Sunday, September 16, 2012

Introducing the Loft/ Playroom


One of the things that I really liked about our home when we bought it was the awesome loft space at the top of our stairs.  Like most parents I love the thought of having a space for kids to play with their toys or watch a movie that doesn't involve me scrambling to clean it up when the doorbell rings.    Some of our neighbors have a two story entryway, which I also love, but ours is closed in and is the loft/ Playroom.
Here is what this room looked like when we moved in:
I was taking this photo standing in our master bedroom doorway and to the left is the stairs going down to the kitchen.  You can also see on the left there is a hallway, which leads to the other bedrooms.

This was moving day.  We ripped out the carpet immediately.  It was gross.


Don't worry this fan came with the house.  
Alaire loved Mickey when we moved in so it is still hanging there.  We have decided that we will probably get rid of it sometime soon though.


See all of that tiny moulding around the room?  Well it was hiding a crazy clown boarder that had been painted over at least twice.  Shoot me.



Here is the hallway leading back to the other bedrooms.

 This is after we got the new carpet and then started to tear down the boarder.  This boarder took Drew and I together working at the same time an entire day.  Eight whole hours.  Not kidding.  It sucked.


We used every trick in the book to make it come off.  The paper was so old and brittle that it came off in tiny little pieces and this is what we were dealing with.
(Sweet giant black track lights too right?  The previous owners were pretending this room was an art gallery with track lights highlighting their canvases.)

Definitely should have done this before the new carpet came in.



It has been over a year since we finished that project and it makes me want to cry thinking of doing that ever again.  Drew and I both concluded that if/ when we buy another house.  It will 
  • A-have no wallpaper, even though we didn't know about this stuff or 
  • B-someone will be hired to remove it before we move in.

So you are probably wondering what it looks like today.  Well on a daily basis I would say a big ol hot mess of toys without enough functional storage.  

I painted the walls a medium shade of gray, which I love, but that's pretty much all that has been done at this point.



As you can see there is one cubby shelf but there are too many toys on the floor in front of it to even really access or use it properly.

We bought a little leather couch at some point too.  It's the perfect size for kids or an adult to watch TV or take a nap.


I bought the big green and blue tubs at Target to try to contain some of the items, but clearly that did no good.


Why wouldn't there be crayons on the brand new carpet for people to step on when they get to the top of the stairs?  

So because of the ridiculous state of this room, I am currently working my butt off trying to get it turned around.  I have been taking on a few HUGE projects to make this room easier on the eye and easier to clean up.  Drew and I usually get sick of this look about once every week and go up to clean it.  The problem still is that Alaire doesn't know where anything is, then she dumps a whole bin out to find it.  Not cool, but honestly, what is her other option? 

This is what the loft looks like on it's best day after we have picked up.  Forgive me for the weird lighting.  I took these at night.






This room already looks a lot different from these pictures.   I will be posting updates soon as I get things done.  

I hope you all are having a great weekend.  We definitely are.  Drew's brother, Bryan, flew in from Minneapolis yesterday.  Those brothers love hanging out together and Alaire LOVES uncle Bryan.  She had him rolling down our backyard hill before breakfast!  














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