We've lived in New Strawn for almost a year now, and all the time I've never been terribly happy with the playroom. It is one of those rooms that is an odd shape and is just really hard to figure out where to put things to make them both functional and aesthetically pleasing. We spend a good deal of time in the playroom, and I've been meaning to make some changes for a while. I dug up an old photo of the playroom, it really hadn't changed much other than the rug going away via cat pee, and some new toys. And up until this weekend even the tape around the room was still there.
Given a weekend too myself while everyone else was visiting family in Omaha I had a long list of things I wanted to get done. Fall is here, and I had started bringing out the winter clothes from last year, seeing what the boys would still fit in etc. I had planned a weekend of washing clothes, going through drawers and closets. However after thinking about the winter weather to come, and realizing I had something I wanted so much more than to go through the clothes. The playroom. We have been taking advantage of the nice weather outside, spending time in the back yard, the park, going on walks, and even a short nature walk. But I know that the cold weather is not too far away, and we will be spending quite a bit more time at home, inside.
Step 1: Find a good Friend :) I had planned on this project taking me all weekend but I also knew that I would do much more and keep working if I had someone to talk to. My wonderful friend Heidi came over and helped me paint the chalk board wall and the border around the room.
Step 2: Find new shelving. I have these dreams of
certain kinds of shelves, all matching, with places up high that the kids can't reach, places where I can lock things away etc. But they had to stay dreams. Yet there was still a problem with not having space... this is going to be even more of an issue when getting new toys and Christmas. However... the real solution is to get rid of some of the toys. Hopefully over then next couple months I can determine what the kids actually play with. There are a few toys that even when put in storage and taken out and excitedly played with for an hour then get tossed aside again. And some of the most simple garage sale toys can be favorites! We had a shelf left in the storage area from the previous owners that was holding toys that got taken away for fighting, or just put away because they didn't used. So I brought it out and spent a good hour or so trying to clean it. I've decided I want to repaint it, but that's a project for another day.Step 3: Spend more time than all of the above going through toys, putting them in new places, moving furniture around, deciding it doesn't work, moving it again, over and over and over. I'm still not sure that the final way is how things will stay. Some of it will be trial and error with what works with the kids actually using it. I did figure out that the room looked a lot better if putting something right in the middle. We don't really need the seating that we have down here, I'm the only one that really sits on the couches. Maybe that would change if we got a better TV, but that is not in my budget anytime soon. But having a couch in the middle made the long awkward room look more like two rooms and less weird. Whether it stays or not is still to be determined. The playpen type thing probably won't stay up all the time... but who knows. Right now it is Charlotte's safe place, a place I can set her and not worry about the boys tripping over her or trying to smoother her. And I'm sure the slide and trampoline will make there way back in the playroom before too long too. Need some outlets for that winter energy :) But for now this is what I ended up with. No writing on the chalkboard wall yet... the curing process for that will take a while. But maybe some new fun pictures of that up later!
