The Playroom Makeover, FINALLY!

Just to refresh your memory, here are the most recent pictures of our playroom area.  There are two nice size closets in this room and in between the closets there is a built in desk.  The room has carpeting which our dog thinks is also her potty area, pleasant I know.  For some reason I only have a few pictures of this room, I either didn't take anymore or the rest are hiding because even they are embarrassed of the state this room was in.

 

We are hoping to tear down the wall between the kitchen and the playroom next summer but we'll see if I can bear to tear down the cloffice and the now fun and functional playroom.  Our goals for this makeover are to get rid of the carpeting and replace it with flooring that dog pee doesn't ruin, organize the games and toys so that the kids can find them and might actually want to play with them, make it kid friendly, bright and fun all while not spending a lot of cash.  I think we did a decent job in accomplishing our goals.  We used black and white alternating peel and stick tiles because they were cheap, fairly easy to install, if the dog pees on it we can always peel it up and replace it and it was a fun pattern for the playroom.   Two years ago we paid $1200 for carpeting in the playroom and the hallway.  For the tile we spent $135 for the playroom and the hallway. 

 I really wanted my kitchen floor painted like this but I was too chicken to do it.  I love it and so far it's held up really well.  It is cold on the feet but we bought a rug from Wal-mart for $20 to put in the middle of the floor so the bubs can sit somewhere and play cars without freezing his poor little piggies off.
I painted the closets a lime green color, installed shelving and organized their toys in bins.  You can read more about that in this post.  I painted the walls a fun Crayola Collection color called Shy Turquoise, it's kind of bright but I love it with the flooring.  One closet is for the bubs and the three girls all have the other closet. 

 

We did rip out the desk and for now I have my white dresser that used to be in the living room in here.  I have the crayons, coloring book, markers and various other art supplies in the two big drawers.  I like that the drawers aren't easy to open so the bubs can't be digging out the markers and coloring the walls, dolls and floors.  I don't have a window treatment up in this window yet and I don't  know if I will put one up. 

I really wanted a colorful map for the wall and found this one at a local store for $17.  The kids love having a map and they often use it when playing American Girls.  They will pick a state or city that they are going to travel to and then talk about staying overnight in a place along the way.  So fun and a great way for them to learn some geography too!

I was hoping to find a kid size table and chairs for the playroom but when one child is 10 years old and the baby is almost 2, it was hard to find something to fit everyone.  So we traveled to IKEA and ended up coming home with this table and chairs.  The little table and chairs were too little for the bigger kids and I figured everyone is only going to keep growing so we went with the big table and chairs.  I love that they can now use Play-Doh and it isn't stuck in my rug under the kitchen table, they can use markers on here, they play school, restaurant and we have also occasionally used it with company for eating on!  Best investment by far was this set for $100.   I hung the chalkboard I made right near the table so they could play school, the post on how I made the chalkboard is here.  I found that cute little bucket in the dollar section at Target, I thought it would be perfect for holding chalk and the eraser.   I stuck a Command hook on the wall and voila!

I fell in love with the rain gutter bookshelves a few months ago and was hoping to be able to add them to our room.  This past weekend we managed to buy the gutter for $1 but the brackets and end caps were $15 total.  At least the gutter part was cheap!  The bubs has been loving his books in the new bookshelves, he is so cute, he'll just pick out a book and sit and look at it.

I wanted a way to display the 20 million pieces of artwork we receive from our children each day.  I purchased the last three giant wooden clothespins at Hobby Lobby and have been on the lookout for a fourth one but they are sold out every time I go!  I was going to string them up but I thought they would look cute on a picture frame with some cute scrapping paper.  I think I might switch them out to bigger frames but for now it works.  I am also hoping to find giant letters that spell READ and put those above the bookshelves and move the artwork above the chalkboard.  Anyone have any big letters for me?

Finally, in November we decided to make a kitchen for our children, we found some furniture, a dog bowl, a board and various pieces of plumbing and came up with this.  Here is what it looked like originally:

I painted it white, added a cute little skirt made out of some fun material, a fun little rug and garbage can from the dollar section at Target and she looks so much better now! 

I also managed to find some fun striped curtains for this window at Target on clearance for only $7.50 each.  They were originally shower curtains but after folding over the top part of the shower curtain and some curtain clips from IKEA, you would never know they were shower curtains! 
I  also hung those three red mirrors for fun, another Target deal, only $1.24 each!  So there it is, the playroom makeover!  Here are a few before and afters of the playroom just in case you haven't had enough!

 

 

And just to keep it real, here is what it looked like a few days ago when I was painting chairs and my children were making forts on Spring Break:

They were doing what this room was made for, Playing in! 

Feel free to check out our Closet Turned Office or Cloffice and also Our Kitchen Remodel.
 Thanks for stopping by!


I'm linking up at the following places:

Your Bedroom, it's not just for sleeping in......

I've posted a few times on the Master Bedroom in the past two weeks, you can find those posts here and here.

I thought about not blogging on this subject but it's something I feel pretty passionate (wink, wink) about so I'm going to do it and hope you all don't stop reading my blog. Or maybe it will become widely popular at least with men!  Ha!

Sex is a hard topic to blog about because there are so many different aspects that are involved in it. I am going to be blogging today specifically about married sex and more specifically for women who are struggling in this area. They just find it one more thing to add to their list of things to do, they are exhausted and tired of people hanging on them all day. Maybe the husband isn't meeting their need so they don't want to meet his. So many factors go into this I thought I'd just touch on a few things we can do to help get us in the mood!

Remember back when you first dated your spouse, how his touch sent tingles through your body? How you couldn't wait to hold hands, for him to hug and kiss you? You wanted to be with him all the time?

Fast forward a few years, you are married, you have jobs, children, responsibilities, bills and a home. You stop looking forward to kissing your husband and sometimes maybe you are more annoyed by it than anything. You are tired, you have had kids touching and hanging on you all day, the last thing you want is for your husband to do the same thing.
Why do we do this ladies? Maybe not all of you do but I know that a lot of women feel this way. They stop looking forward to those intimate times with their mate and start to dread them. The "Not tonight honey, I have a headache" joke isn't really a joke, is it?

Yet we still want our husband's to only have eyes for us, to help us with housework, the kids, bring us flowers and romance us.  
So what's a girl to do? How do we ignite that passion again? After talking with some friends, my husband and reading a few good articles, here are some tips that might just help heat things up in your bedroom!

First we need to understand our husband's need for sex is a need and that's his way of connecting with his wife.  It's just like a woman's need for talking and sharing to connect with her husband.  The ironic thing is that most women don't want to be intimate until they've talked and connected while the man doesn't want to talk and share until they've had sex.  Here is a great article on this if you want to read more.  So maybe instead of expecting him to talk and connect with you and then you'll think about his needs, switch it up and let his needs be met first and you can talk and snuggle afterwards!

Secondly,we need to remember that men are visual and they like to look at our naked bodies!  Crazy, I know! We need to realize that most men don't care that we don't look like a supermodel, that we have stretch marks and love handles. We too often let our own issues with our body get in the way.  Girls, it's time to pull out that lingerie, wear it, your husband will love it, he's not going to be looking at your stretchmarks or love handles, trust me and while you're at it, maybe even leave the light on! He married you, he loves you and than includes your body!!!

Thirdly, how do you feel when you wear sweatpants or pajamas all day and don't do your hair or makeup or even take a shower? At least for me, I feel kind of blah, unattractive and definitely not sexy.

When we get dressed, do our hair and makeup and maybe even put on some earrings, don't we feel good?  I'm not saying you need to dress to the nines everyday but lets dress to feel good about ourselves. Don't save your good outfits for just a night out on the town or for church on Sunday, wear what makes you feel good. When we do this we feel more confident,sexy and attractive and that helps our mindset about ourselves. Not that wearing pajamas or sweats once in a while is a bad thing, we all have those kind of days and there's nothing wrong with that!

Fourth, how often do you think, "Oh I really don't want to do this tonight."  But then you start and when you're done you think to yourself, "Wow! That was great! I'm glad I didn't say no. " We need to remember that!  Say yes more often, trust me, you'll be glad you did!  So maybe tonight you could even initiate and really throw him for a loop!!!

It seems the longer we go without having sex with our husband, the longer we're ok letting it go.  But when we start to enjoy each other more often, the desire seems to grow as well!  So shoot for 2 to 3 times a week instead of 3 times a month and see what happens!  Maybe even put it on your calendar!

Here are a few more ideas:
Weekly date nights.  You don't have to leave the house to have a date.  Turn off the tv, put away the computer, stop cleaning and play a game together, dance in the living room, watch a movie, read your old love letters/cards or notes from when you were first dating, read a book together, talk, cuddle or eat a candlelight dinner after the kids are in bed.

Flirt with your spouse again!  Slip a little love note in his lunch, briefcase or jacket.  Send him a text message, email or call him at work if you can.

When he leaves for work and you kiss, give him a kiss!  Not a little peck on the cheek or lips but a kiss that you used to give back when you were dating and hated to say goodbye for any amount of time.

Our minds are very powerful, if you sit and think about all the things your husband does that annoy you or how he didn't put his socks in the dirty laundry, you will not have good feelings towards him and being intimate with him will be the furthest thing from your mind.  Think instead of all he does do for you and what made you fall in love with him in the first place. We need to remember that we can be annoying and irritating as well,  we aren't perfect either!  Darn, that was hard to type, barely finished that last sentence. 

Here are some great books and other resources if you need help in this area!

BOOKS:
Is There Really Sex After Kids? by Jill Savage
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage by Kevin Leman
.

MP3 DOWNLOAD OR PDF:
Igniting Passion in Your Marriage


I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic as well!  Maybe you have some more great ideas to add to this, comment below!