Playroom Reveal

It's done!  Ok... it's been done for awhile now.  I was just so tired from doing the whole thing that I couldn't be bothered to take pictures??  

As I have said, I wanted to create a space that the boys can play in now, but will grow with them into the teenage years and beyond.  Someday we will reclaim this room and I wanted to have it be classic and something that we could love for quite some time.  I originally thought I wanted to change the wall color, but the boys actually begged me to keep the green (who knew they cared?) and after all is said and done, I think that they made the right call.  I fell in love with a goldenrod yellow rug that there was no way I could afford.  But that color stayed in as a highlight and I love that too.  I found the Nate Berkus box (on the shelves) at Target, of course.  And that kind of set the tone for the rest of the room.  I also scored a ridiculously soft goldenrod blanket at Marshall's to carry the color to the other side of the room.  

And I found a small navy blue throw rug that would add some color and pattern to the big brown floor.  You've seen some of the other room highlights like the magnet board and the wall map here and here, but the part that I am most proud of is the entertainment unit.  I had various versions of this type of thing sketched up in my notebook for months.  And I had finally settled on a design.  Then I happened to walk into the Schenectady ReStore.  Ok, no one "happens" to walk into the ReStore.  I walked in quite on purpose.  And I found this for $10:

I thought that it could be useful as the middle of the unit.  Save me some time and money on the materials.  It was slightly too long, so I sliced, diced, painted, and put it back together.  Then I built the rest of the unit around it and voilà:  

Total cost of unit:  about a zillion dollars less than buying anything like it.  And perfectly sized for my room.  Don't mind the olllldddd school tv.  I can't afford to get them a new one yet after all of this.  My sister was nice enough to dump give them her old one so at least there's something there for now.    

So there it is!  What do you think?  

 Onto the next project!!

New Map

In what I will now refer to as "the old playroom", there was a map.  It was a free political map of the U.S. that came out of some old magazine and still had the fold marks to prove it. 

 But being a use-what-you-have type of girl, I made a wooden frame for it and for years it lived on the wall where the boys play.  Geography by osmosis.  When it came time to update and grow-up the playroom, I knew I wanted to keep a map feature.  Just not that one.  So I started searching for ideas. 

I really liked this one, and planned on making it.  The wooden look was just what I wanted.  But then I decided that I actually wanted them to be able to read names of countries etc and - you know - eventually be able to learn where Pakistan is (for you, Kather).  So I went online to find the perfect map.  I eventually settled on this National Geographic map of the world.  Because it was the right size and price, and I liked its coloring.  As an added bonus, this guy came laminated.  So he will last for quite awhile.  But I knew that I didn't just want to throw it in a frame and call it a day.  After doing another search for unique map framing ideas (or whatever), I found this - a perfect compromise - from the girls at Shanty 2 Chic.

So I found myself cutting up some scrap pieces of pine and making this.  Yes, I am that lazy.  There was just no need to stain the center of this piece.  

The finished piece came out even better than I had expected and I LOVE it.

   So much better than if I had just thrown a frame on there, right?

Thank you Dick Bikowicz

As some of you know, my current project for the fall involves updating my kids' playroom from toddler to big boy and beyond.  Lots of pieces are finished.  Paint allllllll of the molding white.  Check.  Really cool metal cafe chairs.  Check.  Awesome cheapie desk/tables from my Ikea trip.  Check.  Update ugly top of the stairs light.  Check.  There are really only a few things left to be done. One of them is huge.  Build an entertainment center.  I'm not there yet.  But today I conquered a much smaller, and yet perhaps just as important piece.  The bulletin board.

Up until now, the boys have had traditional tack bulletin boards (which I covered in fun fabric so as to be less traditional).  I'm not sure where my brain was when I made those, but let me tell you that children and thumbtacks...  not a good idea.  They love their board though and are constantly hanging their lovely works of art and their "finisher" race and soccer ribbons.  So I knew that it was an element that I wanted to keep in the room.  But now, being that I've had two boys for all of these years and have stepped on many a tack, I decided that the magnet board was truly the only way to go.  Truly people, don't make my mistake.

The other day, on a whim, I ended up scouring the local Salvation Army.  As I was about to walk out empty handed, I spotted this from across the store.  I obviously had to go check it out.  Real wood, glass intact, giant well made frame...  $3.49!  Did you hear me??  $3.49.  I didn't even waste one second thinking about it.  Inside was a lovely retirement poem and signatures for Dick's retirement back in 2011.  And so Dick Bikowicz came home with me.

Today my mission was to find a piece of metal sheeting for it.  Went into Lowes and came out 5 minutes later with this piece of steel.

$20.  Which is not cheap.  But considering that I paid $3.49 for Dickie, I thought that I could make the splurge.  On the way home I also rewarded my self for the great finds.

So I got it home and guess what??  The metal sheet was the exact same size as the frame opening!  This just couldn't get any better.  Framed it, hung it.  Boys will be using it in no time. A don't worry, I reused Dick Bikowicz's retirement poem and signatures to add some padding to the back of the metal so the frame would hold tight.  Thanks, Dick.

Ugly Light Switcheroo

My upcoming fall project is a redo of the kids playroom.  The reorganization has begun and I'm itching to get into the larger details that will take them from toddler to big kid (and hopefully beyond...).  But in the meantime...

As I was brainstorming up there one day, my eyes fell upon this sad fellow.  Can't actually believe that I have let him live here as long as I did.  

After a quick inspection (on a chair at the top of the stairs), I had immediate ideas.  The actual pendant of the light was fine.  Needed a color redo, but that's easy.  

It was just the horrifying glass shade thingy that I could no longer live with.  And the last time I was out shopping I found the perfect solution.  So for under $20 (including spray paint), a bit of elbow grease, and some help in the height department from my dear husband (who actually seems to approve of this project!), we now have this modern beauty instead.

Isn't that a million times better?  It's the small things people...

I know that I have been a slacky blogger.  The worst.  I get it.  But I figure that now that I am coming out of my winter blues and back into project season, I will have more stories to tell.  More ugly things to turn pretty.  More projects to start and finish.  (Sorry dear)  So here I am again.  Maybe the posts will be few and far between.  But that's ok with me. 

Spring starts for me by the beginning of baseball.  Lots of baseball.  And three sets of cleats, bats, gloves, helmets...  The bags of paraphernalia get left in the garage, but the cleats keep trying to make their way into my house.  Ummmm, no.  So when I happened to spy this little rolling cart at the Salvation Army for $5 the other day, I knew what use he could have for my family.  

Now there would be no excuse for not leaving cleats on the deck.  But...  if you know me at all, you know that there is no way I could let this ugly thing reside on the deck where most people enter our house.  So an idea began to form.  Actually, more like an idea sprang into my head and I immediately got the saw out.  

Any now he is a multi-purpose summer bar/cleats holder/cushion protector.  Don't you all need one of those??

What do you think??