Thursday, May 16, 2013

Future plans for Emily's big girl playroom

Yesterday night was a tough night for Binh and I because I moved almost all of Emily's toys into her new playroom. Our house looked so empty without her toys everywhere. I can't believe I am saying this but we already have empty nest syndrome and our Emily isn't even two. The only toy that is left outside of her playroom was her kitchen. I've decided to leave her kitchen outside in the living room because I like seeing at least some of her toys around the house.

Now that I have completed refinishing the giant toy storage I have a new list of things to tackle before her playroom is complete.

1. Find pretty crystal/clear knobs for the doors on the giant toy storage. There are a total of six doors so I will need six new knobs. Knobs are usually pretty expensive especially the nice ones. Luckily I only need six. Usually when I refinish furniture I use the original pulls/knobs and refinish them but this time, the knobs were wood so it won't look nice with the new colors of the storage center.

2. Find two large picture frames to turn into a chalk board and magnet board. I'm looking online to buy a large chalk board and magnet board to hang up along the wall on the other side of the room. Initially I had plans to use chalk board paint and magnetic paint for the doors on the bottom. I saw similar inspiration images on pottery barn kids and fell in love. Unfortunately my plans were ruined when I realized that Emily is too tall for the lower cabinets of the toy storage.


3. Get a nice soft rug for Emily. When we got our master bedroom rug Emily loved it. She napped on it for the first few days. I am on the look out for a fun and colorful rug to put in her big girl playroom. 

4. I also want a daybed with storage underneath. Day beds are great because they can be used as a sofa/bed. I'm looking at some cheaper alternatives from Walmart. Found a nice Dorel white day bed for under $200. 

5. Details for the giant toy storage include making fabric boxes as storage bins. This morning when Emily walked into her playroom she said "wow"and started pulling all sorts of toys off the shelf and opened the lower cabinets. I think I might stick to the open concept of leaving her toys on display for now because she can see them and point to which ones she wants to play with. 

6. Finally I need to hang shelves to store all of her books along the wall that I plan to hang the chalkboard and magnet board.

Here are pictures that I promised to post from yesterday. 
My father and brother in law came over to help me bring the middle cabinet inside the house. Binh helped moved the old guest bed back into the old playroom. 




If you noticed, I didn't paint the bottom of the cabinets. I figured they won't be exposed since I have doors for them. Plus I was getting lazy to paint. I rather focus on painting the exposed parts. 



I lined every cabinet in my house including the kitchen cabinets with contact paper. I've refinished a few furniture pieces so each one gets lined with contact paper.  I love contact paper. They are cheap, durable, removable, and so easy to keep clean. 



Look at all the toys I was able to stuff inside the lower cabinets. 





I was able to fit the giant bin of toys inside the lower cabinet of the toy storage. Believe it or not, its actually half full only. I guess we will have to buy Emily more toys now. :) See once all the toys and bins are inside, nobody can tell that I cut corners and didn't paint the lower cabinets. I still need to hang the doors on the lower middle cabinets and the big middle one. I'm not sure if I want to add more shelves for more storage or leave it open. Decisions .. decisions... 




This is the left side of the cabinet. As you can see, Emily is already playing with the toys on the shelf. 



This is the right side of the cabinet. 




The giant toy storage without doors in the middle.  My dad is coming over soon to help me put on the doors and new knobs. I might be able to update later with more pictures. 





Here is the before picture for reference 


4 comments:

  1. Have you considered reselling your toy storage after using it for a few years or when Emily grows up and doesn't need all her toys? It would be perfect if you had painted the bottom shelf! lol. Just my two cents.

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    1. I haven't thought about reselling any of my furniture yet but that's something I have considered for the long run. Right now we don't have enough furniture so selling furniture is last on my list. I will keep in my mind for future reference when i refinish other pieces. :)

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