What's a Playroom without Toys?!?

Time to reinvent the playroom again, this time eliminating the toys! I have been faced with this situation a couple times now with clients and their growing kiddos and now even in my own home. Does this mean I have officially gotten old (don't say anything, just allow the silence)?! It all happens in a blink. All the sudden I catch my oldest hauling his Lego table into his little brother's room and I am like "what are you doing, take that back to your room, sit down and build something"! When we have a "playroom" we try so many years to create the perfect setup for our kids. Even from baby to toddler we have to reinvent the space several times as their play changes. My newest client has three girls and they are entering the "tween" ages. Well, all except for the littlest one and she will probably be ushered into tween hood early as a result of having 2 older sisters, right?! (I can say that being the youngest of three girls)! The request from my client was to turn their playroom into a space with some kind of desk/lap top area and a seating space for reading and lounging. Here is where I went with it! 

THE LAPTOP BAR 

(the only kind of bar they are allowed to pull up a stool to!) 

I love the look of the reclaimed industrial wood and metal tables! And many also have the casters at the bottom making them roll in case they need it to pull it to the center of the room for extra eating or craft space. An added bonus; they are indestructible and they give that urban coffee house look! Although I don't recommend mixing coffee and tweens! If you look on Pinterest you will find lots of versions of these industrial style tables, with and without casters. They are also known as "pipe tables" and you will find many DIY tutorials like this one below over at "Cafe Carolina"! Very cool!

Via: Cafe Carolina

 Below is one with the silver pipe look and a lighter bleached top. There are many ways to configure the pipes at the bottom depending on how you want to use the table. I have also seen versions with a wood shelf at the bottom too for extra storage, maybe a printer or even just a plank as a foot rest if you are sitting at it as a computer bar. 

Via: Pinterest

For the stools there are a few options I like! There are these industrial looking stools I found at World Market. We have the ones below in our playroom and I love them as you can swivel the seat up and down depending on your height.

I also would love the look of an acrylic clear chair at the desk! Since some of them can be pricey, Ikea has a version of the ever popular acrylic chair too and they have it in clear and a smoky grey color.  

For the lighting I saw this very cool DIY hanging bulb. Of course there wasn't a source listed for where it came from but there are many types of wall brackets you could use for this and light and cord kits you could tie up around the bracket. And the best part is no wiring! They plug in to the outlet!

Via: unknown, Pinterest

If you aren't in any way into DIY, you can find ones similar to this (loving the Edison bulb) on Etsy (the destination of all things cool and unique, in my opinion) Check out this one from Iron Clad Industrial!!

via: Etsy, Iron Clad Industrial

The Seating Lounge 

I used a bookcase type piece to replace a side table in between the chairs so the girls have room and shelving for books, magazines, I Pods etc! I also love the idea of having baskets and boxes tucked away on the shelving for craft things or whatever else they are into. Then almost as important as filling space I left a huge area in the center on the rug for... nothing at all! If they decide to put a TV up in there this space could be used for floor pillows or bean bags. The corner of the room and one wall were left open in case there is a need for a chest or shelf with some of the toys/items they can't part with quite yet.  I love the idea of the room being a girl's lounge area but also a stylish extension of the house. You will notice I used splashes of "girly" colors but it by no mean screams, "teen palace"! Parents welcome here! That's how I run my house:) After all we do foot the bill, right?! If you don't want hot pink walls, we should be able to come up with a compromise, yes?!

Refresh on the Adult Office, Why Not?!

My client also has an official adult office space off the kitchen and mudroom area.  In this case they already had a large built in wrap around espresso desk and overhead cabinet similar to the one you see below. They also have a big carmel color leather sofa they want to keep in the room similar to the one below. My recommendations for this room are to change out the carpet to a lighter color as the build in and overhead area and carpet are all a similar tone of brown and it makes the room feel dark and small. They currently have a wall of frames behind the couch which I am going to recommend they organize on 2 to 3 shelves overlapping them to create more dimension and interest. I also added gallery lights up over the gallery wall. If you don't want to wire lights like this, there are plug in options you could run the cords behind the leaning frames, which is another plus to having the frames not directly on the wall. You could also lean other objects like a small mirror or wall clock on the shelves as well.

They currently have a wallpaper they are sick of between the wall cabinet and the desk and I am loving this grown up fun version of polka dots for a classic but sophisticated office look. 

Below is another shot of the paper behind a bookcase wall. Sophisticated but fun and the pattern does not overwhelm any larger pattern and color plan on the pillows or any rug she decides to use down the road! On the gallery wall I am thinking of a light gray or white to make the focal point the pictures themselves.

Source unknown, Pinterest

So what do you think?! You ready to clear out the toys yet or breathe a little life into your own working space?!?  Change is good! Don't be afraid of patterns...THE END

Cheers!! {Laura}