Imagine you are a creative young child. Your mind is brimming with ideas for drawings, stories and crafts. You’re inspired by everything you encounter and want to try so many things.

Now imagine the perfect space to fulfill all of that imagination and creation.

That is my goal in making an amazing play space for Ellie.

This project has been on my wishlist for awhile, and we’re finally making it happen.

The space we’re using is Ellie’s old nursery. This room has gone through a few different phases.

When we first moved in, it held boxes that we hadn’t unpacked… for about five years. Then it became my office. Then Ellie’s nursery. Then a shared office-sewing-creating-playing space for both her and me… but with no real functional or decorative changes.

Now it’s time to make it Ellie’s own room again.

The first step was a bit of construction. Some readers may recall that there was a pocket door between this room and my bedroom. It was helpful when this room was Ellie’s nursery, but not necessary any longer. So I wanted to fill in the doorway. Normally this would be straight forward, but I decided to make it more complicated. Beside the pocket door and behind the door to my bedroom, the wall bumped out by about one foot. If I was going to wall-in the doorway, I might as well straighten the rest of the wall at the same time. (The floorplan below might help to clarify my description.)

I removed the little bump out. This involved stripping the drywall, taking out the old studs, relocating some electrical, framing the new wall and hanging new drywall.

I finally finished the drywall on the weekend, so we are now ready to officially begin the playroom makeover.

First up is paint, and Ellie has picked such a fun design–pink, purple and blue water colour tie dye. We have plans for a little loft in one corner, which will serve as a cozy reading nook on top and a secret fort below. My DIY knock-off Eames hang-it-alls will return for a dress-up zone. Matt’s desk will remain to give her a good crafting and creating spot. And we’ll be adding lots of storage for all of her toys and supplies.

We’re both really excited by this project and are enjoying working on it together. I’m sure we’ll be even more excited with the result.

You can check out some of my playroom ideas on Pinterest. Or follow along with renovation updates on Instagram.