A playroom doesn’t have to be childish. It doesn’t have to be primary colors and rubber mats. A playroom should be a place that’s calming, well organized, and inviting. This fable floral playroom has been a labor of love for me. It’s taken us about 3 years to get it where we want it and how we are excited to share the final results with you.
Prior to this big update, the playroom was a cacophony of stuff. It was noisy and cluttered and didn’t have much focus. It was pretty overwhelming to figure out where to start of or what direction to go, but then I found the Nest playcouch by Stylized Nest and fell in love with the color. I knew it had to be the focal point of our space. And heck, why not buy two to make a gorgeous (and fully play functional) sectional playcouch to lounge and build.
The fence is one of the most asked about parts of the space. It was essential for us as my home gym is in the next room and I wanted a boundary that created a safe space for the kids and a safe space for me to get the much needed me time every day to work out. This was a major labor of love and I used the help of a friend to build it. I painted every piece myself and it’s sturdy and wonderful. I strongly suggest building it yourself if you can. It’s so much more visually appealing than any other babygate I’ve seen and we absolutely love it.
Next, I went on the lookout for a good crashpad or beanbag and hit a dead end. First of all, crash pads are unbelievably expensive and I couldn’t find one that was “pretty” enough for our space. So, I decided to make one. My sewing skills are definitely beginner but a bean bag is literally a pillow and I’m a master at that, so I took the plunge and found the most gorgeous fabric on Spoonflower. Total cost was about $40 for fabric and $100 for shredded memory foam cause I did a super large beanbag and it required about 20lb of shredded foam. So still costly, but I swoon daily over this beauty. And you can basically dive off a four story building onto it and still have a soft landing. Total time to complete project: maybe an hour. I also made a custom dress up station using an old dresser for this space as playing dress up is one of our fave games to play.
After the fabric arrived and the beanbag was made, I needed more of that Fable Floral fabric. It was stunning. So I decided I would upgrade our playtent. I made a cover years ago (my first sewing project that wasn’t a pillow) and it was relatively easy and I learned a lot so I purchased seven more yards. Ouch! Not cheap by any means ($150). But the tent is huge (an old jolly jumper frame that we didn’t use anymore) and my daughter loved it for reading and playing pretend, so I knew it would get more use. And voila, the zip up playtent was complete. Total time: maybe 2.5 hours.
I had some leftover fabric prices so I made a couple accent pillows and I revamped some old (but cute and sturdy) storage bins to better match the space. This little detail brings me so much joy. As they say, it’s the little things.
For a rug, I wanted something neutral and soft. Something that wouldn’t take away from the bright Bombay Blue of the Nest or the feminine florals in the space. This 8×10 Wayfair rug (Omri Power Loom by Willa Arlo Interiors) is a dream. We already had one in our master and loved it so I decided to get another. The fringe is such a nice and high end touch and it cleans like a dream. So soft underfoot and great to get down and play on.
Next was a feature wall. I had so many ideas but wanted to be careful for the room to not appear too busy so I decided to extend our existing chalk wall to the whole corner of the room and make a house shape for the kitchen and laundry playsets. I already had the chalkpaint and it was an easy process before when I did the first wall about two and a half years ago. It took us four coats for the perfect black. We seasoned it with chalk and it’s ready for our little Picasso to go wild.
So, that’s the story of our Fable Floral feminine playroom. I’m unbelievably proud of how it turned out and we love spending quality family time in there each and every day.
Annabel's Mom 