Bamboo floors update #2: The Playroom is COMPLETE!

I Am SO EXCITED to show you the boys playroom complete! Here’s how it looked before:

We had a great purge of toys & books, there are 4 sets of local friends with younger kids that are now happy to have stuff that the boys have outgrown. We then ripped out the carpet in the boys bedroom & playroom and installed bamboo floors in 1 weekend. A few days later the boys bedroom had baseboard and their bedroom was back in use. I painted the top of their big playtable with green chalkboard paint and moved it back into the playroom, with the legos in the rollaway cart underneath. Hubby slowly built 2 bookcases to fit exactly on either side of the closet (taking time out to build our dog a boat) and this weekend he got the bookcases and baseboard installed and I finally framed some art I’ve been collecting from online folks and let the boys choose what they’d like in the playroom. So come on in I can’t wait to show you around!

As you enter, there’s a print by Linda of alamode stuff that reads:

Home is where memories linger and friends remain.

I couldn’t think of a more perfect spot in my entire house to place this print (which I bought as her 400th etsy sale – woohoo! that was so fun, I’d been thinking this print about it for awhile, and then when she started having a countdown I couldn’t resist and waited till she got to 399 so I could push her over the top!). I’m so glad that it really resonated with my 13 year old son – he really wanted it, so here it belongs.

When you step into the room here’s what you see. On this wall is a quilt I made waaaay back when I was first dyeing fabric – I still like it, and it’s color just pops! Next to it is a print from one of our favorite books, Once in a Blue Moose, by Daniel Pinkwater. A few years ago, my hubby masterminded converting this book into a children’s opera at the UoR School of Music. My older son was really enthralled by the whole process, and we had this illustration enlarged and framed for him.

Here’s a glimpse looking back toward the door. The kids are bigger now, so we’ve moved the loveseat and ottoman out of the family room and up here. The lack of other furniture in the room allows us to put the playtable in the middle. Although right now it’s for legos – there’s a shelf with games handy underneath. These 3 pieces of furniture have felt pads on them to they are easily slidable when more floor space is needed. On this wall is a print I bought at a fundrasier a couple of years ago by Doug Adams. And then a bird mobile I made (from the ubiquitous Spool pattern). I was gonna make curtains – but I sorta love the clean lines of the blinds…what do you think?

Between these awesome bookcases built by the hubby, and the shelves in the closet, we’ve got a goodly amount of toys and books arranged so they can be found and used (and hopefully…put away??? I am eternally hopeful).

The woodblock prints are from Sean Neprud of Bad Deacon Design. I talk a bit about how I love the layers and the “Hand-Art Coordination” that is so apparent in his work here. I was overjoyed when Liam wanted them in the playroom – he truly appreciates the process behind these pieces, and Logan “really loves’ the middle one.

As you can see, Logan loves the lego table. There was no way he was leaving the playroom just cause Mom was taking pictures (which is fine…but there was also no way he was gonna get changed out of his pjs either!) (Plus the bedhead…sigh…) I’ve (and plenty of other folks) said this before, but it bears repeating, If the kids can see and get to their toys, there much more likely to play with them. Instead of video games. amen.