Children.
The end
No but for real, you guys. See, the best time of the day to take pictures in our den/play room is around 4 or 5 pm, when the gorgeous early evening light is streaming through the west facing windows and everything is warm and bright and happy. But if you have kids of your own, I don't have to tell you why trying to take photos of a playroom at 5 pm is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.
So 7 a.m. it was. And I just had to give up on things being just so. On every toy being stacked and set at exactly the right jaunty angle. On....I don't know. On perfection I guess.
ANYWAY!
Here are the listing photos of the den before we came to see it...

You can see the empty pics from the day we started moving in right here, and then here are some from after we moved in but before we Borobia-styled it fully...
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this lovely in process shot so you appreciate how patient my children are with me |
And now we're basically pretty much you know "finished." Because is anything ever really finished finished finished? Nevah.
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Lizzy painted these. Aren't they fun? |

wall paint color: Behr Dolphin Fin in FLAT (this is super important to note because the texture of the walls made even eggshell seem weird and glow-in-the-dark. Only when I started sampling flat paints did anything seem even remotely tolerable.)
kids' project display wall: Ikea Dignitet curtain wires
window treatment hardware: These rods and these rings, both from Home Depot. They are my favorite combo. Cheaper products than these will make you say bad words.
drapes: Mainstays Bennet Window Panels (I love these. The texture and weight are great.)
sofa slipcover: Sure Fit cotton duck slipcover in sage
coffee table: faux leather storage ottoman
Beforez:
Afterz:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I'm so happy to have it finished!
Love! But my question is, do you guys do school & play in the same room? Does that work? Trying to figure out our setup and I'm imagining toddlers ripping workbooks off of desks and flinging them to the floor while shrieking with glee. My toddlers aren't the only crazies, right?
ReplyDeleteI guess we do school all over the place, but we have a quieter library space set up with bookshelves and a project table in another part of the house for more focused work. I'll show pics of that soon!
DeleteLove! But my question is, do you guys do school & play in the same room? Does that work? Trying to figure out our setup and I'm imagining toddlers ripping workbooks off of desks and flinging them to the floor while shrieking with glee. My toddlers aren't the only crazies, right?
ReplyDeleteI love it Dwija! It looks so good, and fresh, and not at all the same. So makeover success!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I didn't even talk about cutting the "antlers" off the window frames, but that was really the thing that held up the whole show to begin with. Totally worth it.
DeleteOhhhh...so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh...so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh...so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThat looks great!
ReplyDeleteI am just dying over how pretty the floral on that couch is!!! Are you able to disclose where it/the fabric came from???
ReplyDeleteOh yes! That was actually two table cloths on clearance from Target which I cut up and made into covers. They are totally rudimentary- just tight pillowcases basically :)
DeleteGreat rooms! Amazing amount of work!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of long antlers are in the before pics??!?!
Okay so in the first before pics there are actual like DEER antlers, but when I talk about removing antlers ourselves, I'm talking about this extra bit of trim that was around each of the windows that stuck out and did not at all match the living room in any way. Plus, it was totally Country Bear Jamboree. So. We totally cut them off with a circular saw before I started painting the sill and trim white. Very worth it!
DeleteDo you have a secret to cleaning kid messes off of flat paint? If so, please do tell!
ReplyDeleteWelp, I really don't have a plan there. I did buy Dutch Boy premium flat paint, which is supposed to be "scrubbable" but probably I'll just have to do paint touch ups once a year or something. There was really no other option though, truly!
DeleteOh well, I was hoping maybe there was some secret I didn't know about yet, haha. I'm guessing anything glossier would make even more of a greenery reflection anyway! I love how everything turned out. It makes me excited for our paint and baseboards project that is coming up soon. Lucky for me, the labor is being gifted to us.
Deleteoommgg I want your wood couch.
ReplyDeleteThat was another one of my husband's goodwill finds! $19.99 I do believe- then I covered the cushions and voila :)
DeleteWow, really, Sponge Bob? You couldnt' change the channel to EWTN or even PBS for the picture's sake? ;) Just kidding. We love Sponge Bob. It looks really cute. We have those same toy bins, all full of toys, only they are usually dumped all over the floor....
ReplyDeleteLove this!! The best part is the downsizing in TV :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for wood but whitening the trim and hanging tall curtains really make those windows seem bigger and brighter. Love how you blended the tv in with your gallery wall : )
ReplyDeleteMy almost 3 year old is sitting here with me. He's most impressed with the toys. He does have the same toy bin with same mega blocks ( saved from much older siblings), but we did not save the play kitchen and he loves the look of it! He wants a "widdle kitchen" now!
ReplyDeleteLovely room btw!
Everything looks great! P.S. I LOVE the way you have hung the kids' artwork across the wall. Great idea! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have been following you a bit on your house improvements. It has been fun. I LOVE the Ikea wire idea for artwork. I am in great need of that!!! As a fellow old home lover and owner I nod my head a lot at the challenges and your solutions.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! I'm loving the house update posts!
ReplyDeleteLooks so beautiful!! Love love how you organized the playroom. Do you have a good tool for storing/organizing Lego??
ReplyDeleteSo far we only own one "bin" of lego- it's the upper right storage bin in that little toy holder rack thingy. Someday I'm sure I'll be cursing the name of Mister Lego and his blocks of death as they take over my house...
DeleteI so badly want to paint our window frames now! Did you need to sand off the stain first?
ReplyDeleteSorry it's been ten days, Katherine! Blergh. No, I didn't sand the stain, but maybe if you did it would paint more easily. I did two coats of primer and then one + coat of paint. The "+" means I went over spots that I didn't think were good enough as I saw them, but didn't fully do a second paint coat. Another key to trim looking clean and crisp is to caulk any dark gaps you see after you prime but before you paint. It makes a huge difference!
DeleteAwesome. Thanks!
DeleteLove it! I wanted to see the photo collage you did around the TV. How did you do the frames? All matching? Or did I miss a post about that? I am dying to hand stuff and that is one idea I want to do!!
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ReplyDelete