Playroom Reading Nook

Our playroom was in serious need of an overhaul.

It used to be our guest room – but we ditched the queen bed for a trundle when Kenton started crawling and needed a contained place to play. We sold the bedroom furniture on Craig’s List and gladly accepted the free hand me down of the trundle from my parents.

We threw in a changing table, toys and called it good. It was embarassing.

I never even got a proper quilt to cover the trundle. UGH.

Once we realized we were not really using the behemoth trundle taking over the room – I started scouring Craig’s List for a chair. As soon as this one appeared, I hopped on it like our neighborhood bunnies hop into a bush when Bowdoin the Bulldog spies them.

I love the funky splash of color it adds to the room.

The “happy.” pillow is from Red Dutch Door. The table/book shelf was my grandmother’s. It’s in serious need of a fun coat of paint. I haven’t decided what color to paint it yet, so for now, I added colorful knobs from Hobby Lobby.

That’s a small portion of the kid’s books. I like to rotate these and the ones we keep upstairs in Kenton’s room. It seems we read more that way. Somehow, they seem new to him if they’re not in the space he’s used to seeing them.

The art work is by my mom and the fabric in the rings have special meaning, which I blogged about here. The Pack n Play is for Camille to hang out, protected (for the most part) from her overly active big brother. While this side of the room is coming together… the other side needs some lovin’….

That blank wall is screaming for attention. Can you hear it?

We’ve got our changing table there, diaper storage and a fantastic custom-built toy box by Jason’s dad.

It even has a special hinge that keeps it open – and not falling on Kenton every time he opens it. Otherwise, he’s usually sitting on top of it. Once, I found him inside. That’s a fun game. Not really.

We also have a little art corner…

That’s a fun idea, in theory. Unless you have a toddler BOY who prefers standing on top of the table or coloring ON it (look closely) than actually sitting there and coloring. Hence, the reason we own one coloring book. I’m banking on Camille actually using this space for it’s true intentions in about a year. If her brother hasn’t completely destroyed it by then.

The “1, 2, 3” bins (Ikea!) were intended to store items we want to keep out of Kenton’s reach, but we didn’t account for the standing atop the table – so… yeah.

So, that’s the upgrade for now! Stay tuned for more… I feel strongly that the playroom should be a place that inspires imaginiation and creativity and I have a lot of room to improve this space. Have an idea for me? Please share!

About Michelle Fortin

Michelle Fortin is a follower of Jesus, a wife and a mom. She's also an award winning broadcast journalist and public relations professional. Michelle spent nearly a decade working in television newsrooms across the country, both behind and in front of the camera. Training future broadcast journalists in her faculty associate roles at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and at Arizona Christian University was a cherished focus of her post-TV career. Today, she maintains a roster of public relations clients focused on empowering fellow “momprenuers.” She also serves as a speaker for various women's and mom's events. Michelle received her bachelor’s degree from Biola University and Master of Mass Communication (MMC) from Arizona State University. She and her husband, two young kids and English bulldog call Scottsdale, Arizona, home.

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