Playroom-Turned-Bedroom!

Hi again!

It's been a while since I've written about the kids' playroom. So it's time for an update!

Firstly, we have moved the playroom down to the first floor...I don't exactly remember when.
So it looked pretty much like this:

Thanks to the lovely Kim K. for her awesome wide-lens photographing abilities!

Trying to get the kids to sleep in their own beds/room was always a struggle, but suddenly out of nowhere, just after Ella had turned six, she announced that she would prefer to sleep in her own bed -- hurray! So we moved the Ikea bed (which we foolishly bought shortly after William's birth) down there for William to sleep on while Ella preferred the fold-out futon. Go figure~!

This went well all through the fall season and the kids were happy and comfortable.
And then Dash had an amazing stroke of good luck on the Craigslist Free section: someone was giving away a loft bed frame!!

I now introduce to you the new-and-improved playroom/bedroom:

A little sneak-peek of what it looks like from the door.

The loft bed!!

The Ikea bed fits perfectly below the loft, and then the twin-sized mattress was scored through the Gift Economy FB Group the very same day -- BUYA!!

Dash then strung some twinkle lights around them (white for Ella, rainbow for William) and voila! A snazzy sleep set-up that the children absolutely adore.
They will go down without a fuss around 6:30pm (praise be to god!) but inevitably awaken sometime in the wee morning hours to steal into our beds. WHY?? Cannot get them to stop that, but will keep trying nonetheless.

Beyond the new sleep arrangement, I thought I'd give you a tour of the Playroom in light of its new face-lift -- especially with being back from the holidays and having to rejigger things thanks to the influx of toys and gifts. Oy ve~ Here goes!

The south-facing wall.

These photos were taken at night, hence why all the curtains are drawn, but yesterday was sunny and you should've seen the light pouring in over Ella's desk. So wonderful!
That little shelf from upstairs has been moved down, too, and just above it is a bulletin board I beautified back in September with some star-patterned fabric. :)
Ella fills it with her drawings, favorite photos, and other bits of inspiration.

The art easel is actually a pretty popular hit still so it sits in the corner above the basket full of stuffed animals. Still trying to reign in those "stuffies" (as the kids call them) and relocating some of them to the kids' beds has helped that, though the sheer number is still sometimes a little baffling to me.

Moving on~

The east side + northeast corner

It's not the best shot of it, but William has his own little desk now too!
Dash built it about a month or so back and William does love it so very much. I will have to showcase some of his artwork here soon!!

The "construction station" left of that was a score from a Clothing Swap but seems to have run its course, so I may be finding a new home for that soon. Gotta admit, it's a pretty handy organizational tool at least, since the bottom compartment holds William's budding collection of toy cars. Thanks, "Santa"!

The 9-compartment white shelving unit used to mainly hold the grown-up books in the house, but that has since been moved to the office -- gotta say, I love when Dash goes away on his little trips because it gives me time and space to implement much-needed organization systems~!

Anyway, now each unit of the nine plays a role. As such (from top to bottom):

Row 1:
1) Ella's makeup (technically mine, but I let her play with it)
2) crate of games (playing cards, board games, etc)
3) crate of art supplies
4) readily accessible art supplies

Row 2:
1) basket of felted wood toys/items (mostly from Waldorf, made by the kids, etc)
2) wooden train set in a vintage traveling case
3) the kids' new Lego sets
4) treasure chests (filled with dragon tears, pretty stones, shells, etc)

Row 3:
1) puzzles
2) wooden marble run, random jumprope, kaleidoscope
3) Ella's Polly Pocket kit and faux suitcase holding Barbie dolls + MLP
4) super random toys, what are they doing there? They don't belong there, oops

Row 4:
1- 3) books
4) musical instruments


So yeah, not as minimalist as it's been in the past, but really well taken advantage of, for the most part, by the kids.
Oh, and the top of it features an oversized Costco box thing that holds the rest of our art/crafting supplies. Alongside it are some tins of beads and Ella's collection of wooden creations from school.

To the left, you'll see that familiar wicker basket that still holds dress-up clothes, though I must say their popularity has gone down over the past year. We may be phasing it out sooner than later.

And don't you just love that poster from the Albany Carousel Museum that's above it? Thanks, Kathy-neechan!!

Well, that just about wraps up the tour of the playroom.
William's closet of clothes is in the far corner, right by the doorway, and it's still all organized using Cutie boxes. HA!

One last shot of William on his bed...playing with a cardboard tube. Nice.

That's what I get for trying to force a "candid" shot. Nyuck!

And with that, I bid you good night, sleep tight, take care and Happy Playroom-Turned-Bedroom!!