playroom | Home on 129 Acres

It was the scissors that did it. They tipped the balance from crowded into chaos. To be fair, it’s a whole carousel of scissors. And the living room has been maxed out for a while.

The journey to move Ellie’s play zone out of the living room and into her old bedroom has begun. While I had a vision of it being a one and done undertaking, I’ve come to terms with this being a more gradual process.

We started with the crafts.

Ellie is a prolific and varied crafter. Paper, fabric, stickers, glue, beads, wool, she loves it all. We’ve managed the crafting process and supplies with a small table in the corner of the living room and storage in the coffee table and sideboard. For a while it’s been a tight squeeze.

Then Matt’s aunt arrived for Easter lunch with an assortment of provisions, including a carousel of scissors (she knows what our girl likes). This, just weeks after Ellie’s birthday where she received rolls of colouring sheets, cases of beads, and sacks of needle felting, meant we were overrun with craft stuff.

I had the idea to shuffle some things around. As I said in my home goals post at the start of this year, this shuffle becomes like a row of dominoes. I reorganized and relocated some of Matt’s things. That freed up a cabinet and a bookshelf in the basement. More of Matt’s things moved into the cabinet and the bookshelf came upstairs.

After a quick coat of paint, the bookshelf moved into the playroom and became craft supply central. The first item to move in? The carousel of scissors.

While we were stocking the bookshelf, we made a few other changes to the room. (Though we obviously did not clean the mirror.)

Her little table and chairs moved from the living room to the new (soon-to-be) playroom. I also used my knock-off DIY Eames hang-it-all to arrange a little dress-up area for her with all of her costumes and a bin for accessories such as hats, crowns, scarves, Minnie Mouse hands, or an inflated pink dolphin wearing a fluourescent green legwarmer (???).

This is just the start (and it’s definitely not Pinterest-perfect), but now Ellie has most of her craft supplies in one spot, clearly visible and easily accessible.

Anyone else have a crafty house? How do you handle craft supplies? Who else feels like home tweaks are like dominoes?

I am someone who loves bulletin boards. I fill them with inspirational pictures and sayings, family photos, reminders, notes, calendars–anything and everything.

When Matt and I moved into our first house, one of the bedrooms had a built in desk with upper shelves. I took a roll of cork and pasted it to the wall between the two shelves. When I switched jobs, I covered the utilitarian grey bulletin board in my new office with pretty floral fabric. In Ellie’s room, when it used to be my office, I built a custom tall, narrow cork board (and again covered it in pretty floral fabric) for the weird niche that’s just inside the door.

I had the idea to add a cork board to Ellie’s new basement play area awhile ago. There was a big blank wall above the shelves that was perfect for some art. Or lots of art.

Cork board art display in our toddler's playroom

Our girl loves drawing and painting and making. And when I started putting her creations up on the fridge, she was thrilled. It was so touching to see how proud she was to have her art on display.

I wanted to give her a designated spot to hang her pictures, and adding a bulletin board to her play zone was the perfect solution.

Cork board art display in our toddler's playroom

But I wanted a large bulletin board and every where I looked they were expen$ive.

I finally decided that I spend very, very little on art. I spent very little setting up her play area. I had been thinking about a bulletin board for a few months. Ellie’s art collection is only going to grow.

I could afford to splurge on the bulletin board.

So I found the most affordable source I could and ordered it.

It fills the wall perfectly (I chose a 6 foot by 4 foot board), and it’s a fun addition to her play room.

Cork board art display in our toddler's playroom

I feel like this cork board is an example of how I like to think beyond pictures when it comes to art and wall decor.

Elsewhere in the basement we have our oversize wood scrabble tiles, DIY posters, photo collages of Matt (hung at Ellie’s height), and even some enamel basins in the laundry room. Wall art is all about adding interest to your space and there are so many ways to do that beyond pictures. A bulletin board may not seem artsy, but it soon will be filled with art. And it will be a meaningful, personal display for Ellie’s play area.