A Room We Love

We have this room. In our house. A room some friends have inquired about as it is in a lot of my Instagram moments… because we are in there a lot. And it is the very first thing people see. Do you have one of those rooms? I remember moving in and leaving it empty for awhile because I just didn’t know what to do with it. We felt too young and cool {hee hee} for a formal sitting room. And then, the kid sprawl of toys and such started to creep in and eventually, it just became a dumping ground for stuff. Just to the left of the door when people walk in, the room generally looked like this. And it drove me fareaking insane. I felt like it was sort of the kid space. But they rarely actually played in there. Just messed it up enough and moved along. So I wanted to take the space back… reclaim just a piece of it as not-all-the-time-toy-cluttered-space. I called up my friend, Linsey.

And she devised a plan. Linsey is this rock star designer friend {we happen to have two rock star designer friends. Brianne is the other and she, too, has an incredible eye. we’re very lucky in that way. If you want their digits, just hit me up for them. Their knowledge will rock your world.} and she really helped take my hope for the space {a cozy place to hang and chill} and give it some legs. Because I was thinking of putting some cash money into a storage system, I wanted to get the designer opinion on whether it was appropriate scale for the space {have I told you I am 94% spatially challenged? Seriously.} We kept the red. She confirmed that the storage system was a good fit. And she helped me figure out how to add to our existing pieces. It was amazeballs. And slowly, the room became better. A space that is for us and for them. A space that conceals the Legos. And the blocks. And the bits. And it makes it all feel very homey to me.

And even when it’s torn apart, somehow, to me, it still looks better than it did before.

My five favorite things about the room…

1. Storage unit – we sprung for this and it was no easy decision. I researched every option I could find for a couple of months and we landed on the Cameron System from Pottery Barn Kids. We keep Legos in the deep drawers and games and art supplies all throughout. And we bought it with the media unit in the middle in hopes that it will grow with our fam. And BONUS… marker comes RIGHT off.

2. Storage ottoman – TARGET y’all. And I keep all sorts of toys stashed away in it. And no, the Goldfish are not a prop. They were left there by the youngest.

3. Pillows – I mean, seriously, right? The cutest pillows I’ve ever seen. And not just because one has my children’s adorable little faces printed on the front. Because the pillows are just plain ADORABLE. And they are black backed so when the boys shmootz and squish, I can just wipe and poof and they are golden.

4. Clipboards – So ingenious is my friend Linsey that she had the idea to put these clipboards under the shelf that we already owned and guess what — THEY ARE VELCROED TO THE WALL. I know. MIND. BLOWN. The boys LOOOOOVED to present their artwork there during the year. And a few drawings still find their way there in the summer months. And they were less than a buck a piece.

5. Light – It’s such a well-lit space that it makes for wonderful hanging out time. I could put drapes on all the windows but no thank you very much, friends. Don’t even be trying to steal my sunshine.

This space that the boys rarely used but often messed has turned into our go-to space for the Lego building and creating. I keep the guitar in there as well, so that is where our jam sessions occur. As well as general insanity and goofiness.

Outside of the normal daily “toys away”, I didn’t prep it for this post at all. It really is a lovely space. A lovely space for US. And has been a place for us to grow… listening to music, reading, giggling, creating, and dreaming, together. And if we should relocate {we’re looking…} we hope to just pick this room up and transfer the arrangement to the next pad. Because it’s working just right for this phase. And for me, it’s just the right mix of kid stuff and adult stuff. {That picture in the bottom left is my absolutely favorite moment. The moment the middlest met Harr in the NICU… the first time we were all together as a family of 5}.