Friday, January 21, 2011

Playroom Makeover-One weekend, under $100!!

playroom q
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!
playroom a
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.
playroom bplayroom c
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.
playroom dplayroom e
We sketched out the layout for the parts of the village, along the whole top.
playroom gplayroom h
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. playroom j
We all helped to paint all other base areas like streets and parking lots, beaches, pathways, desert area, and water areas. 
playroom i
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.
playroom k
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!!
playroom l
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!!
playroom p
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!
playroom r
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!
playroom tree w
Of course the tree is my favorite.  Check out how we made it here
playroom q
Now do you see it all coming together?!
mountain j
We added this polar mountain with waterfall!  You can see how we made it here.
playroom splayroom t
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.
playroom uplayroom v
Then, we use an exacto knife to cut out the shapes. 
playroom wplayroom x
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!
playroom y
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!
playroom z
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!
photoo
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.
playroom zzz
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! Winking smile


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

13 comments:

Sidonie said...

Awesome!...great ideas...I make take a coulple of these and blow them up to 3-4' size to incorporate in one of the kiddos rooms...looks like you had lots of fun with it!
you can see our make-oevers here:

http://dreamspinnerstudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/make-overs.html

namaste

* Taci * said...

If my children saw that they would abandon me and never look back!!
Way to go YOU and all your family!

Katie@a mom, a wife, and a me said...

You have some very lucky kiddos! It was freat to see the whole thing come together, great job!

Anonymous said...

I have had so much fun catching up with you and seeing all you are doing to create this magical space for your children.

They do know how lucky they are - right?

Louise said...

So cool!

Anonymous said...

That looks amazing! So creative!

Loralynn said...

What a great way to play with the littlest petshop toys! Really, really darling! You guys should be proud of all your hard work!

DANA said...

Hi! If you have not stopped by yet, I hope you enter my linky contest for a vie at Best of January and ultimately Best of 2011! Every month prizes are awarded!

http://www.thesaturdaymorningsblog.com/2011/01/strut-your-stuff-link-up-party.html

Tammy @ she wears flowers said...

You did a great job--this is incredible! How fun!!

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Sidonie-I'd love to see if you do something from these ideas! I will have to check out your makeovers

Everyone Else-Thanks so much for the sweet comments. This really was such a fun project and my kids love it! ;)

Joanna said...

I would have LOVED to have this as a kid. Now I just hope that when I move into a home with more space I will remember this project and be able to do something like this for my kids!

Sarah @ Mum In Bloom said...

So amazing! I can't take my eyes off of it. I'd like to try the same idea using lego boards on the table tops. Wow.. gotta go have another look.

You'd love the "KidScape" display that was here in KS the last 2 years at a local museum. Very similar idea. I wrote about it here..http://www.jocomuseum.org/kidscape.htm

ezeldabeth said...

wow! i love it! i wish i had some where to do this :)