Playroom Makeover-One weekend, under $100!!

I love this room now!  Even better is that my children love it!  I can’t believe what was accomplished with so little time and money.  Seriously, under $100 and just a weekend project!  The bonus is that it was a whole family affair even!

We bought three-12 foot shelves that were 16 inches deep, for more play area.  Two of the shelves were for the top of it and the third one we cut up to support it.

We built this in an L shape into the corner of the room.    We also notched the back of the support pieces on the bottom , to allow room for the floor board.  It was all anchored together and to the wall with small L shape brackets.  Then, it was primed white.  We figured out our own measurements for the height of this based on the average kneeling child would need this to be at about 18 inches.  Plus, this adds spectacular storage room underneath!  And we all know that storage room and kids playrooms go hand in hand.

We sketched out the layout for the parts of the village, along the whole top.

Base painting:  This step was perfect for everyone to be a part of.  Everyone helped to paint in the base layers such as airport landing strip, helicopter landing pad, and grass areas.
We all helped to paint all other base areas like streets and parking lots, beaches, pathways, desert area, and water areas. 

Next we started adding basic details on top such as the lines in the sidewalk and ends of the airstrip.  Take notice of the cardboard boxes we unfolded to cover (and save) the carpet.  It worked perfectly and gave us a space to paint the extras like shelves and foam core board.

It is also helpful when doing this project to have one or two of these:  artistic Grandparents!  Grandma followed after our base painting with lots of fantastic detailed painting.  Notice the strips on the road, and dimension to the grass areas, water, walkways, etc.  The details are what really made this room amazing.  Thanks for all your hard work Bonka and Grandma!!

I love how the airport turned out!  This village is to go with any of the play sets that my children have.  Our two favorite play sets are Bobbleheads and Legos.  This airport was a must have for the Legos!!

Then we started adding in all of the extra parts like the cityscape.  That was made out of one piece of foam core board.  All hand draw, cute out, and painted.  I love it!

Grandma also came up with this super adorable hot air balloon.  I love how interactive the decorative parts are!  Little toys can even be in the basket of the hot air balloon!

Of course the tree is my favorite.  Check out how we made it here. 

Now do you see it all coming together?!

We added this polar mountain with waterfall!  You can see how we made it here.

Here is how we made all the foam core decorations!  That picture on the left is 4 sheets of 1/4 inch foam core.  We got them for $1 at Joann's.  You can also get 1/2 inch and I think we’ll be using some of that for the extra dimension! 
To start we draw our design onto the foam core.

Then, we use an exacto knife to cut out the shapes. 

Paint right onto the foam core.  It takes the paint wonderfully!  We thought our room needed a blimp and some extra clouds!  Don’t forget to paint the sides of the foam core!

Here is our desert area.  The cactus was made out of the foam core, too!  Notice on the dessert that there are some really fun extra details of a snake, cactus, scorpion, and other desert plants.  My daughter likes her Chihuahuas and lizards here!

Final view of the polar mountain, waterfall, desert, camping area, walkways, lakes, river, bridge, beach, and tropical tree.  All of my camping area pictures were blurry.  However, there are some really cute details painted like a fire.  My kids have fun camping play sets that include tents, and even smores that go so well in this area!

This area was made specifically for fun and organization.  We chose the height based on the heights of my children.  They can play at it kneeling, sitting, or standing.  The above picture shows the buckets we picked up to keep the toys all organized and put away!  I love though, that my kids can get things all set up to play and then leave it out if they run out of time, to return to it the next day!  This play area looks super cute even in mid play.

Final picture that includes the extra clouds and blimp!  They really help to make the whole area look themed out with no bare spots on the walls! 

Now, can you believe what you can do in a weekend and for under $100?

Rebecca

PS I can’t claim to be the mastermind behind this, just one of the minds helping with brainstorming and a pair of extra hands!  My kids’ Dad was the mastermind behind all of this!  Thanks so much C!  Great idea, and as you know, the kids love it. 

PSS Don’t be surprised if even your kids stuffed animals start finding their way into this playland…or if you can’t help yourself and play with it too!


I'm joining in the fun at the following parties:  Skip To My Lou, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Get Your Craft On,