Playroom Project

So I've been hinting and bugging Cody for a while now about changing our current "office room" into a playroom for Gavin. But this room is right at the front of the house...it's basically the first thing you see when you walk into our front door. So we didn't want it to be a room where toys are out and about all the time. We needed some type of shelving unit and organization for what we wanted....we needed function and style.

But Cody has been wanting a new couch for our current living room. One that is more comfortable and has a chaise on it. So on New Year's Eve we went to a furniture store and priced out what a new couch would cost us...and we decided it wasn't worth it. Mainly because we only plan to stay in our current house for another year or two (and then move more in the middle of where we both work) - so we didn't want to spend that kind of money on a couch that may not fit well in a different house. So I started looking into how much it would cost for a shelving unit and a new couch from IKEA for our playroom on New Year's Day. We ended up staying up pretty late and designed a shelving unit from IKEA's Besta products. It's actually really neat...we were able to use their online design studio and put in the dimensions of our room and design exactly what we wanted. Then I was able to print the picture, as well as print of a product listing of exactly what we needed to complete it. And of course...it also calculated for you how much it would cost. The next day we headed to IKEA and loaded down the truck with lots of boxes!! For half the price of the other couch we priced, we were able to get the shelving unit, a new couch, throw pillows, lights for the shelving unit and a few other small decorations!

So now of course...we had to get it home, unload all the boxes, assemble each piece for the unit and then put the shelves up on the wall. This took about two days and included Cody, my dad and myself. And then my mom who entertained Gavin! I really do have the best parents EVER! I just love doing projects with Cody and my dad! Here are some pictures of our progress throughout the two days:

Before...

During...

After...I will warn you that my after pictures are not quite finished. We haven't stocked all the shelves and cabinets yet! And I want to add some cool artwork above the couch.

The couch is a sleeper sofa that very easily makes into (at least) a full size bed for visitors. We designed the shelving unit based on some inspiration from the IKEA catalog...we just customized it to fit our room and the wall and above Gavin's bedroom door.

So far we LOVE it. Gavin is so excited to move his toys into the new cabinets and we've already taken a few naps on the couch! This will definitely be used much more than the old computer room and gives us a lot more storage.

Needless to say - we are very pleased with our playroom project! Hopefully you can get some inspiration to do a project you've been wanting to tackle!

-em