A Perfectly Fantastic Playroom Before & After

I always love to see what my readers have been up to, which is why I feature your awesomeness on a weekly basis in the Reader Space posts.  Today I have a special space to feature that is very near and dear to my heart.

This small world we live in brought a sweet gal that I graduated with, Crystal, back into my life 10 years later when we realized that we lived only minutes from another {upon moving away from our home town!}.  A whole 5 minutes apart!

Crystal runs a full time daycare and is one of the most amazing, sweetest and coolest daycare moms I have ever met.  So imagine my excitement when she asked me to pop over and offer up some ideas to help her whip her playroom into organized shape.  Um, YES PLEASE!

When I walked into the place she spends her joyful hours, I wanted to stay and play and craft and read.  I could imagine how a kid would LOVE to hang out with her all day!

But Crystal was ready for change.  The space was being taken over by toys and losing functionality and wasn't a place she could feel at ease with every day.  She was looking for something more updated.  Fresh.  Organized. 

Here is what she started with:

Don't you want to have a big play party with me?  It's a kid's paradise!

However, after speaking with her and taking notes about how she uses the space and spends her time, I had a good idea of the direction she was hoping to go, all while maintaining a low budget and reusing many of the items she already had.

I studied the pictures and put together a plan to take back the play space.  Here were my thoughts that I shared with Crystal:

After looking through the photos a couple of times, I think that a lot of the reason the room felt so busy, is because there were so many items that were visible along with so many primary colors.  To give the space a fresh, streamlined look, I recommended starting by completely emptying out the space {gasp I know}, and giving it a fresh coat of paint.  I liked the idea of doing a soft gray {like Behr's Twilight Gray} on all of the full walls and above the ledge and then a deep gray blue {like Behr's Bleached Denim} on the walls below the ledge.  I also adored the idea of doing an entire art wall full of chalkboard paint, which would allow her to eliminate the two art easels.  I also thought that the room would feel much more streamlined if all of the storage furniture was the same color, so I recommend painting any remaining pieces, including the desk and the file cabinet, in a shade of white that is similar to the existing white storage furniture.  For the window treatments, some espresso colored bamboo roman shades {like these} on all of the windows would dress and clean them up and offer privacy at the same time.

The next step would be to add additional storage pieces and place them into the space to create zones and more concealed storage.  I suggested that she add one more Trofast piece to match the existing one, and place them side by side in the art zone under the window, where one already existed.  Those could be used to house any learning toys, such as puzzles and games, which can also be played with at the art tables.

Because Crystal always believed in displaying the kiddo's masterpieces, I recommended a cable system for displaying the artwork right on the chalkboard wall or nearby, by using this from IKEA or using twine strung between two nails paired with clothespins!  Then, to hold the chalk she could install a rail with hooks and some buckets.  I also suggested that she should scour the dollar store or look for inexpensive 8x10 frames and have a photo printed of each kiddo's smile, to place on the art wall above the twine, so she could display their art below their photos.  Plus, kids love to see themselves and their friends!

Then, one Expedit shelving unit, placed horizontally, could stick out of the back wall, to create a divider and a "circle time"/reading nook.  It can also act as a bench, but the real purpose is to give her oodles of concealed storage.  The large ITSO fabric bins found at Target and Amazon, fit the Expedit openings perfectly and can store more toys than one would ever imagine.  And the bins are soft so they are sure to be safe for the kids and last a very long time.  For all of Crystal's daily lessons, I recommended popping a couple of these cork boards on the wall, which would categorize her pieces and create small groupings vs. having it all spread out.  I loved the idea of even painting the frames of the cork boards in a pretty lime green {Behr's Japanese Fern}, which would compliment the gray blues.  And because she mentioned she wanted to have her books in an area where the kids could easily grab and read, since she had such a large selection of books, I thought she could try to use white vinyl gutters to create book shelves, right on the lower wall opposite of the Expedit.  See an example and tutorial of this idea here.  I also thought the kids would appreciate some cute floor pillows for circle time/reading time.

In the back area of the room, I loved the idea of creating a place just for Crystal.  I suggested that she remove all of the large chairs, with the exception of one for reading and feeding, which I would angle in the back corner.  I would use an area rug to ground "her" space, and pop the desk in the center, with the file cabinet by its side.  I thought a fresh coat of white paint on the desk, chair and file cabinet would bring more unity.  She could even dress up the drawers of the file cabinet, like this photo here.

On the TV wall, where there is no ledge, I would place the now two blue bookcases {which would be painted white}.  I would use one bookcase for baby toys and the other for her office/paper storage.  She could use inexpensive file boxes found at Ikea or Walmart {similar to these} for planning out her lessons {a file for each day of the week}, along with inexpensive magazine files for each child's projects.  The other bookcase would be great for baby toys because I thought they could have their own little "play zone" behind her desk, away from some of the chaos that bigger kids can create, yet still in her view and reach.

When bringing the toys and items back into the space, it's essential to evaluate each item and only bring in the favorites or the items that truly are played with.  I challenged her to see if there was any room to pair down a bit.  I also suggested to limit how many of the items that were being stored out in the open and on the ledges, since that is where your eyes would instantly go when entering the room.

I thought that by defining zones it would break up the large open "busyness" in the space and give a cozier feeling. 

And guess what?  Crystal and her man got right to work on the plan, because she LOOOOVED it!   Wahoo!

She switched things up a bit as it came time to implement all of the suggestions.  She was a little nervous to commit to the gutter bookshelves, so we agreed that the Ikea spice racks could be a great solution for the books as she was planning on rotating them out each month based on their current themes.  She also was able to categorize and pair down enough not to need the entire Expedit shelf!  She made much of the transformation in her space using what she had, and adding in a few new pieces to make it all work together seamlessly.

Ready to see how it all turned out?  This is my favorite part!

W O W right?!  Didn't they do an INCREDIBLE job?!  I have looked at the pictures about 103 times because I am so excited with the outcome.  And the best part is that Crystal and her little daycare buddies are also as equally ecstatic with their space!  Crystal shared her pictures with me and wrote:

"I was so excited when i got your ideas I just could not wait to get them done! You are so amazing and I am so happy with it!  We did exactly what you said to start off and that was to completely empty out EVERYTHING!  It was a lot of work but made the space so much easier to work with. Then we went with both the colors you said and painted the bottom with Behr's Twilight Gray on the top and Behr's Bleached Denim below the ledge. I loved the colors you picked and seeing as though I already had so much green the Behr's Japanese Fern could not have been a better fit!  I did not realize it at first but the colors ended up working better than I could have ever imagined!  We then painted an entire wall with the chalkboard paint. We did 8 coats but wanted to be sure it was very functional seeing as though I knew the kids would love it!  And it seems to work great and erases well.  The buckets on the rail idea from Ikea you had, worked perfect as now the chalk and erasers are right at the kid's level.

When I decided to go with the Trofast pieces in the middle, I was then able to use some green plastic shelves we had already along the wall where I had planned to display the wall art.  Because these are smaller I was able to make the area where I displayed the art a little larger, and also the little drawer system I added was able to house the smaller toys perfect! {phones, cars, puppets, action figures ect.} I then used the Trofast for larger things and the things I had large amounts of {babies and their accessories, puzzles, a music bin, and the older kid's random toys took up the other three}. While I wanted to keep the top of those clutter free it ended up being the perfect spot to house the ball bin and one other large toy. Then I bought three stackable bins {green ones, you had recommended one from Ikea} and I used these for larger things {all the blocks which i separated inside the bin with different bags for easy to grab access, one for computer and learning systems and the last one for the stuffed animals they like to have when they read.}.  They fit so much yet look so clean! I found that there would be no way i could eliminate the kitchen area so I added that and used a green storage bin I just place on table with all the kitchen accessories. and then the shelf idea for all the baby stuff works awesome!  They love it and already flock to it. Their things needed to be on display or they would never get to them.

So I would have to say all in all I really did not have to downsize much at all! Just get it organized in a better way. There of course is about a bin and a half that I tucked away in storage, but that really is exactly what i wanted so that when the kids start to bore with what they have I can refresh everything and keep their interest!  So it worked out perfect.

As far as the bookshelves the idea with the spice racks from Ikea worked out wonderfully! They were so easy! And a fresh coat of paint has them looking great! I put away a whole storage bin of books! Couldn't be happier about that seeing as though I hope to change out books monthly to new themes we are discussing and then just new books to keep everyone reading. They have spent most of their time so far on the reading mats {which I decided to go with 4 separate green rugs so they can grab their own and find a spot and plop down! Then bring them all together for one large rug during circle time! They love love love the idea of their own carpet}.  And the cork-boards for all learning materials works so well and looks great! I found great pillows at Ikea and they love grabbing one with their rug.

My office space rocks!! It is so organized, easy, and functional! I can find everything and so easily plan for the week. I found it all at Ikea. The green they offered is different but blends well, and what I cannot even believe is the rug I found for my space that you told me about was a mere $19.99! I was stoked!

So all in all it is almost finished and not only looking amazing but it is functional, functional, functional! It housed everything I need to keep the kids busy and learning from morning 'til night! I could not be happier!! You are so great and you made the space I spend all my days in ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and so enjoyable! Not only do I love it, but the kids and all my families adore it as well! So from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!!!

Much love! Crystal



And there is nothing more surreal than seeing your vision come to life, and to hear those sweet happy words.  I am certain I want to go through this process again and again, it was beyond rewarding.

A special thank you to Crystal for letting me help her with her amazing space and allowing me to share the story and process here with you!  Don't you just adore all she did to give her daily space, a bit of a facelift?  Doesn't it feel so much more open and tidy?  What's your favorite part?