Kinley's Playroom

When we purchased this house and saw a large awkward room at the top of the stairs, my husband instantly envisioned his man cave (filled with a pool table, giant TV, poker table, etc). Obviously, I gave him a reality check that we were planning on starting a family and this would be the perfect playroom. Also, I was going to be staying home with our daughter and no longer teaching (which I was obsessed with) so I needed a place to make my "mini classroom." Long story short, we turned that large awkward room into Kinley's playroom (of course, you didn't think my husband was going to win that battle did you?)

Overall view of the room with terrible lighting. 

This is Kinley's chalkboard and alphabet wall. The letters are homemade (you can see directions below) and the bottom of the wall is chalkboard paint. The paint color of the room is "Cityscape" by Sherwin Williams. I am OBSESSED with it and it is my go to gray! 

Kinley loves this Little Tikes table! When we have friends over, they love to have a snack there and color. The perk is it is only about 35.00 so when it is covered in crayon and destroyed, no biggie. 

I love an alphabet wall (I was a teacher, duh!) I kept searching online to buy one and was blown away by what people were charging on Etsy- so I was determined to figure out how to make it for much cheaper and just as cute. Thanks to Pinterest and patience, I made it myself. * * CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW TO MAKE IT * *

This is the other side of the playroom. I LOVE children's books and the teacher in me can never have enough. They are currently separated by fiction/non fiction and raised to the top of the shelf where Kinley can not grab them. We are still working on "loving a book and not ripping it apart (literally). I love that she loves to read as much as I do and can not wait until she can read and pick a book herself. The shelf is the classic IKEA bookshelf seen in 95% of American homes and is attached to the wall in fear that it would've fallen on her. On the floor are her current favorite toys, I am constantly rotating and switching them out so she doesn't get bored. To the left is the magnet wall. We are working on letter identification which will later roll into phonemic sounds etc . . . Teacher in me rambling . . . Long story short, the magnetic pan is an Auto Drip Pan from Walmart and the Foam Magnetic Letters are Lakeshore Learning. The boxes on the bottom of the shelf are filled with typical kids toys (they were also purchasd at IKEA) and are perfect to throw toys in quickly! 

Alphabet Magnetic Wall 

TV area (ignore the wires, we just switched TVs and haven't hidden them yet) and another IKEA shelf. I love having the boxes for storage and toys! I will organize them eventually when Kinley understands, but for now they are all just randomly filled. 

This is Kinley's Step 2 Climber. She climbs EVERYTHING and I wanted something that she could safely climb in the house. Although it is technically made to be outside, I love it inside. She can use it everyday - rain or shine. Above it is another Pinterest project! See the pic below for more details. 

Underneath the climber is a designated "sand box" if it was going to be placed outside. I purchased a bag of those plastic balls and just turned it into a ball pit.

Confession time: I really wanted a canvas in this particular spot because a thermostat was there. I HATE HATE HATE thermostats in awkward places in the middle of walls. I wanted to find something to cover it and never did. Worse part about this story, another thermostat had to be installed and was relocated to the wall next to the canvas (you can see in pics above). Now I have 2 ugly thermostats :( Once again, I logged on to Pinterest and saw this. It was SUPER easy to make. 

Quick and simple instructions: 

1. Glue the crayons in whatever pattern you want with a hot glue gun 

2. Use a hairdryer and watch the crayons melt! You would be surprised at how quickly the crayons melt. 

3. The only tip I can give is to keep the hairdryer about an arms length away and angle it down. You can then control the run of the crayon - if you go straight onto the crayon IT WILL SPLATTER. 

Here is her kitchen/house area. I love this kitchen because it can grow with them, takes up minimal space, and doesn't cost $300.00. 

As you know my family is my life. Kinley doesn't see them all everyday and it is very important to me and them that she knows who they are. Every day or so we always look at their pictures and say each of their names. As the days have gone on, she now knows all of them and gets so excited to see them (even after not seeing them for months at a time). I love when she calls them by their name!