when i get a wild hair...

Yesterday, I got a wild hair where the sun don't shine.

And apparently, when your name is Stef(ph)anie Clark, that means someone's going to be painting something.


So I decided it was time to whip our "playroom" into order.

With the holidays bearing down on us, I felt it was imperative to get all of Liam's things organized becasue any parent knows, Christmas means toys. And after Christmas? Means trying to find a place to PUT all the toys.

I see you, mamas, nodding your heads.

So I moved around furniture...

I moved my precious table and chairs out into the room (they were in a corner) where Liam had access to them, and when my mom brought Liam all the supplies for coloring today, we knew just where to put them. 

(Mom, the markers are in a cup, because as soon as you left, he ripped the top of the packages off. I know you're shocked.)

I'm kind of obsessed with this little area because this table and chairs was made for me for Christmas of '86, when I was just about the age that Liam is now. My sweet late Grandpa Rodney handmade the whole thing, and there's even a plaque on the table that reads "Made with love by Grandpa Rodney. For Stefanie, Christmas 1986." I would be lying if it doesn't make me a little teary to see it. 

And then I put his chalkboard on the wall. My mom bought this from Uppercase Living a l-o-n-g time ago, and I hadn't settled on where to put it yet. You can see, Liam already is enamored. The decals to the right are going to be applied to the outer edge of the chalkboard-- they're lime green. SO cute. And he already knows where he's allowed to draw on the walls, and where he's not. Not a stray chalk mark in sight, friends.

We put away mounds and mounds of stuffed animals so that you could see the top of the bed again. We (I) plan on giving this back to my in-laws sometime and purchasing this to put in its place. I think it'll add more functionality to the room, especially as Liam gets older (but I'm not crazy enough to go out and buy something really nice for a small child's playroom). I'm planning on recovering a slew of the pillows with fabric I bought before we even closed on our house.

You can finally see the gorgeous quilt my sweet Grandma Darlene made for Liam too! 

She did SUCH an amazing job and I just treasure it. I'm psycho protective of it, too, so we keep it in the playroom, where none of the pets are allowed to go. 

Biggest change:

I'm in LOVE with the wall color, and my mom and I discussed today wrapping it around onto the wall behind the bed, with the window. I'm afraid this saturated a color on all 4 walls would be a little *much,* but I cannot get enough. 

Liam loves it too, he keeps running into the playroom, putting his back against the painted wall and rubbing it with his hands. Sweet child.

And right now, this is all that's on the walls: 

Peter Pan's Flight by Thomas Kinkade. SO gorgeous. And sweet.

LOVE.

And FINALLY, I got this insanity organized and plugged in and hooked up and FUNCTIONING.

Of course, the cable box they brought us a year ago was never hooked up so we never knew it didn't work, but luckily (?? I hate them) the cable guy was coming out today anyway, so he took care of it and now Liam can watch the Disney Channel in his playroom! 

(which I'm SO happy about b/c sometimes, we don't want to watch daddy play video games in the living room.)

Sweetness on top of the armoire. 

Now, I think part of me hesitated on committing to this room because I know that eventually, it'll be somebody's bedroom. However, that all depends on what gender we have next (which isn't for a while yet, so don't get excited). 

I've finally allowed that if we have baby K next, the playroom will be his room. I've been DYING to take a piece of furniture to a shop where they paint cars to have it coated and cured and I think that My/Brad/Liam's old crib would look awesome some color. We'll just give K a more modern nursery than Liam had and go with the guitars and polka dots and color scheme we've already got in the playroom.

IF the next baby is baby E, then we'll move Liam into the playroom, and move her into Liam's old nursery. That way we can let Liam have the room that's already prepped for a boy, and we'll paint the pretty yellow stripes on the wall in Liam's unpainted current bedroom. Can you imagine trying to cover that shade of teal/turquoise with two soft yellows? Yeah, neither can I.

And that's that.

And for those of you still interested:

I added another coat of paint to the frame I had ditched-- but a different brand. Let me tell you, cheap spray paint is cheap for a darn good reason. I used the good, Home Depot bought paint that I had used on the hinges and it knocked out the orangey coppery stuff that was bleeding through the white before. I also used said paint to re-do a couple of frames I used to display in my bedroom pre-college. I love all the rectangles on the wall. And boy, does that white POP! against the grey walls.

I love it. I just really, really am hoping to get the house organized (and my child to nap) so I can actually get some more work done soon.

Yes, I'm feeling mighty good about the way my little home has come together since we moved in almost a year ago. House=Home. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend... our neighborhood garage sale is tomorrow and as much as I hate them (I see you, Jess!), I have tons and tons of baby stuff of Liam's that we want to sell, so... 

I'm trying to commit. Wish me luck!
Oh, and not to worry, I'll totally do a post explaining our Halloween costumes in the near future! I have a nasty bloggy comment my hubby wants me to share.