It’s time for another installment from “The Forever Home Project“. That means a play room update and the results from your vote on our new rug. Before we get to that…
Don’t forget I’m once again part of the Zparents facebook chat going on today at 9am PST/ 12pm EST. So come stop by the Clif Kid facebook wall and dish with me all about festive, creative family fun for the holiday season. There will be prizes too!
To refresh your memory, the room we’re discussing today isn’t our main living space but we also want to use it for more then just a playroom. Below is a photo of the room from when we first moved in a few months ago.
This is the place in our house where our kids get to sprawl out the floor and do puzzles, read books on their tummies, construct elaborate railroad systems and build gianormous forts. As such, we want to leave as much open floor space as possible (especially for the new baby coming in March).
However, this is also the room where I congregate with my mom friends during our weekly play dates. That means we need comfy spots to sit as well as places to put our many cups of jo.
We don’t have much of a budget for this room. We’re opting for economy over lifetime durability with the theory that the three kids (and their friends) will put any pieces in this room through a lot of wear and tear in a very short period of time. The last thing I want is to be stressing about the littles ruining my fancy forever furniture.
Step one was a new rug. The playful style of the old one (which I picked up on super clearance at Pottery Barn years ago) was appropriate but it was ridiculously thin and not at all comfy for floor time play.
I asked you guys to help me out and vote on the rug for this room… and then I picked the option that got the least number of votes (I’m a rebel like that). The inexpensive price and large size was a big factor in our choice and we really couldn’t be happier.
The scale is perfect for the large room and the blue is just right, not so dark it sucks up the light I love in the room and not so light that it reads nursery blue. Sidenote: the rug is a smaller scale then is actually pictured on the amazon website but I ended up really liking it.
It does shed quite a bit but so has every wool rug I’ve ever purchased. I initially considered a synthetic rug to try to avoid all the vacuuming but I’ve heard the synthetics aren’t as durable. My hope is after 6 months to a year it will stop shedding so much, as has been my experience with previous wool rugs.
Once the rug was picked, the next task was to add some seating to supplement all the bench seats. I got these beauties online from Target last week during a sweet buy one, get one 40% off sale they were having (that particular promotion is over but these chairs are once again on sale). That combined with their already low Target price made them something I couldn’t pass up.
The only online reviewer of these chairs said she was disappointed the background wasn’t a crisp white so I was a little wary about what I might get. But I have a trusty Target Red Card with free shipping, hassle-free returns, plus yet another 5% off so I figured I had nothing to lose.
When the chairs arrived, I was happy to see the background wasn’t too dark or dingy. I was also pleasantly surprised by the depth of color in the pattern (see the two shades of blue?). Plus they were substantially wide, meaning my hubby can sit in one for prolonged periods of time, and comfy too – making them good options for bringing into the living room when we have friends over to watch football and need extra seats.
Again, these aren’t forever chairs – more like get us through the toddler years chairs. Which gave me the confidence to have some fun with a trendy print because it’s not a lifetime commitment.
With the introduction of the new chairs into the corner by the windows, we decided to move the leather arm chair to the opposite corner. Visually this is a much more pleasing layout because it breaks up the brown block of a big leather chair next to a big brown cubby shelf. Now we also have seating all the way around the room with the three chairs and three benches.
Lastly in this room I jazzed up the mantel a bit. Nothing too fancy, just my big three when it comes to easy decor: living plants, mirrors, and family photos.
So that’s what we’ve accomplished… What’s left?
Our next priority in this space is wall art. Since this is a family/kid space I love the idea of using pieces that are both stylish AND educational in here. Thusly, I’ve been pinning some stuff I’m terming “worldly art”. Wouldn’t a montage of these pieces look rad on the wall over the cubby shelving?
Here are my favorites: 1/2/3/4/5.
Finally, we will have to do something about this area eventually. Not only do these benches look pretty funky lined up like that, those big drawers are also proving to be too much access for the kids. (We’re currently having daily battles over picking up because of the kids’ love of emptying these things all over the room.)
The long term plan is to get rid of all three of these pieces and put in a couch but it could be a good long while before we actually get to it. And for now I’m ok with that, this room is functioning well for our family and I’m really happy with the look.
So that’s it for now. Except to tell you that I’ve started pinterest boards for each of the rooms we’re planning on tackling for The Forever Home Project. Check ’em all out to follow along:
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