Office + Playroom REVEAL!

It’s FINALLY here!! Sharing our Office + Playroom reveal and how we re-worked (yet again!) this large space in our home to make it functional for our changing needs. The “media room” (as it’s listed on our homes’ spec sheet) is technically an oversized 4th bedroom above our home’s garage. Bear with me through a little bit of the back story… It has a large closet, and walk in attic storage and is a pretty big footprint of our home taking up over 400 square feet (aka the size of a NYC apartment). As you can see, the walls are pitched and shaped funky, conforming to the house over the garage and making for some design obstacles + eye sores. There’s also little natural light coming in, with only one window that’s completely facing East, the bright light in here fades quickly. On top of that, we also need this room to work double duty. Since I work mainly from home, I desperately needed an office space, as the breakfast table really wasn’t cutting it. We also needed to take our downstairs living room back and move all of Landry’s toys upstairs into a designated playroom. As you can see the odds were stacked against us from the get go to make this space into the functional, bright, fun and creative space that I envisioned, but I was determined to give it a try. I shared my mood board and overall vision in THIS post, as well as the horrific “before” photos (don’t look if you have anxiety about a mess, lol)…so catch up on that post first if you haven’t read it yet. Now, here’s the finished project!!! It took about 6 weeks of work to pull it all together, but we absolutely LOVE the way the space turned out and it’s a place where we can all be creative, have fun and be happy in together! Keep reading for details and sources….

The very first thing that we did was completely clear the room. We took everything off of the walls and painted the entire room white (Sherwin Williams: Alabaster), which really opened it up and accentuated every ounce of natural light coming through that one small window. I still can’t believe the difference a coat of white paint can make! It completely transformed this space from a dark dungeon-like room, into a bright, airy and open space that feels happy…

One of the first design elements that I had in my mind was this marquee letter focal point. I love that it centers that big open wall and draws the eye in to the center, instead of letting it wander around the huge room. I found these marquee letters on clearance at Michaels for $6.99/ea (!!), but they were originally an aged silver, so I decided to spray paint them with my fav gold spray paint: Design Master: Brilliant Gold. The process was so easy, as I simply left the letters in tact and covered the bulbs with aluminum foil so that they didn’t get sprayed. 

Can you tell that this little lady is excited to have a craft table??

Emoji Hands ($10) | Sunburst Mirror | Basset Hound Book Ends ($10/ea) | Metal Baskets (all painted DM: Brilliant Gold)

The biggest thing that I learned from the first time that we tried to make this space functional was that there HAD to be tons of storage involved this go round. I decided to make nearly the entire length of the room’s far right wall into storage. I took a whole day at IKEA and really mapped out what I needed. We already had the center unit (KALLAX) on casters and decided to leave it that way and let it serve as a little reading bench. The 4 cubby units flanking the bench are also from IKEA and are also KALLAX in high gloss white. 

*If you want an another option, I was seriously impressed with this collection and loved the finishes!

Pillows: Dark Blue ($10) | Light Blue ($10) | Faux Fur ($12.99) | Hello Gorgeous ($14.99)

I separated each category of toys that she plays with the most into each bin and that way she can understand how to clean up and compartmentalize them when she’s done playing. For example, here are a few bin categories: Legos, Princesses, Baby Doll Necessities, My Little Pony. This way all of the bins aren’t mixed with a variety of unrelated toys, because I always find she won’t touch them when they are a jumbled mess. It also makes clean up easy, even for a toddler. I feel like (in the case of a playroom especially) you have got to set yourself up to be successful, and (more often than not) that means adequate and smart storage. We found ALL of our storage bins at At Home! They have a ton of stylish and functional organization pieces that are all super affordable!

This one will absolutely be going in a frame! My sweet girl!

Dress + Necklace

Craft Table (really a coffee table, but works perfectly this way, especially with the storage shelf which we use to hold craft goodies like stickers, play doh and paints) | Kids Eames Chairs

Another favorite part of the focal wall is the pair of brass sconces. I scored these for under $60 each and I love the clean, modern shape. They add much needed ambient light in the room but don’t really distract from the marquee focal. There are so many places in a home that these can be used, especially at this price! Shop them HERE and my other favorite pair (also under $60!) HERE.

How cute are these two strawberry blondies?!

Now, here’s a peek at my office! 

I wanted a little space that felt glam + girly and one that I felt creative in. It all started with THIS DESK (which was love at first sight!) and came together from there. I had been following artist Gina Julian for a few months and one piece of hers kept catching my eye. Marie, as she is appropriately named, is one of Gina’s graphic pieces and I absolutely love everything about it. The colors, the subject, the depth…I am seriously smitten…and I knew my office was the perfect place for her to live. Shop the print HERE, as well as the rest of Gina’s work HERE. *Also, be on the lookout for a giveaway soon!!!*

The framing was done by the pros at Framebridge and I cannot sing their praises enough. Keep scrolling for more details…

Desk | Lamp | Chair | Pillow | Art Print | Frame  | Drapes ($10 for a pair!)

Chanel Coffee Table Book

Now, here’s a look at the other side of the “office,” where there’s storage and necessities like the printer. The chest is also from IKEA and is the “MALM” in white. I bought the glass top for it since the printer sits on top of it. 

The vintage chest was a yard sale find and now houses a few props that I use for styling and is a perfect fit next to the MALM chest.

I can finally admire my gorgeous Anniversary gift from last year!!! Dan surprised me with the Slim Aarons’ “Poolside Glamour” print that I had been lusting after and I was SO excited, but quickly realized that I didn’t have a “perfect space for it” and the frame that he chose was totes ugly. Sorry babe, I know you tried. 

Thankfully, my friends at Framebridge came to the rescue and transformed it into the most beautiful piece ever. Since it was already framed, I was too nervous to take it apart myself, so the team at Framebridge sent a huge prepaid box that was outfitted to safely pack the framed piece up in (they even included tape!) and send it back to their HQ to be re-framed professionally. If you have a print that you want framed (not yet in a frame), they send a prepaid tube to ship your print to them in. The process was SO easy and I felt so confident that the art would safely make it to them. I cannot say enough about how much I love Framebridge. ((Remember I also used them in THIS , and I gave THIS to my parents for Christmas?)) If you haven’t tried their service yet, I would highly recommend that you get to framing!

Small Orchid | Domino Book (one of my favorites)

Let’s talk about the rug, shall we? She’s the glue…you know that ONE piece in a design that just brings your whole idea together and to life? This rug was my glue. I love the beautiful kilim pattern and the understated, on-trend Pantone color palette. I also love (most of all) that the 8×10 was only $399! You can see the details HERE…it will say “out of stock,” but I checked with my friends at World Market and they assured me that it will be back in stock for a short time at the end of May, so if you want to snag one, sign up to be notified by email when it comes back in stock! 

Ottoman

On to the craft closet. Man, this was a doooozy. I’ve let junk build in this closet forever and was literally hoarding craft supplies. Let’s also be clear, I don’t really “craft” any more. When I saw my friend Cassie’s post about organizing her closet (which is a similar shape), I knew that I HAD to do something about my space.

I started out by ripping out the closet hardware and installing two stacked shelves, which I knew would hold shoe box storage containers with craft knick knacks sorted by type. I also had the hubby install a simple peg board and I’ve used inexpensive pegs to hang and display wrapping necessities, gift bags, etc, because before they were so hidden that I would just continue to buy more as I never seemed to be able to find them when I needed them. 

I then bought another set of cubby shelves to store Landry’s puzzles, games and busy books. Since these are chunky and take up a lot of space, hiding them in the closet was the most aesthetically pleasing option and this cubby worked out perfectly. We also store all of her baby doll furniture in here as well for the same reason.

The biggest game changer has definitely been the over the door organizer. It’s freed up so much space within the closet and I love that I can see everything arranged vertically and access it very easily. I was leery about spending over $100 on it, but I will tell you that it’s hands down the best money I’ve spent in months. I’m already dreaming up a massive pantry makeover with this bad boy! If you don’t have at least one of these in your home, trust me on this one!

Dollhouse (Under $70, if you’re looking for a great gift!)

Neon Heart Light (Landry thinks this is SO cool)

Our favorites toys from Little People: Farm | House | Princess Castle (these keep her entertained for hours and really stimulate imagination!)

This little play kitchen was a heart-felt gift from mommy and daddy to Landry on her first birthday. We (mainly Dan, if we are being honest) turned a $15 thrift store TV cabinet into this custom kitchen and she LOVES it. See the DIY details HERE.

Images by Laura Sumrak

Full Source List: 

Wall Color (Sherwin Williams: Alabaster) | Rug | Craft Table | Kid’s Chairs | Cube Storage | Marquee Letters | Brass Sconces | Storage Bins | Book Ends | Emoji Hands | Sunburst Mirrors | Navy Pillows | Light Blue Pillows | Mongolian Fur Pillow | Hello Gorgeous Pillow 

Desk | Chair | Mongolian Fur Pillow | Lamp | Chanel Book | Art Print (“Marie” by Gina Julian) | Frame by Framebridge | Ottoman | Drapes | Chest of Drawers (IKEA MALM) | Art Print (Slim Aarons: Poolside Glamour) | Frame by Framebridge | Domino Book

Over the Door Organizer 

Landry’s Dress | Landry’s Necklace | My Top 

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Thanks so much for joining for on yet another room makeover! This one was so much fun, I felt so relaxed that I could go at my own pace and couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out! What do you think about sharing a work space with your toddler? I definitely think that this is becoming  huge trend, especially since so many parents are now working from home! Would love to hear your thoughts on the room! xo

• A HUGE thank you to my friend Laura Sumrak for sharing your talent with me and capturing these beautiful images. You always bring everything to life and I adore you 🙂