The Kid’s Playroom Full Reveal
Hi Hi Hi Hi!!! I feel like an excited puppy today. Like a good amount of people on the planet, I usually think Mondays are the WORST. But I’m in an extra good mood today because I can finally say the playroom is DONE. And not only is it done, I’m SO happy with it! Is it bad that I kind of want to get rid of the kid’s toys and make it a grown up lounge now? It’s legitimately my favorite room in the house and I NEVER thought I would say that based on how much I wasn’t liking it’s progression! Welp, the tides have turned (pun intended… you would get it if read my post about the waves wall which you can read HERE.)
So to recap, I challenged myself to finish this room in 6 weeks and for under $250. As you can see in these “before” photos, we already had the room furnished with the cubbies, couch, and tables – all from IKEA. So the budget was really for aesthetic updates to make the room more playful and inviting.
P.S. – Don’t you love “before” photos? Completely unfiltered. Dark, messy, real life. No staging required. 
And here was my first mood board to reflect the vibe I was going for. I wanted it to be super playful, gender neutral, and also something the kids could enjoy into their teen years (read: not too nursery-esque.)
The waves wallpaper was eliminated immediately since it would have cost $300-$400 for even a small accent wall. A super nice Etsy shop, StencilsLAB, said they could make me a custom stencil based on that wallpaper for $179. That obviously would have been an enormous chunk of my budget too. Fortunately I found THIS stencil by Cutting Edge Stencils that looked enough like the wallpaper to work.
My other big investments were paint, wall decals, and wall art. I ended up ditching the ceiling constellation decals for now, because I ran over budget and I was nervous about them sticking to our textured ceiling. But I added fun to the room in other ways, like with freaking adorable paper airplane decals and the colorful hand stamped accent wall the kids helped me with! Here are the “after” pictures.
Here’s the Total Item/Cost Breakdown with Links
- Paint – $140
- 3 gallons Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore for ceilings and walls
- 1 gallon 50/50 mix Washed Green and Horizon Gray by KM for waves and bottom half of walls
- 3 sample quarts for accent walls
- Heliotrope by KM is the pink
- 90/10 mix of South Shore Sun and Day at the Zoo for the Orange
- Wave Wall Stencil – $50
- Stamped Accent Wall – $7 (painters tape and $1 foam board for DIY stamps, tutorial HERE)
- Sloth print – $40
- Poster Frame for Sloth Print – $28
- Planter Wall Basket – $40 for two, on sale
- Plants (Rainbow Ginny) – $30 for two
- Paper Airplane Wall Decals – $35
- Curtain Panels and Curtain Rod – $25 for two panels
TOTAL: $395
BUT I sold my area rug for $70. So all in I spent $325, which is $75 over budget. I have to say the wall planters with plants were the main unplanned splurge that tipped me over budget ($70 right there), but they MAKE that wall. And you KNOW how much I went back and forth over that wave wall! So if that’s what it took to love the wall I call that an inexpensive fix. So I’d love to know – would you be more likely to try a wall stencil, decal or a hand stamp project in your home?
I’m going to be taking a little break now that this project is complete. We have both kid’s birthdays coming up and so my attention is going to be focused on that for a while. But I do have ideas for about four rooms circulating through my head… so my “break” might only be until Friday. 😉 Have a great week everyone!
xo
Kristen