Hellobee

Last year I decided to convert our 11′ x 12′ office into a playroom for Paige. Since having her, I’ve put my business on hold so that I can focus on raising her.  I figured the room is just sitting there unused, so why not change it so it can be useful again?

We first start with the reading corner. We chose a holder from One Step Ahead. I’d heard good things about book slings and how this kind of bookshelf shows the covers instead of the spines, thus making it easier for little ones to find the book they are searching for. I have lots of books waiting in the wings to be rotated into the space once Paige is seeming to be bored with these. Paige enjoys taking the books out, but she also likes putting them back in (when the mood strikes of course). It’s much easier to keep things neat. I also wanted us to have a cozy place to sit and read together (big enough for us both), so I found the Cocoon Jr. here (free shipping!). It’s very comfortable and is made from recycled furniture grade foam in a microfiber zippered case. The filler goes in an inner liner (with a zipper pull you take off so it’s safer for little kids), and the microfiber outer liner is machine washable. The lamp was a brass one that was given to us, so I painted it blue. The little wooden sun was a gift from my brother many years ago. I also hung two of my favorite Norman Rockwell prints over the area for ambiance.

Moving on in our tour, next to the reading area we’ve placed an old bookcase I painted blue for the purpose of housing Paige’s musical instruments. Since they are out for her to see, she finds it much more convenient to grab them and play with them through the day. My old keyboard from my childhood rests on top; we pull it down for Paige to play sometimes. She always delights in hitting all the keys and tapping out random tunes. I never realized I would actually like all the noise and welcome it. For now anyway, haha!

We got a Melissa and Doug easel that has a white board on one side and a chalk board on the other. It also holds a roller of paper in between that feeds up through over the white board. Paige has been LOVING using her crayons on this; she can do big strokes and scribbles with abandon. I never considered using an easel before; I figured she’d be fine coloring in an art pad while sitting in her chair. It was fine for crayons, though she didn’t do much for scribbling. The pad would move all around under her hand. Also, when she tried to paint, her fist would just go through the wet paint and smear around. The easel keeps her hands up away from the work surface. She seems so much happier with it this way, and it’s neater for her. Having studied art professionally, I think it’s important for children to have a space to create and experiment. So far so good!

Also pictured is a container of beans Paige plays in. The artwork over it is a scan from a child’s book that I printed on large paper and framed. You’ll see behind the easel that we have some magnetic letters stuck to the wall… we did a few coats of magnetic paint in the entire corner from the floor to a few feet up. Those particular magnets don’t work so great, but the thin kinds of magnets seem to stick well. I hope to design and create some magnetic play sets/scenes for P to play with. I know we could have done chalkboard paint over it, but I feel funny encouraging Paige to write/draw on the walls. I would think it would be confusing to a little child… you can write on the wall here but not there. I decided to keep the festivities to the easel for simplicity’s sake.

This is Paige’s toy corner. Her little Ikea shelving unit sits here and I rotate in her toys periodically. I like keeping it simple; Paige can see her toys and it’s easy to put things away. I like that she can take her own toys out to play with and she’s learning to clean up after herself. The baskets come from Ikea as well, made to fit the squares perfectly. We found the sheepskin rug at Ikea and it’s a soft and cozy place for Paige to sit and play with her blocks and other gadgets. The blue picture frames come from Ikea (you can’t beat the prices!) and I put some cards I’d held onto from our trips to Bar Harbor inside them. One shows the seabirds of New England and the other shows the seashells of New England. The center print is of a crab. As Paige gets older, I think it will be fun to match shells we find to the card.

The shelving on the walls comes from Ikea as well. I wanted places out of Paige’s current reach where I could keep things stored. If she wants something, she can point up and I’ll get it for her, but for the most part I can keep toys for rotating into use later on. Not yet shown are 2 other shelves where I store art supplies and the like out of her reach but in view to remind me to let Paige play with the supplies when I can. In the future, I plan to store board games and puzzles on these shelves. As long as there are tiny kids around, having a 200 piece puzzle thrown around the floor is happily avoided when possible. ha!

Paige’s grandparents gifted us this play kitchen last Christmas. Most of her gifts from us were also kitchen-related. This particular play kitchen is from Ikea and seemed to be the most affordable option out there. I also happened to aesthetically like it the best. It has everything I thought a play kitchen should… including little burners that light up. There’s plenty of storage and the simple design matches many decors. Another cool thing is that the legs adjust and it can raise up even higher when she is older. Yay! As you can see, I added hooks to the sides to store cleaning implements and her apron/kitchen cloth. I wanted to install actual metal fixtures for this, but it felt like overkill when the time came to set it up. The simple hooks are functional and easy, and are also removable since they are that sticky pull-off material.

The magnets that hold the cabinets shut are very strong. Paige has a hard time opening them, so a few layers of masking tape over them allows for the magnets to work much more gently. When she’s older I can just remove the tape. Easy-peasy!

Here is her new play apron made from vintage 50’s fabric. I got it from Etsy seller Gagie Pagie Pudding Pie (appropriately named I think!!).

We also added a mirror to the wall where Paige can admire herself during dress up (which so far means donning a bunch of cheapy necklaces and watching them swish back and forth) and we play mimicking games. She also likes to watch her mouth move as she tries to babble and sound out words. So cute! The thing in the left corner in the toy zone is not a TV; it’s a lamp that looks like an aquarium. Paige is very visual and loves fish so it was easy to decide to get it. I often find her staring at it and waving hi to her little fishy friends, especially when she’s a little tired and needs extra soothing.

Now we are in here most of the day every day and we love it! It’s cheerful, energetic, and we feel happy here. In the photos you can see my little corner where I do my computer stuff, my artwork, and store my own books and things. Since everything has its place, it’s easy to clean up at the end of the day and keep it looking like this. Some days I don’t feel like it so the floor has scattered books and bits on it, but for the most part we like to pick it up and keep it looking new.

I’m glad we changed the office into her playspace. I know Paige enjoys having her own place to go and be cozy and where we can all play, make art, make music, read, and enjoy being together… and that was my goal. Mission accomplished!