A history of rooms

Things have been quiet on this end from us for a while because we have been busy busy! Besides the normal school routines, PTO mtgs, piano lessons, orientations, and other things related to kids... we have been tackling another remodel project. Ok. I don't know if it can really be considered "remodeling", since we weren't tearing down walls or putting them up or anything....but maybe just "re-doing".

When we first moved into our seemingly large house (at the time!), nearly 8 years ago, we were just a lonely newlywed couple. We had soooo much space. Then we had a baby. We took one of the 3 bedrooms and made a nursery (obviously). The other remained a guest room. I loved our nursery. I had always envisioned the nursery I had wanted for my baby. I wanted primary colors with kid print drawings on the wall and a colorful ABC border. I wanted it to be bright and fun, not boring and pastel. I wanted the room to grow with the baby/child. I loved what we did.

Then the second baby came. She enjoyed the same nursery and Brooke moved into her big kid room and no one could come stay at our house anymore. We were out of rooms. :P (keep in mind, this is a different room, across the hall from the nursery)...

Our lots of space quickly turned into a house crammed full of everything. And if there is one thing about me, I can't stand clutter. So, shortly after Brenna started sleeping through the night and not sleeping allll day and was toddling around, we moved her and Brooke in together to the big girl room. A very girly room fit for our very girly girls.

After Brenna outgrew the crib turned toddler bed, we moved in a daybed and they still share this room as you see it here today. :)

The once-nursery got changed into a playroom/guest room. Since they were now sharing a room, we had to make new room for all their stuff - the toys and games and books. We got an oversized chair from a family member that folds out into a twin size bed (we can have guests again!). And the "playroom" evolved. Still a fun room and very kid-friendly.

Over the last couple of years though....ugh. The toys multiplied. They were taking over. The girls couldn't play with everything. It was too much. Too much stuff. Remember my clutter pet peeve? It was about to take things in a new direction, with a little help from my friend, pinterest. (a total time suck that gives you all kinds of ideas on things you need to be doing instead of sitting around surfing the internet ;P)

First, I started getting aggravated by the toys and books and games and ......THINGS! Everywhere. So, I went through the playroom one day and tossed everything that I felt we could live without. Ok, I didn't really toss it (in the trashcan), but I moved it out via trash bags and tubs and we will be selling it via garage sale soon.

There was a small stash of things left. As seen in the (playroom) closet here...

I had a vision from there (again) of what I wanted the room to look like. And after weeks of building, painting (ohhh... the painting!), putting together, more painting, organizing, planning, and moving furniture..... behold... the new room....!!! (and remember, this was once the above seen 'playroom').....

I love that we got the piano in here and out of her bedroom! Yippee! And a sitting area to listen and watch TV is awesome! Here are some of the extras from around the room...

Found this little picture at Hobby Lobby...

Above the piano, we mounted the small TV, complete with cord cover that yours truly painted to blend in (and our pics from DisneyLand on either side)...

Next to the piano, we moved in our DVD cabinet which holds all of our DVD's. I think it looks nice in this room now!

Around by the piano, my first Mother's Day present - it says, "Love always grows in my mother's garden". The one thing that has remained in this room since turning it into a nursery...oh, about 7 years ago! :)

Left up Brad's most prized Superman collector's item...

The new desk and the old one. New for functionality (so now we have a place for the little ones to do homework or writing or whatever else), the old one because no way am I getting rid of that gem! We added the ribbon board and the shelf to put 'stuff' that's bound to accumulate. And the desk lamp is one that came from my grandparents house that I just love and won't ever part with. :)

This was a teacher gift from when I taught preschool and I love it in this room!

One of my favorite Dr Seuss quotes I printed from the internet and framed....

Which leads me to my favorite part of the new room - the book nook! Made out of the old closet, we built the bench, bookcases, did the color scheme, added the rug to pull it together and voila!

The bench we built from scratch that I just LOVE how it turned out...

And the bookshelves we built (and painted) all by hand.

I actually printed all this 'art' from the internet and got cheapie frames from Hobby Lobby to hang around the book nook. :) And the letters for the "Book Nook" sign I also got there and painted black to go with the color scheme.

We changed the light fixture too... or rather, we added one! Before, it was literally just a bulb hanging in the closet. LOL

A clock I've had since I was a kid works perfectly in here! :)

I couldn't be more pleased with how everything turned out! This is now my new favorite room of the house! Soon, I will be posting a brief summary or tutorial of how we did the book nook. So look for that to come if you are interested! I'm so proud of our work and now we have this awesome space to show for it. :)