Catch-All Room Turned Playroom

While Adam was away in Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago, Amelia and I stayed with my parents.  They were very generous to let us stay with them, and take advantage of some extra help while the husband was away.  

We stayed in my parent's spare bedroom/catch-all room.

This room has been used by everyone in our family for the past 30+ years and it has collected bits and pieces through all of it.  This room was filled with spare/mix-matched furniture pieces, a ton of random toys, a day bed, a TV, and anything else that didn't have a place.
In fact, here is a before photo:

  There was so many cool things in this room but they were lost because of the clutter.

If you know me, I am always up for re-decorating. 

With Jack on the way, and Amelia getting more and more ready to play with toys, I thought it was time Amelia and Jack had a playroom at grammy and grampy's house :)

With three short days and a very VERY small budget, I had my parent's permission to transform this little room :)

I knew that I wanted the room to be gender neutral but not "cookie-cutter" gender neutral.  I wanted the colors to be primary based but not just primary colors. 

We started with this Orla Kiely bedspread and used it as color inspiration for the rest of the room!

Another thing I knew, is that I wanted a little reading nook in the room.

I made a bunch of tissue paper flowers to hang from the ceiling in a color pallet that I think worked well with the bedspread.  I ordered the vintage letters "Read" from this easy shop, and my mom had these floor cushions already on hand (which I will probably re-cover sometime in the future)

Another must have was the flashcards.  I remember learning to say my ABC's backward from looking at flashcards that hung in my sister's nursery.  I used twine and clothes pins from the dollar store to make this lovely and educational wall art!

These are the flashcards we chose.

Target has these adorable little accessories right now for dorms.  The stuff totally reminds me of Urban Outfitters. I scored this chihuahua pillow, the balloon animal lamp, and the sweet yellow cuckoo clock.

My favorite part of the room is definitely this chalkboard wall!  What child doesn't want to draw on the walls? I know I did :)  We also took my mom's bedroom furniture (and gave her Adam and I's old bedroom furniture) and placed it in this room to showcase all of the amazing toys and books that my parents, sister, and I have collected throughout the years.

The bookshelf was once mine, and then was stored in my parent's basement and now it has a perfect new place in the playroom.

Finally, we scored the PERFECT rug from Urban Outfitters.  The color and design were perfect.  Not too bold, just bold enough for this room.  The smallest size worked wonderfully for this room.

This room is by far, my favorite spot in their home now.  It's colorful and happy and fun, which I think is the perfect recipe for a playroom.  I know Amelia and Jack will both be enjoying this room really soon. In the meantime, it's Catalina's new hangout :)

xo

janel