Children's Playroom

I would like to show you our playroom but it's still a (constant) work in progress. Instead, today I will share my favourite kids' playroom inspiration photos.

Vogue

I actually stole the idea to use painter's tape to hang a gallery wall of Georgina's art from this photo. I haven't looked at this photo in a long time but I see that G's art looks pretty much exactly like the art in this picture, making me a super copy cat.

Pencil Shaving Studios

I love the pastel primary colours in this room. We have the same bookcases running sideways along a wall just like in this room, and as mentioned, a gallery wall of Georgina's art above the bookcases. I've never heard of wide-format washi tape but I must look into this. I also like the graphic, colourful rug in this room. I'm never sure about laying a rug over carpet but it works here as much as it does in my front room.

Lay Baby Lay

Another ikea bookcase on its side. Our playroom shares a lot of the same elements as this one: a kids table for colouring or tea parties, a tipi (made by my uber talented sister, Morgan Ard), a plush toy basket, and art displayed on the walls.

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I love the beautiful wallpaper on an accent wall. Right now my walls are all white and I'm so undecided about colour - pink? yellow? black chalkboard? - that they remain white. The vintage toys and that doll house are so sweet!!! I really like the look of the bookcases standing tall like in this photo but this is more suited to older children, not my babes. How is Miriam supposed to pull all the toys off the shelves if she can't reach?? The fun lighting in this room is also something I want to do in ours. I've already updated the lighting in our playroom but with something pretty boring. Put it on the to-do list.

Brooklyn Limestone

This seems like a straightforward DIY. I'm in need of dress-up clothes. Georgina's getting to the age soon where she'll understand and love to play dress-up. It was one of my favourite games to play growing up and my mom gave us the best clothes to play with! This would create a fun and inviting little station to store them in.

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I love this! Creating a little store like this could keep an imaginative child busy for at least 10 minutes! Such a cute idea.

Our City Lights

Pink chalkboard paint! Who knew they made pink chalkboard paint???? This would be a good dipping-the-toe step for getting colour in the playroom. Or instead of painting the door I could do a pink chalkboard feature wall. Question: does chalkboard paint make that terrible nails-on-a-chalkboard sound like a normal chalkboard? If so, this may never be happening in my house *shudder*

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I would really love, love, love to have a slide/playground indoors. Especially here in Raincouver. There's been a few loooong rain spells where I've been holding the mouse over the purchase now button for a slide like this yellow one where I'm telling myself I'll figure out the logistics when the slide gets here. What stops me is knowing that a slide will arrive and sit in our garage indefinitely. Or worse: we somehow pull off an indoor playground like this one and it gets used for the first 15 minutes of its life never to be looked at again. I feel like this slide could change my life but I no longer keep us confined to the indoors on rainy days anymore and fresh air is better.

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My heart goes out to this talented parent when the little paws wiped it all away. This is how I love to romanticise a chalkboard painted room. I say romanticise because children would ruin everything want to scribble all over and wipe away and scribble some more. When Dave and I were first married, our basement suite had a huge chalkboard wall and it looked similar to this: colourful, well preserved doodles. I also really like this Ikea rug. I'm never sure about it but I see a lot of rooms that look great with it.

This post almost turned into a dumping ground of complaints about my children but I reigned it in. Honestly, I love decorating for them. It lets me get more creative and decorate with colours I would never want to live with in an adult room. It's fun!

How about you? Do you have a special room designated just for play? If you'd like to share it I'd love to see it!

Thinking About 20X200

I'm so excited about 20x200 making a comeback! (as previously mentioned here.) Their mandate is to make art accessible to everyone by selling beautiful art at ridiculously low costs.
In honour of their return and to get everyone else as psyched up as I am I thought I would share my love  for +Jen Bekman's project in this post.

First off, I'll share my collection. It's wonderful! And makes my home so much prettier and happier and interesting.

Christian Chaize, Praia Pequena from 20x200. Ugh. Excuse the glare. Darn sunny days ruin EVERYTHING. jk.

With the exception of the black circles and the photo of the baby feet sticking out of the bumbo (seen in the middle photo), all these photos are from 20x200. I painted the black circles, inspired by this post by a talented local blogger. And Georgina took the picture of Miriam's feet on Easter morning. They fit in nicely.

I was so excited when they added two more Christian Chaize prints to their collection last Christmas. I bought the first one they put up instantly and something like the next day they put up the second. I was faced with a dilema: I didn't need TWO Praia Pequena prints, right? But I liked the second one so much better!! So I bought it too and I told myself I would give the first one as a Christmas gift. That did't happen. I have another Christian Chaize in my bedroom but from a different series of his. I bought it first when I was coveting the Praia Pequena series. I love it more in some ways. This is it below.

Christian Chaize, Apres Grande 7, mine is framed in a brown frame instead.

Dress Code, Bastienne Schmidt

Hanging in Miriam's nursery (more on that later) I have a large print of Dress Code by Bastienne Schmidt. Her nursery is soft pinks and greys and this adds a bright mix of colours and makes the room feel less baby but still playful.
I have a few more prints from 20x200 that have yet to find a proper home in our house, including another by Bastienne Schmidt. And a couple others that need to be properly matted and framed.

A while back I entered a contest through Pinterest where you post all your favorite 20x200 prints for a chance to win a book by one of their artists, Jorge Colombo. I WON!! While I did end up collecting most of what I had pinned on my board there's still a few that I was so disappointed I'd missed the opportunity to purchase. I'm really, really, really hoping they will keep their old collection as well as the new art they introduce weekly. Christmas time is my favorite! They have new art daily. Here's a few that remain on my wishlist, soon to be fulfilled, hopefully.

The one that got away. This is a part of a series called Drawings For Three Rooms In Your Home, by Steve Lambert. I am just not brave enough for the first two from the series.

Here we have People Who Eat White Bread Have No Dreams, by Simon Fujiwara. I have no idea what it means. I love it.

The White Oaks, by Joseph O. Holmes is such a beautiful, quiet and calm photo. I would love it blown up in my dining room. Or as an 11x14 in my bedroom over a nightstand. I love that it looks like black and white photography but isn't.

Jessica Craig Martin, Cougar Friends, would definitely go in my dining room. Or my powder room!

For mor information and to keep up to date on 20x200's status you can go here or here. Can't wait to have you back in my life 20x200! And to see more prints that I would love check out my pinterest board.
What do you think of my living room gallery wall? Do any of you have one in your home? I'd love to see!