Mrs. Weber's Neighborhood

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New Year, New Office/Playroom Space

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So sorry for the impromptu mini vacay, people. I needed it! Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging and the internetz, but I needed to focus on my family for the past few weeks. Let’s just say after cookie-making, food-eating, snuggle-giving, snot-wiping, and LOTS of ME time, I’m ready to see what 2013 has in store!

My big project during the past few weeks was reconfiguring our office/playroom. Unfortunately, it’s the first room you see when you walk into our house and for the past 6 months while we’ve lived here, it has driven me secretly crazy. We were using plastic storage bins for toys and my hubby’s giant desk from college. It was a hodge podge room and it looked disorganized — something I don’t do well with.

Armed with $350 {I went a bit over budget}, I came up with a plan to transform the room. I spent some time on Pinterest seeing what works and settled on the pieces I wanted from Ikea. Unfortunately, what I discovered was that Pinterest rooms are gorgeous but not even remotely functional for us. Our kid’s toys don’t match and I’m not going to color match their books because let’s face it: They won’t stay that way. I needed to find a design that wasn’t all white and perfect looking because that’s not who we are as a family.

So, I decided to work with the colors of the toys and make a colorful, yet functional space where the kids can play while I work.

With the help of Ikea, Walmart, Meijer and Pier One, here’s what I came up with:

Office space

Toy Storage

Kid's Artwork

  • Expedit shelving and workstation + 4 baskets for storage from Ikea ($241)
  • Spray painted an old beat-up cookie sheet for us to practice letters with magnetic letters
  • Glass jars for toy storage from Walmart ($5)
  • Spray painted an unfinished shelf from Ikea ($6)
  • Used old frames to showcase Kinley’s artwork and tie the colorfulness of the room together
  • Clearance curtains from Pier One ($40)
  • Rug from Meijer ($29.99)
  • Framed art from Walmart ($25)
  • Reused an old Ikea end table for a coloring table for kids

I’m pretty happy with the way it looks now and am happy to finally have a room I want to spend time in.

Now, if only I could get the toddler to keep her toys in there, we’d be all set!

Next up: Our bedroom! That is going to take a looooong time to save up for. I’m scouring Craigslist for deals. I’m so ready to be done with our furniture from the 1970s.

Where do you find affordable things for your home?

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    • Thank you! I’m actually contemplating covering the table in contact paper for fun…I love that thing. I’ve had it years and it has served me in many ways so far!

      Reply

  3. This looks awesome, great job! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who is ‘secretly’ driven crazy over the disorganized design of a room – my entire house is driving me mad these days. Let’s hope this post inspires me to change a few things up.

    Reply

    • Nope, you’re not alone! I was able to make it work with Christmas moula and selling some junk I’m no longer using. I love listing things in FB groups/Craigslist. I then use that money to change up my decor. Makes me feel less guilty 😉

      Reply

    • I’ve seen that look…So cool. I love how versatile the piece is.

      Happy new year to you as well, Inez!

      Reply
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