Spring ORC-The Loft No.1
The Spring One Room Challenge has been postponed until May 7, but I started on the original schedule because I am well underway with the room and I am using this as motivation to finish. The room I chose was our Loft. It is the landing at the top of our stairs on the second floor.
The Loft has been our kids playroom since we moved into the house. In the beginning we didn't have any storage or furniture. We just threw everything up there because it just was NOT a priority. This room has evolved so many times. I never really had a solid plan. I built some different storage units but they weren't well thought out for the toys we had and the storage we needed.
This is what it looked like when we bought the house. The day we moved in we ripped this carpet out. People have different standards for pets... we prefer they go to the bathroom OUTSIDE. Thankfully it was just carpet and padding, not the sub floor, but I rolled KILLZ on it anyway.
Later we discovered there was wallpaper and a boarder up, which had been painted over. That was NOT fun to remove. There were a few rooms in the house where they painted over a boarder and then put up thin moulding around it so I had ZERO clue there was actual wallpaper under it! We removed the paper and painted the walls this gray.
I tried to find the earliest pictures. This is right after we moved in, painted and put in new carpet.
Paint is Cathedral Gray by Behr in Satin (babies/toyroom/handprints must be durable)
I spent the first year living here painting the ENTIRE house. It was nice to let Alaire play in this space while I worked. Sometimes it was a disaster but at least it was in one room.
At some point I built these Pottery Barn inspired shelves from anawhite.com. A lot of the play furniture is built from plans on her site. As our kids have gotten older we have added and removed toys and storage. I ended up selling all of the white shelving units, the kitchen set, and food stand. We also upgraded our tv during the decade at some point!
The best thing we did at this point was sell and donate EVERYTHING except what the girls actually love. This is a tricky room because as kids grow their favorites and interests grow, so its not a one and done type clean out. These areas have to be managed annually. It's just life.
If you feel overwhelmed by toys and trinkets, here is my advice you didn't ask for: QUIT BUYING IT. Ask friends and family not to either. I know it might seem harsh but people buy too much crap for our kids. My kids don't need trinkets and toys for everything that has ever happened to them. Items don't replace memories or relationships. It causes stress on your kids and you! (Unless you are a unicorn and it doesn't bother you!). Bring less in and you have to clean less out.
Onto the current "BEFORE"
This is what the loft looks like now. Christmas 2018 I bought the white bookshelves and the desks. The girls love to do art, drawing and play school. They wanted to turn part of the loft into a "classroom". I bought some stuff to do it but then didn't completely set it up.
Flash forward... now we are in quarantine and doing school from home. I not only have a lot of the supplies on hand to update/refresh/finish this space, but now I have more motivation too!
My goal for this room is to have a clean, light, functional space where my kids can play, work on homework (homeschool temporarily) play games and just have fun. I want a space that is easy on the eyes, yet functional, comfortable, and flexible as well. This room is the view from my bedroom and the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs.
Loft To Do List:
- clean out all excess books/toys/games/supplies
- paint room
- paint connecting stairwell
- paint baseboards and door trim
- desk chairs
- hang bulletin boards and storage above desks
- replace all plugs and switches
- trim out windows
- update window treatments
- add chalkboard and map
- add framed marker board
- ledge for markers/chalk
- makeover kids table
- update seating/couch
- storage for craft/school supplies
- finish AG Doll House
- replace fan
- remove track lighting for can lights
- add task lighting above desks
- artwork/plants/decor
It is a "lofty" list... no pun intended but I am hoping for the best. I am going to try to get all of this done in the next 8 weeks. Obviously given current circumstances and access to supplies online, I could run into a few projects not being able to be completed right now. I am just going to do my best to get as many items checked off with what I can get a hold of and what I have on hand.
I will be posting here on the blog everything Thursday for the next 7 weeks with updates and projects completed! Also follow along on instagram @itsannamariepalmer for additional content, stories and photos of the process Wish me luck!
If you want to check out all of the other participants head over here-ORC Blog Page for LOTS of inspiration and other bloggers/DIY'ers/ Designers.
