Polka Dot Playroom

We have been working like crazy to get this house in ship shape order to make it start to feel like home and this weekend it all caught up to us.  We are plain exhausted and Saturday morning I spent the afternoon hugging a certain white bowl, and then Pete decided he needed to give it some love on Sunday.  Ugh!  It was SO nice out this weekend too!  We each took a day to sleep (literally the whole 24 hours!) and now we are both feeling well enough to get back at it.  We are calling this next little chapter Phase Two Electric Boogaloo :).

Before we get into what's next on our long list of to do's, I am really excited to share our polka dot playroom with ya'll today.  Our goal was to have this as one of the first rooms finished so that our little Gracie-boo would have somewhere to play and keep her busy while we were working on the house. 

Here is what we started with:

Needless to say, it needed some work before it became a playroom.  It needed the flooring removed, the hanging lights taken down, the fireplace painted, new curtains, new carpet, the ceiling needed to be painted, the walls needed to be patched and painted, and the trim taken off and replaced.  Whew!  Luckily we had our AMAZING sister-in-law Katie, and our niece Julia back to help us out again :) 

And drum roll please .....

Here is our after:

 
We LOVE how it turned out!!!  There is a perfect amount of storage with the IKEA shelving and I love that there is a perfect comfortable spot for me a and friend to sit while we watch our wee ones play during play dates.  I love when a room turns out exactly how you envisioned!  Now all it needs is a little bit of art and it's done :)

Lastly I just want to touch on the fireplace in the playroom.  It is always tricky using a room with a fireplace as a playroom because of course there are safety concerns you need to address.  We knew we were dealing with a working gas fireplace and we really like the idea of using it to heat our home in the winter.  So we had to keep it.  I came across an inspiration picture on pinterest a while back and started my search for a fireplace screen on kijiji shortly after.

Check it out:

(http://www.interiorsbystudiom.com/blog/2013/11/montigo-fireplaces-fireplace-screens-safety-tips/)

So we found the perfect screen (after getting lost in the boonies trying to find the house to buy it at with 2 cranky kids in the back - remember that day hun? lol)  And we set off to Michaels to buy several cans of spray paint.

Here is how the fireplace looked when we moved in:

 

Here is how ours turned out with a fresh coat of paint and a bright fireplace screen:

We think it totally freshens up the room.  We did a bit of research on how best to paint our brick fireplace.  Young House Love (LOVE THEM!!!) has a great tutorial on how to get a great look.  Check it out at: http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/01/how-to-paint-a-brick-fireplace/

Well there you have it.  Gracie LOVES the playroom, and we know soon Levi will be all into her markers and dollies too.  And, yes, the white furniture has already been christened with markers - thank goodness they are washable!!!

Rebecca & Pete