Today I’m sharing our playroom makeover project that we worked with IKEA and a bay area organizer, Shira Gill. It was such a dream team to work with these two, and I’m so happy with how it turned out! Keep reading for lots more details (and before pictures!)…
First, a before picture. We have this great playroom space down in the basement with a big window to the backyard. It’s one of my favorite parts about the home. There’s a cozy electric fireplace, and we hung swings from the ceiling. The couch and tv are on the right hand side (not shown in the image). So the area is nicely split up between tv and playroom. But, we just weren’t using the space very efficiently. There was one large bookshelf but it was too vertical and didn’t have the room we needed that was accessible for toy storage. Most of the toys ended up just being placed in bins along the wall, and in no particular organization:
That’s when I met Shira! She was introduced from my friend Erin as someone that works with families on this exact problem: creating and implementing organization systems. More than that though, she did the hard part, spending a lot of time with me decluttering, editing, categorizing, sorting, and donating.
I can’t recommend her services more! She came the first time for an assessment and toy edit. We talked about the challenges of the space and our family and from that, we created a plan. Then we jumped into sorting and editing. She came again for a second visit to help install the pieces that we had decided were needed for the space. There were specific homework assignments I had inbetween the two visits so it really forced me to commit to the organization project.
She had so many brilliant organization ideas, I’ll be posting about them separately next week so stay tuned for that!
One of the first, and biggest homework assignments Jared and I had was to build wall shelving on the wall where the current bookshelf was. I really wanted a minimal look, so we used natural pine boards from Home Depot only slightly sanded, and not stained. For brackets we used some simple white EKBY Lerberg brackets from IKEA.
The important thing was making the shelves accessible for the kids, and that the shelves would also fit around their cute play kitchen (which is actually a great Amazon find).
First off, we needed three types of baskets to hold similar categories of toys. Small, medium, and large.
The medium baskets were these FLADIS Moroccan inspired ones at IKEA. I had a couple of these that I loved but were a lot more expensive. These are a great deal at IKEA (only $12.99!) and great quality.
The other medium baskets we had were the grey PUDDA felt ones with gold snaps.
On the left hand side of the shelves is our dress up area. We hung some masks (vintage ones we’ve collected from Etsy) on hooks, and keep most of dress ups in the leather suitcase below. PRO TIP! Now is the best time of year to get dress ups! Head to your local Goodwill and sift through the racks of Halloween costumes they have out right now. I tend to look for handmade and vintage costumes since they feel special. Last month we found so many great things (and that leather suitcase too!).
I have to say, the system all is working incredibly well. I don’t even have to spend much time reminding the kids to clean things up. They know exactly where things go and Edie especially is so into the organization of it all. I honestly didn’t think my family was this kind of organized family but I’m starting to see a new side of them (and myself!)
I was so inspired by my work organizing with Shira that I went on a huge organizing, decluttering, junk removal spree after she left! For several evenings I was super motivated after the kids went to bed. Creating piles of things to give away, going through old storage boxes and listing items on Craigslist. It was SO liberating getting rid of an entire truck load of junk!
Here’s another fun spot in the new playroom. We repurposed the wooden FLISAT IKEA dollhouse Edie had gotten for Christmas last year (but wasn’t really using that much) into a little bookshelf. The pendant is a bamboo one we got a while back here at Etsy from Thailand.
The table is actually a coffee table, the IKEA LISABO coffee table and the two Bertoia chairs are a few years old from Modshop (but sadly I don’t see them there anymore).
We’ve had swings hanging in this playroom for a while now. All three kids love it, it’s our very favorite active toy. We have three swings we can hook on: a baby bucket swing (shown here), a standard wooden swing, and a trapeze. Henry LOVES the trapeze!
I can’t tell you how much happier this space makes me! The toy situation had gotten so out of control and it was really starting to stress me out on a regular basis. It’s true what they say, decluttering and organizing your house totally declutters your mind as well. Have you found the same?
Thanks to IKEA and Shira Gill for partnering with us on this post.
Hi Liz, I love everything about this room. Can you give more details about the swing, i would love something like this at our place! Thanks!!
I love the shelving and the baskets you chose! It looks so fresh and organized!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Thanks Paige!
Where are the wool bins with the gold hardware from? I don’t see that info in the post!
Sorry, accidentally omitted those. Just added them in! Also from IKEA 🙂
My favourite part is how you repurposed the IKEA dollhouse. I really like it. Might incorporate it into my interiors in the future!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com