the play room again?

OK, some of you will laugh at me right now and some of you will just roll their eyes. Either one, I'm OK with because it's just the way I am.

But...I just didn't feel like the arrangement of the play room after the last time I rearranged was officially the way I wanted it to look. My own crafty space feels perfect, but something on the other side of the room just seemed off, so I was determined to fix this before it drove me insane. I know...I need serious help!

I'm all about things being even, so when I shared about my new way to fit more of MY stuff into the play room, I had to do some rearranging and then a little wall decorating which brought one side of the wall to look like this...

What do you mean you don't see anything wrong with it?

Let me explain: The play kitchen just does not belong right in the center because now the spots on the wall all seem off-centered, and the circle frame doesn't have as much wall space underneath as it does on top. I only had so much wiggle room to work with because we have a rug underneath and everything had to fit nicely on the rug so it wouldn't look off. See? Now, do you see what's wrong with it?

So, I rearranged once more and it went back to the way it was...
Typical, right?

But then one of the other sides of the room had to go from this...

...to this, so everything could fit!
{I even purged some toys that will be going to Grammy & Papa's for the winter.}

I love how the kitchen sits right underneath the window and covers up the windowsill. My next mission is to find some cute ribbon that I can tie on the curtains to add that extra cuteness factor. {I wonder how long that will be on my "to do" list?}

I'm officially satisfied.

No, really, I am!

I even added some decorations to another part of the wall to fill up some blank space that was in desperate need of filling! I found these cute ALREADY PAINTED POLKA DOTTED -- hello!? -- letters at Babies R Us on clearance.

As we were putting these up, I joked with Ryan that maybe it's meant to be that we only have 2 kids because what if I can't find another polka dotted letter that matches? See? Told you I have a problem. *wink*

Thanks for listening to my late night ramblings! Let's hope you don't see another post about me rearranging the play room anytime soon.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

spot on!

Our play room is always in some sort of transition and I'm not sure if it will ever be exactly the way I had envisioned, but...

it's getting closer!

So, what started as this (a blank wall):

Turned into this:

By adding some of these (wall vinyls):

All for only $8.99!!

(FYI: I've already added an extra dot to the right after seeing this picture
and realizing it looked uneven...and I need to move the frame up a little
higher after moving some furniture around. See? Always a transition!!)

I still have some of these wall vinyls left,
so who knows where else I might get a little spot crazy in the room!

A cheap way to spruce up a wall definitely works for me!

tackle it tuesday & craft challenge time!!

On Sunday I had the BRILLIANT idea (well, maybe not so much to my husband) to re-arrange our bonus room. I was tired of having my creative corner always looking like this and this. I came to the conclusion that I simply just needed more space! Since starting Stampin' Up! I've accumulated a few (a lot) more things that are necessary to continue my growing business, and I needed a place to put everything and feel like I could still function and keep things organized.

organized space = organized thoughts = getting something done!

While browsing a little at Michaels Crafts the other day, I ran across a 6-cube shelf that I just had to have. You know those moments, right? When something is on sale and you have really been needing something just like it.

And, so I bought it.

And that's how this whole re-arranging thing began. I needed to make the shelf fit and of course this meant taking a few things down of the wall, patching some holes, and repainting...all so I could move my desk over just a tad. Oh, and I can't forget that also meant putting together a few pieces of small furniture. {Hooray for husbands who love to help their wives!}

I wish I had a few more before pictures, but the actual "before" of this project was all a mess and I got deep in the trenches before I thought to take a picture of it all. But I got a snapshot of the "during", so does that count? Proof that it was chaos for awhile!

~DURING~

~BEFORE~
my own little corner in our bonus room

~AFTER~
time to spread out!

~BEFORE~
right next to my desk was the kids' play kitchen

~AFTER~
the play kitchen is now on the opposite side of the wall
(I'll show you the other side of the room redo another day)

*********************************************

How I expanded
my space...

had the hubby put together a six cube shelving unit
and added 4 fabric bin drawers, 2 I bought and 2 I already had
(you know the one I had to have)

had the hubby put together a 3-drawer storage organizer
(*brand new* at a garage sale for $5.00)

swiped a bookshelf from Mikayla's closet that was not being put to
good use so I could have room for more stuff!

Actually, now that I look at these pictures...
I think I have room for more stuff!

Kidding!!
{kind of}

*********************************************

And now onto what some of you have all been waiting for...
this month's MONTHLY CRAFT CHALLENGE assignment!
Many of you shared your ideas last week and I'm so glad you did. I have made a long list and I'm ready for many, many, many monthly craft challenges to come!

To get us all ready for the upcoming holidays, for the month of September, our challenge is to make something that is Halloween or Fall themed.

And to get the word out, snag this {holiday edition} craft challenge button below (see the html text on the left side bar) and post it on your blog to spread the word. Be sure to link back here so everyone can learn what this challenge is all about! Leave a comment and let me know you have done this on your blog and you will be entered into a giveaway just for shouting it out on your blog! I'll post a winner on Friday morning, so be sure to do this before you head to bed on Thursday.

You'll have one month to create and we'll all "meet up to link up" on Thursday, October 1st. So, what are you waiting for!? Get crafting!!
*wink wink*

For more details of these monthly craft challenges,
go check it out HERE.

play room pick up

I'm barely squeezing in today's Tackle it Tuesday, but is it seriously my children's mission to empty every last container in the play room? Usually it doesn't happen quite like this, but I'm thinking that Mikayla might be just trying to "help" me with my Spring cleaning! The funny thing about this is that their ultimate goal was to fill an upside down umbrella with their toys. I think they got a little carried away! The upside? I was able to go through their toys and organize a pretty good system for what toys go where. Now, I'm motivated to make some labels for the bins!

please excuse the girl with no clothes on...
this is how this 3-year old "rolls" while at home!

What'd I do, mom? I'm completely innocent.

BEFORE

AFTER

There's so much more to tackle,
but this one just had to be done!

claiming back my creative space

I didn't have any plans to tackle a project today other than a lot of just being with my kids, but somehow it happened!

After a morning at Bible Study, then lunch, it was time for naps, which meant a little bit of "me time". I guess Austin didn't think mommy needed that much "me time" because he ended up not napping very long and waking up fussy...oh joy! And, of course, like normal, Mikayla had just fallen asleep after a good half hour of talking and singing to herself. So, in an effort to keep the house quiet and avoid Austin running down the halls and bursting into her room, we trapped ourselves in the play room so his big sister could take a good nap.

Other than the toys spread out all around my feet, it was my desk that was screaming at me to do something about the overflowing mess! So, while Austin played to his heart's content (and made even more of a mess), I got to work on trying to uncover what once was my creative working space.

BEFORE

AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER

My only regret is that I didn't do this last week before my friends came in town and stayed in this very room with the cluttered pile. (So sorry, Kara & Jason!!)

Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom for more Tuesday Tacklers.

time to round it up! the crafty edition...

It's the end of the month and guess what that means?? Time to round up the spaces that we have been working hard on organizing and share what we have accomplished over at The Organizing Junkie. For the month of October we were encouraged and inspired to organize our craft/sewing space. Now, I don't sew, but I certainly love me some craftiness! So, you bet I was on board to make my space just a little more user friendly and a little more cute!

This roundup couldn't have come at a better time since we just recently redecorated our bonus room where my "crafty corner" is located (I share my space with my children's play space).

I can't wait to show you what I have done...

The true BEFORE...in all its ugliness (mess included)
**This picture was taken before we repainted the walls and before I got my new desk. We had used this desk as our computer desk for awhile and I thought I might like it for my craft space because there was so much vertical space to put things. It ended up being way too cramped of a work space, but it worked for a year or so.


Here is the second BEFORE picture with my new desk from IKEA! I love my new desk! The minute I saw it at IKEA, I had to have it! It's so cute and clean-looking and well, cute (isn't that the most important?) We haven't yet repainted in this picture, but at this point I couldn't wait to get my desk put together (I mean, for my husband to put the desk together)



Now, here's the official AFTER... with the new paint and the added extra touches!


To give you a little more of an idea of my creative work space, I thought I would share some "up close" pictures of the little organizational touches that I have added.

Up close of the top part of the desk
(I plan on making a scrapbook type page showcasing my two little ones for the large square frame on the wall above the desk..coming later, but hopefully not much later!)

This cute little white shelf has made its rounds in our house and I think it has finally found its home.
(It gives me just a little bit of extra storage that I need since my new desk doesn't have as much as the last one. I found these cute little tin buckets at Target in the Dollar Spot. I plan on Modge Podging (is that a word?) paper over them to cuten them up)

I love this little space right above my work space.
(I found the magnetic strip that holds embellishments at The Container Store and the green strip above, which is also magnetic, and has a pocket to hold things I found at Tuesday Morning on clearance. I think it was only $4.50. I love that the green matches the colors we repainted the room with.)
Here are a couple of little extra storage goodies I have on top of my desk. They are small enough to still give me a good work space.
(If you look closely, you will see a plastic mat on top of the desk that I purchased to save the top of my desk. I highly recommend these to prolong the life of your space!)
This black wheeled storage cart has been around for quite some time and I love how much it holds. It tucks away quite nicely since it doesn't quite have the cuteness factor, but it is definitely functional! (And, yes, my friends, the labels have been there from the beginning!)

Since my new desk was smaller and it didn't have as much space to organize extra things, we had a storage cabinet already in the room behind the french doors that I decided to reorganize and put even more of my crafting stuff. I got rid of all of the non-crafty stuff and found other homes for it. This cupboard has been my lifesaver with extra storage!

While I'm at it, I thought I would share the kids' craft supplies space on the other side behind the french doors. This cabinet is exactly the same as the other one (it has to match, of course!) What I love about these two units is that they have doors, hiding the mess (unlike the bookshelves I was previously using) and you can child-proof them on the outside, so the little ones don't destroy it on a regular basis.

I hope you enjoyed taking a little tour of my creative space! I don't feel like it's completely finished to what I want it to look like, but I figure I'll always be tweaking it to make room for more and to satisfy my need to reorganize.

If you're in the mood for more reorganization, check out my other Org Junkie Monthly Round Ups here and here.

And if you'd like to see some more creative space inspirations, check out The Organizing Junkie's monthly round up.

Next month is laundry rooms! Wanna join me?

Thanks for stopping by and letting me know what you think!

a 360 degree play room tour

Updated to add on 5/1/09: This post is part of The Masked Mommy's Beautify Your Home Pow Wow! Go take a peek for more inspiring home decor.





It's the first Tuesday of the month, and you know what that means, right? I'm "talking it up" and participating in The Lazy Organizer's Talk About it Tuesday: Home Edition. For the first Tuesday of each month, those who participate are encouraged to share a little piece of their homes that is inspiring to them or something that they have worked really hard on and feel the need to show off all of their hard work. I can say that the following fits both of those things!

Many of you may have already read this and this about my bonus room redo. (No need for me to go into a lot of details here, but if you want the longer version and some before pictures, check out the links.) I thought I would share the finished (or at least SO CLOSE to being finished) play room that has been 3 months in the making! Here's a 360 degree tour of our newly redecorated room.


Things that still need completed:
*find the perfect white chair for my desk
*add more decor to fill up empty wall space (maybe a fun clock, too!)
*paint the children's table and chairs with fun designs and matching colors
*add the finishing touches to my craft corner with cute organizers

It's never really ever DONE, is it? I love that this room serves as a place for my kids to imagine and play to their hearts content. And not only my kids, but myself as I create things that are an inspiration to me.

Thanks for taking a tour with me!

play on!

I'm getting closer and closer to putting the finishing touches on our newly redecorated play room. I can't wait to share the "official" after pictures! Just a few more things to add...

One of my favorite newest additions is the expression that my husband and I put up above the entryway to our bonus room (literally sweat and almost tears was put into this). I purchased this from an Uppercase Living party during the planning stages of the redecoration in hopes of putting it on the wall in the play room. After realizing that the black color was going to be a little too drastic with the softer colors I ended up going with, I thought how perfect it would be on the outside of the door, especially since we mostly have black furniture and decor in our living room. I love how it screams inspiration for not only the kids to use their imagination as they play and create, but for me as well since my "play area" is also in this room.

BEFORE

AFTER

And, what's even better is I reused the wreath that was originally above the door for some added decor in the bonus room. The colors couldn't have matched more perfectly!