perfect for that too. Also, I clocked so many hours in that chair nursing my boys, I couldn’t get rid of it! It still near and dear to my heart. Ha!
For now, the boy’s Christmas tree is in front of the window. After Christmas, I will leave this space open. They need space to play! Space to be creative! I really believe kids play better with more space and less toys. This room will be going through a purge in January. It’s feeling too full and it’s bound to collect more on Christmas!
Next to the closet, I put an area for the smaller matchbox-style cars. The wooden parking garage is the right size for the rest of the cars they own. The “home” for the cars is the wagon. I ran out of containers, so wagon it is! Even though not pretty, it is totally functional. The boys have cleaned up this room enough now that they know which cars and trucks belong in the wagon. It doesn’t have to be pretty to be functional, and that is a beauty all of it’s own.
The last little bit of nursery is the dresser, changing pad, and little boy art. I love the art (hand-me-down from the neighbors, isn’t it cute?!?). I plan to move the dresser down to the guest bedroom, move the art into the boys’ new shared room, and donate the changing pad. Another project for another day!
That’s it! The boys new playroom is finished for now. This was a $0, Use-What-You-Have transformation. I just used what we already had and a little bit of elbow grease to make a lovely new-feeling play room.
It’s so fun to move things around! It feel like a new room to me (and my kids!). I think it gives new energy to the house, and I love freshening spaces up. Sometimes all that is needed is a new furniture arrangement, swapping the functions of two rooms, change the curtains from one room to the next. Make small, easy changes like this, and I’m sure you will find a new joy in your home!
Do you have any plans to freshen anything up with the new year almost here? Do you get the itch to change things up after all the hubbub of the holidays and Christmas decor? Do you try to fit breathing room into each room? Christmas tends to take all the breathing room out of our rooms…I’ll be dying to get it back come January!
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