Stylish and Bold Modern Playroom | New Year New Room Refresh Challenge Week 1

It’s not easy to literally start over in January when the calendar flips to the new year. It is easy, however to make tweaks and changes to things you already do, schedules and systems you have in place or the semi-executed plans for that one room in your house. You know we all have them! That room, that cupboard, that stack of paper or that linen closet that all sort of operate, but not reaaaaally. Those spaces could all be better-functioning, more organized and certainly more pleasing to the eye! When the planning began for this year’s New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge, I originally wanted to tackle our main floor powder room. It is in DIRE need of a makeover, but when I got to thinking about a practical space to not just make “look” good, but one that really needed an overhaul, I landed on another option — the playroom!

The New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge is hosted by Stephanie of Casa Watkins Living and is made up of a group of 13 bloggers who are going to rally together to spruce up a room in our home over the course of the month of January. Yes, it’s like a mini One Room Challenge! However we’re not gutting any spaces or pouring the blood, sweat and tears into our spaces like we do for the ORC, well, I mean maybe a tiny bit will be shed, but for the most-part, it’s simply updating. Giving our spaces the much-needed facelift that it deserves for the new year! After all, its refreshing to check a project off the list right away in January, right?!  We’ll be sharing our progress and updates on our blogs each Tuesday this month so be sure to keep up with how our spaces transform!

Today I’m going to share the before photos of the playroom, my inspiration / design board for the space and tell you a little bit about what my plans are to make this a more stylish and sophisticated space. Not to mention, much for functional and organized, too! With 2.5 and 4.5 year old boys running wild in this house, it’s nice to have a spot to corral all their things as well as allow for T and I to hang out in there with them as well!

Here is what we’re currently working with:

I’m telling you…it’s a HOT MESS in there! The good and the bad about this space is that it has double doors. It’s great because the doors help keep noise IN and when people are coming over, all I have to do is close the doors and poof! The mess is bye-bye. The doors, have allowed me to sort of ignore the room and not keep it organized. Notice I didn’t say clean or picked up, I said organized. We do have the boys pick up their toys when they are finished playing in here, but if there isn’t a designated spot to put each thing, it becomes difficult to teach how everything has a home and we have to put everything back where it belongs! Anyone else struggle with this notion?! I strongly, strongly believe that if you have an organized space with a “home” for everything, it becomes a much easier task to tidy up. Labels help a ton and cute storage containers don’t hurt either 😉

To see how we kept the littlest’s closet organized, check out the post I wrote on closet organization bins and labels that helped keep this nook looking in tip top shape day-in and day-out. Seriously!

Ok, back to the playroom. One component, other than a half-organized wall unit [yes, with some labels — see when I made them in our last playroom here], that I wanted to address was the lack of adult seating or a spot to sit period. We have 2 large clunky pieces of furniture along with the bench from the old reading nook, a train table, misshapen beanbag chair and a couple of floor bins for toys, but the space isn’t utilized well. In fact, I want to utilize more wall space and less floor space so that we can add some seating…for the kids, for us or for other moms to use during playdates. Yeah, to be able to sip our coffee and chat while the littles play!

Want to see what I have in mind?

[check back soon for clickable links for all the sources seen above!]

couch | rug | curtains | bamboo shades | storage bin | large art print | be bold art | animal art | ceiling light fixture | acrylic bookshelves | side table | green pillow | gold pillow | “high five” pillow | striped pillow | nesting tables

THE PLAYROOM CHECKLIST

clean out toys to toss or donate [broken, missing pieces, no longer interested, outgrown, unused, etc.]
remove furniture [will probably have a use for them in the basement]
get new window coverings
lengthen existing curtain panels
buy storage unit
attach unit to wall to create “built-in” storage system
get rug
get couch
decide on coffee table / play table
order light and find lamps
replace ceiling fixture [quickly!!]
purchase bookshelves
find new storage bins
come up with new labels
find art
determine other organizational /toy storage pieces for the walls
styling accessories
feature wall / accent wall?
DIY art
Misc. DIY projects:
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We painted the room after we moved in last summer so the wall color is staying, but I would like to do some sort of an accent wall or ceiling feature like I did in the dining room. I haven’t fully determined this piece yet, but I’ve got some ideas brewing!

So, what do you think? Can I pull this off in 4 weeks?!

Now that the boys are back to school this week and I can hopefully make some headway on the space so I have an update for you next Tuesday! Wish me luck! Be sure to head over to the other participant’s sites to see what spaces they’ll be tackling for the challenge!

 
Casa Watkins Living // A Designer At Home // Bigger Than The Three Of Us // Domicile 37 // Fresh Crush // Iris Nacole // Monica Wants It // Pocketful of Posies // Seeking Lavender Lane // Sharon Joyce Interiors // This Is Our Bliss // Up To Date Interiors // Vintage Romance Style

Thanks for hanging out here with me today! See you back soon!

What space in your home are you planning to refresh or tackle this year?