Watercolors, Scissors and Crayons! Oh My!

I was getting ready to walk out the door this weekend when I turned to see a blue crayon on my living room floor and as I picked it up I caught a glimpse of the back of my couch.  There right before my eyes was a igloo and mountain scene. I am thinking my daughter was inspired by the winter olympics and it would be a lovely mural, had it not been on the back of my nice sofa. Oh how I love my daughter, but what was she thinking?

The thing that really put this over the top was that just minutes before this my husband had also discovered bite marks on the wooden armchairs. I love my girls but sometimes the balance of crayons, plastic toys and damage can get completely out of whack. So in an effort to prevent my living room from becoming an art studio I am going to make some changes to our more kid friendly room off our kitchen. So before I take on another project I thought I would share some before and after pictures of this play space.

The previous owners had used the room as a more formal den and television room. The wall color was a golden mustard color that had a strong orange undertone to it. I wanted to give the room a lighter and brighter feel, but making changes in this room have taken time.

The carpet and draperies all tied into this more old world look. The patterned carpet was tough for us to keep clean and the sliding glass door is the only entry way into the back yard so muddy and snowy boots were an issue. We knew we wanted to extend the hardwood floors from the kitchen but it took us some time to complete. Here is a photo I took as I was finishing the painting in this room.

I painted the room one shade lighter than the kitchen in a Benjamin Moore paint called Woodlawn Blue. I was so happy to finish the painting in this room. It made the room feel like a kid friendly space.

Then once we finished the floors, I decided to add in some washable slipcovered furniture from Ikea. These white slipcovers have taken all kinds of abuse, but I have been able to bleach them clean time and time again.

The shelf is also from Ikea and to try and corral the toys and art supplies I got some fabric covered containers from Target’s Threshold line. I added some chalkboard styled labels to try to keep things sorted and organized.

Then since this is a kid friendly space I added some personality with a yellow pencil I made from a wrapping paper roll and a tomato paste can and some craft store letters I covered in red and blue patterned paper.

Here is a close up of the letters that I originally had in a small art corner in our old home.

Finally, In the corner I have the play kitchen and table set and this is the part of the room that is going to change to keep up with the crazy amount of painting and art projects that are taking over our kitchen table and now the back of the sofa.

I have already begun to make changes, so this room can evolve to become a more art friendly room. Just as we were beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the watercolors, glue and crayons taking over our house I made a lucky roadside trash find. A family was throwing out a large Pottery Barn Kids art table and chairs. My very sweet neighbor stopped to help me load it in my car when the weather was, no exaggerating, two degrees. Great decorating finds know no temperature limits. So when the weather gets a bit warmer I plan to take on a new project by painting our art table to fit the color scheme of our room. Until then I am going to buy some butcher paper, because all future murals in our house need to be on paper. There is nothing more for fearful for a design loving momma than art supplies gone rogue. I love to see my girls thinking creatively, however after this week we clearly need to learn to channel our creative energy in new ways.