Tag: family friendly

the playroom: version 2015

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when you enter our home, you basically walk into a big open space that is our staircase, living room, and dining room. this space is definitely where we do a lot of our living, but it is far from formal.

the playroom version 2015

there was a time when i longed for a playroom like the ones in the pottery barn catalog.

eventually, our living room became a designated playroom.

that was 5 years ago, and it’s changed a lot over the last 5 years.

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it’s still the PLAY room, but it is really so much more than that.

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it’s a place to sit, love, and create.

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in the corner, near the front door, i set up a little workstation for myself. it’s a nice place to keep my laptop and be able to have it out of the way of everything else that is going on in the house.

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the craft table is now in a nice open location with plenty of room to move around it and add more seats if needed. it is also where the kids eat their snack and do their homework after school.

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although toys are not spread all over the floor like they used to be when the kids were younger, this is still the place they play…as in video games.

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it is also a space where they snuggle up and read or watch cartoons in the morning.

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our dining room is our only eating space where all four of us can sit together, so it is far from formal.

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the sofa area is so cozy now.

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this space has always been one of my favorite spaces in the house, but i really love this version of the playroom.

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yes, that is the cat litter box underneath the easel. keeping it real, folks!

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soon, i’ll be posting more details of each area with sources.

home is…the ever evolving playroom.

{spring break} operation bigger clubhouse

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My parents came out to visit us over Spring Break. It was the first time my mom was able to travel on an airplane after having BOTH of her knees replaced last year! She has recovered amazingly and we had so much fun being active over the break!

One of the main highlights of the trip began after we all went to watch the little guys baseball practice on the morning after my parents arrived. Shortly after we got home, there were multiple trips to Home Depot to get supplies…to fix our large deck near the house…and upgrade where the old playhouse used to sit into a new “clubhouse” for the kids!

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We removed the railing from around the existing deck between the trees and started building walls on Saturday afternoon!

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Between Ryan’s deck project on our large deck and the project my dad and I were working on it was a flurry of activity in the backyard. My mom was helping out by keeping the kids entertained…which was so amazingly helpful.

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By the end of the day on Saturday, the walls were framed.

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By Monday morning, the roof supports were taking shape and we were measuring and cutting cedar fence boards to put on as siding!

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By Tuesday, Topher was putting the roof on and nailing the last finish pieces of trim onto the clubhouse.

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It was so much fun to work with my dad on this project for the kids.

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We made fires in the firepit almost everyday as we worked through the changing Oregon weather.

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We celebrated and played in the clubhouse the rest of the week after we returned from our other adventures.

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I have plans to paint the interior ceiling white and the interior walls a turquoise color.

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I will also add canvas curtains to the front entry and to cover the windows and the slide door.

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Until then, it’s ready for play!

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I am not going to write up a post about how we built this…it was a labor of love. However, I will say that I was inspired by and The Handmade Home’s Handmade Hideaway. Their posts were invaluable in showing my dad what I wanted to accomplish and helpful for us to figure out how to get it done.

Thank you, Topher, for helping me bring my dreams into reality. It was so awesome to work on this project with you!!

I will be sharing more details in the next weeks as I add more finishing touches…in fact, Ryan added an awesome touch last night that I will need to share with you!

home is…a labor of love.

our living-room-turned-play-room-sometimes-guest-room

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Call it flexible.

Call it multifunctional.

I call it our living-room-turned-play-room-sometimes-guest-room.

It is my belief that just because a floor plan or home builder calls a room by a certain name does not mean that you have to use it as said space.

We technically have a 4 bedroom house, but one of the bedrooms is small, downstairs, and used as a full-time home office for my husband.  That leaves us with 3 bedrooms upstairs…one for baby girl, one for the little guy, and the master.

We also need a guest room. We moved away from all of our family, so when they come to visit we like for them to be able stay with us.

One year after we moved into this house that we thought would have plenty of room for our family and guests, the little guy was moved out of the nursery and into the room that was the guest room. Baby girl was on her way and we no longer had a dedicated space for our guests to stay.

When baby girl came along she stayed in our room for the first couple of months while we had visitors in town to help us out. Our visitors were able to stay in the nursery (where we set up the old guest bed) and have a bit of privacy. When our guests left, we set up the crib and baby girl took over the nursery. That is when we really no longer had a guest room!

At some point in the nesting frenzy that took place before baby girl was born we invested in an IKEA Ektorp sleeper sofa to fill the void in our empty living room (along with new carpet, new entertainment system and storage, new family room furniture, and new furniture for the little guys room).

We also invested in some storage solutions (also from IKEA) for all of the toys that we were accumulating.

When baby girl turned one, I decided that we no longer needed a dedicated living room and needed to move the toys out of the family room. So we turned the living room into the playroom.

Through all of this, we have had visitors come stay with us. I use the red storage ottoman (also from IKEA) to store all the bedding for the sleeper sofa.

Sometimes they choose to stay in a hotel (for a bit more privacy) and sometimes they choose to stay with us in the living-room-turned-play-room-sometimes-guest-room space. The kids love it when we have guests and they can go snuggle with Nana or Meme or whoever happens to be in the guest room. It’s definitely not a private space for our guests, but it works.

What do you think? How have your spaces evolved with new additions to the family? What kind of flexible spaces do you have in your home?

home is…using the space you have to meet your needs.