Bright Green and Barbie Pink - Cuz That's Our Style!

A handcrafted item!  Suck on that Pinterest!  ;)

Are we the only parents that feel consumed by toys EVERYWHERE!?!  They are so rarely in the kids' room -- instead they are in the living room, throughout our bedroom, across the kitchen counter, under the dining room table...  Loren swears every time that we pick them up, that they are ALL going away.  These kids better thank me some day for advocating for them!  :)  It's not that I think they need an obscene amount of toys (which, yes, is what they have), but I definitely see the learning and developmental advantages of certain toys.  So in a last ditch effort to find a home for our ever-multiplying stash of toys, I finally talked Loren into converting our office into a playroom.

Calling it an office is really a stretch in itself -- it's really just that extra room that houses everything that we don't feel like putting somewhere else.  Half the time I couldn't even get to my desk as there were piles in, on, and around it.  So we decided to pile everything in the closet that we thought we might keep (Yes, sorting this is supposed to be a "break" activity, but have I even cracked those doors?  Of course not.).  A lot of the other stuff made it to the garage to be sorted, and yes, some did finally make it out of this house (my de-crapping efforts are never-ending around here -- I really can't figure out why I insisted on keeping some of the stuff I have tucked away).  We found a cozy little desk to put in my room (thank you Youth Ranch) to house the computer.

As I contemplated what would be nice in a playroom, I thought Addie needed a little kitchen (she has one that's outside, but much too large to bring into this small room) and Hayden needed a car/train table.  I set my sights on Craigslist.  I found Hayden's table quite quickly, and believe I picked it up for $30 (this was a few months ago, and these days I can barely recall what happened yesterday).  Great shape, perfect for cars/trucks/trains and blocks/puzzles/etc AND tons of storage space underneath.

Here is the table, along with the *bright* green paint (which I love!) chosen by Addie and the giraffe curtains also chosen by Addie (it was very hard to steer her clear of everything pink and glittery -- I still can't believe she didn't go with frogs!) and made by my mom.  This was Christmas eve -- it's pretty stacked up with a parking garage, police station, train tracks, and lots of cars now!

I didn't have quite the luck with Addie's kitchen -- I wanted something cuter than the gaudy plastic ones you usually find.  Her friend Mia has a darling wood one, but I just didn't have any luck finding one.  My mom told me about a picture she had seen of someone converting an entertainment center into a kitchen (an example).  So, much to my chagrin, I decided to venture to Pinterest to see what I could find (this is probably for another blog, but quickly I'll explain -- I've avoided Pinterest because I don't need yet another distraction or reminder of all the neat things I could be making if I actually had a minute of spare time or to add to the guilt that I'm not the superstar mom that handmakes everything and brings fancy character cupcakes for every child at school).  Loren (yep, I sucked him in) and I actually had a great time looking at ideas.  We initially decided to build the kitchen ourselves (we hadn't yet decided we were getting rid of our entertainment center), but as we were cleaning out the room, Loren had the brilliant idea to use the desk hutch.  We planned it out and figured out materials, Addie picked out the paint (she had no idea what it was for), and we eventually got to work (we started this project in early November -- but of course finished it December 23rd).

Here is the desk hutch, with my beautiful models.

A little better shot at it's original condition.  Becky Brown -- I hope you notice the car!

Basic project details:  I sanded the hutch with a Scotch Brite pad, just enough for the paint to stick.  Loren primed, and we both painted.  Addie picked the Barbie pink, and I chose chalkboard paint for the "fridge" and side (see black in pic).  We decided to add a base of wood at the bottom to make it easier to move and to stabilize the oven door.  I hit up D.I. to "stage" it -- with flowers, a shelf (painted to match), a picture, and lots of kitchen essentials (including the stainless steel bowl used for the sink).  We used a piece of PVC pipe for the faucet and wooden pulls for the handles (all spray painted in silver).  The "burners" are just black circles, and white plastic pulls were used for dials.  Loren bought some plywood for the oven door (the one on the left of the pic, with the bunny towel).  We also added some hooks on the end to hold additional items.  My mom made the curtains with some spare fabric and I just used a spring rod to put them up.  Added some wooden crates for storage and we were set!  I, personally, think it turned out adorable!

Here it is, along with the art table my mom and stepdad got the kids for Christmas (and Princess Jasmine, Addie's cat).  Addie also got a blender, coffee maker, and mixer to go with it on Christmas morning.

 Stove and oven.

Sink and storage underneath.

Chalkboard fridge with storage.  She also got some more food from Santa to fill it with.

Shelf.

  Chalkboard side with hooks.  (I forgot to write on these before taking pics, but did put messages on before Addie saw it.)

And this is final touch to the room -- Hayden's new tool bench, also from my mom and stepdad for Christmas.

I'm a little disappointed to say that the room isn't being used quite as much as I'd hoped  They were in it nonstop for about 2 days, but now they're back to their old habits.  I just seem to have very clingy kids that ALWAYS want to be in the same room that I am (really, saying the "same room" is an understatement -- most of the time they want to be sitting on top of me!).  So it looks like I need to find myself a comfy chair to park in there!

**Edited to add... they're playing in there right now!  Quietly.  Hmm...  I'm sure something is being destroyed, but I'll take it.**