I cannot believe we’ve made it to week six of our One Room Challenge, and I am so so excited to finally share the full space with you guys! This makeover was so much work, but so worth it. The kids absolutely love playing in their new space, and I love how it reflects their little personalities!
– t h e b e f o r e –
Incase you forget what we started with (I can hardly remember what it used to look like!) here is a reminder!
It looks so much worse now looking back at these photos!
Before we opened up under the stairs and removed the bump out above!
– t h e a f t e r s –
And here is how the space looks now!
All the drywall was removed, and we covered the walls in Metries Complete Shiplap. Our basement has really low ceilings, so we laid it vertically to make the room feel taller. For the window casings and baseboards, we used Metries flat stock MDF. I love how minimal it is! We painted all the walls and trim in Farrow and Balls Strong White. It is a light grey that almost could pass as white!
The wall-to-wall Savanna Scenes Antelope carpet from Karastan is one of my favourite details in the space! It gives such a fun and playful feel, even when paired with mostly black and white. (I’m so glad I went with Coco’s choice on this one!)
We had some left over plywood, that Steve made into two chalkboards shaped like houses. The kids have been drawing on these non stop 🙂
I’ve loved that floor lamp for a while now, and was so excited to incorporate it in this space! (http://www.bellacor.com/shaded-floor-lamps.htm?itemid=1955922)
I could stare at this print by Gray Malin all day! Its one of those pieces that is even better in real life (hard to believe I know!) I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and love how it works with everything else in this corner! The colours are so rich, and the kids think the ‘hiding’ zebra is hilarious! The fact that it comes signed in a beautiful frame is a total bonus!
A piece of art this good needs its own picture light, and we were able to get this battery operated one from Lamps Plus!
I love this ceramic cup from Jill Rosendwald. We had it custom made in mink, and Coco picked some greenery from the garden the morning of the photoshoot.
I’m so glad we took advantage of this space under the stairs! It was just big enough to fit Jacks workbench, and we had this custom steel sign made for the space.
I love seeing him working away!
For the stairs, Steve welded this custom railing, and we were able to continue the carpet pattern which was great, because the stairs were in really rough shape! We replaced the old door with these Very Square Solid doors by Metrie. Since we were going with flat panel doors, we decided to go with a bit more detail on the hardware. I love how these black Emtek knobs with the large backplates look, and these surface bolts were the perfect way to keep the kids out of the furnace room and look so great too!
A little look at the hidden closets!
I am so happy with how this nook turned out! (If you look closely you can see the hidden doors on either side of the bench.) The seat cushion from QDesign is so comfy! The kids have already asked if they could have a sleepover 😉 We went with their House Linen in Echo, and it is the perfect ‘almost black’ colour to go with the Off Black painted bench!
These Huxley wall scones from Craftmade are total statement peices! As soon as I saw them I knew they would be perfect for this little nook. I loved the combination of brass hardware and stitched leather detailing. You can’t see it from this image but they are really heavy duty, which is great for a play room 😉 The warmer tones also tie in perfectly with the antelope carpet!
For the gallery wall, I chose a collection of some of Coco and Jacks favourite things. It was so fun to see them get excited about the different images! Heres links if your interested in any of them!
- Ballerina in Black Wall Art Prints
- by Ardell McLennan
- Mint Chip Cone Wall Art Prints
- by Jackie Graham
- Down the Street Art Prints
- by Annie Montgomery
- Baby Animal Lion Wall Art Prints
- by Cass Loh
- Baby Animal Sheep Wall Art Prints
- by Cass Loh
- How about Jupiter? Wall Art Prints
- by Maja Cunningham
When designing this space I loved getting Coco and Jacks input on what they would love to see in their playroom. One of their suggestions was a hidden door that specifically “didn’t have a handle.” Steve was able to build custom doors with shiplap fronts, and we wallpapered each one inside in their favourite colour with Farrow and Balls Hornbeam paper. I was so nervous to wallpaper these little rooms, but my mom came over Monday morning and was able to get them done with me in a couple hours. Living through the eighties has made her a pro! I love hearing them say they are going to go in ‘their forest’!
Originally we were going to put the shelves lower down, but they loved being able to walk in the space so much we decided to put them higher up. We also added in battery operated lights in each ‘room’ which they thought was the best!
Lantern: http://www.bellacor.com/modern-lantern.htm
Stacked Boxes: http://www.bellacor.com/boxes-decorative-boxes.htm?itemid=1694472
Clock: http://www.bellacor.com/wall-mounted-clock-clocks.htm?itemid=1923743
Baskets: http://www.bellacor.com/baskets-decorative-baskets.htm?itemid=1614074
Baskets: https://www.lampsplus.com/products/hyacinth-basket-set-of-2__10g03.html
To break up the wall to wall carpet and define the spaces, we layered some rugs by the nook. For the bottom rug, we used a rug with a subtle chevron pattern (link: http://www.bellacor.com/area-rugs-rugs.htm?itemid=1898412) and layered it with this vintage Persian rug from eSale Rugs. I love how subtle the pattern is, and the texture that it adds to this space! I’m pretty sure a vintage rug is always a good idea!
My kids always love putting on different play clothes so we added in a costume wall. I went with these black wall hooks from Emtek so that they would be able to hang everything back up!
This oversized throw blanket from Pom Pom at Home is so cozy and I can already see them snuggled up with it while they read books!
I love how playful this bow print is!
I wanted to incorporate toy storage that was really accessible as much as possible, which is why I loved this ottoman from HomePop. The top can easily be removed and has so much space inside. The faux leather finish is also super durable and it is light weight so they will be able to easily move it around!
For the library wall, I wanted it to be somewhere they could easily pick a book and put it back. Coco also had the very fun idea of a sliding ladder (like the one in Beauty and the Beast). Steve was able to make a rail, and my sweet grandfather made the wood ladder. For the shelves, we used these wall mounted ones from Minted and painted them the same colour as the walls. The best part is the kids are always just as eager to put the book back 😉
Even this girl loved picking out a book to read!
One of Coco and Jacks favourite things to do is build forts, so I wanted to include a bunch of pillows for them to build with. I love the waffle texture of these oversized floor pillows and loved that they could also lay on them while reading. The oversized stripe lumbar on the bench is one of my favourite pillows from Pom Pom at Home. I used the smaller version in our living room makeover last fall, and was so excited to be able to use it again in this space! I love the soft pattern and organic fabric. To tie in with the dark bench fabric, we made some custom cushions out of the Moonstone Shark fabric from Fabricut. The fabric has a really pretty pattern and thick weave that is a combination of grey and white. I also loved how durable it was for the space!
Another thing we updated was the electrical. We went with these Legarnd light switches that you tap to turn on, and can control from your phone, which is so great because we are forever running into the basement to turn off the lights. Steve also installed these outlets that pop out when you need them. I love the clean look they give the space!
I had so much fun designing this space for these guys, and love seeing them start to enjoy it! As always, its such a pleasure to participate in the One Room Challenge, and such a huge thank you to my family who helped out to make sure we got it done in time, and to Cameron St. for the beautiful images of the space!
Thank you so much for following along!
And just a reminder to check in with all of the other room reveals!
Apartment 34 | Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive
Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design
Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators
Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style