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All The Playroom Plans!

October 19, 2015

Since we moved here, two years ago, we've spent most of our blog talking about and renovating the upstairs of our house--with the exception of Greta's room and the guest room last year. We actually live in what is called a rambler style home, where the home is two levels of identical square footage (1700 sq ft in our case) but you come in on the upper level. They are pretty common in our area, but where I grew up in Pittsburgh, I had never heard of one, let alone been in one until we bought this house. Turns out, we LOVE the layout. There are three bedrooms downstairs (including Greta's, a guest room and one more that we haven't touched yet) where we eventually see all the kids' bedrooms being. And having our master (and Faye's nursery) on the main level is ideal for us, too. So while we are just finishing the great room upstairs consisting of the living room, dining room, kitchen--we are excited to introduce you to our next project over the coming months--the great room downstairs. Which--you haven't seen since before we even moved in!

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It's a large room that slightly smaller than all three combined spaces upstairs because it has a storage room (filled with shelves, glorious shelves) through that door on the back wall where we keep all of our seasonal decor and camping gear mostly.

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Since moving in, it has become mostly a play area for the girls and all their friends. In fact, anytime we have someone over for dinner with kids, it's been so awesome to send them all downstairs to play while we chat. We love this space. We love that's its separate--but it's time to give it a little more focus and function.

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Our plan is to divide the space into two. One side will have a large sectional and projection screen and the side where the window and the (now) fireplace are will be the playroom side. We want to tear out the fireplace and carpet and lay a soft wood (cork?) and maybe even a tube slide coming out of the wall--Chris's idea, I'm all for it! I put together a mood board so you can get an idea of where we're headed visually with the rest of the playroom:

Chris-Loves-Julia-Playroom

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

A good-sized craft table and indestructible chairs are a must; we found both of these on Wayfair and the table is the steal of the century. We've been rocking the tiny Ikea Lack table for 4 years now and while it was good when Greta was little, it's just not big enough for any real projects and if Faye grows anything like Greta did, she'll outgrow it in the coming year, too. We'll be giving the fauxdenza some fun new hardware and moving it down here (while putting a fireplace in its place upstairs) and stocking it with art supplies and all the girls' toys, but having a few baskets around for stuffed animals or larger toys has continually proven to be a good idea for us. I really want to have a few wire cords to hang their art and a teepee (as trendy as they are) to serve as a secret hideout or soft place to chill and read books.

A few of you have asked about the trampoline--will it stay down here? First, for those that don't know, we do have a trampoline downstairs. You can see it in the left corner of the photo above. It's not a full-sized trampoline, but a size just below and it's been perfect for our long cold winters. We are moving it to the 5th (unused) bedroom for now since it still gets used pretty frequently.

Exciting, yes!? We've ordered a lot of the things seen here already so they'll be here in the coming days and weeks, but the larger projects in the space like flooring and the slide and fireplace musical chairs we'll tackle over the coming months. I love a good winter project. :)

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  1. Regarding cork floring: there are glue down cork tiles and there is floating cork flooring. A floating cork floor has a very thin layer of cork with a particle board layer. I would not do that in a basement because particle board and moisture are a bad combination. Glue down cork tiles have been used for over a hundred years. In some buildings they have lasted that long. I used 8 mm glue down recently. It is soft, quiet, and warm. It comes with one layer of polyurethane. After it is glued down, you add three more coats to seal the seams and protect the floor. It does fade in the sun just like wood, so a lighter color will stay truer to color. It does dent, but it also recovers. I love it so much that I wish I had put it in my kitchen. It is also a very easy DIY.

  2. so exciting to see your new project. I am so jealous of your basement space. Here in the south (Texas) we don't have that. Can't wait to see what y'all do, y'all are so creative. : )

  3. We did a textured cork floor in our basement for the playroom. I love it so much! I wasn't sure about it before, but after living with it for a couple years I am so happy we went with it. We didn't put it on a subfloor and it is always warm to the touch and it has just a bit of softness to it too.

  4. I was wondering if you had a link to the specific trampoline you have down there? I have been looking for a smaller one for our basement as well, I have a five and two year old, what size is yours?

  5. My childhood self wishes I was friends with Greta so that I could come over and jump on that indoor trampoline! So fun! It's going to look great :)

  6. I've been expecting this post ever since you did the kitchen reveal!

    My parents have a similarly large space for my little sisters. We ended up dividing it into a TV space and a space for arts/crafts. There are also 2 desks for homework and personal storage to give each girl a designated area. Most people comment that its still empty (and we should add a ping pong table, pool table, blah blah) but the vacant space gets used for sleepovers and impromptu tumbling competitions which is much more valuable in the long run.

  7. I have to agree with Emily on the regionality of housing terms. I have never heard of a rambler. And furthermore, I had never heard a home called a "ranch" until I lived in Virginia for a while. I grew up (and currently reside) in Texas and a ranch here has a whole different meaning...think cattle, lots of cattle. I guess people do use the term "ranch style house" from time to time, but more often people just refer to it as a one story home. We're more apt to characterize a home by its architectural style (mid-century, tudor, modern) than the makeup of its floor plan. Also, there's no such thing as a basement in these parts, so that restricts things even further. Regional variations like this are so interesting!

    Anyway, I can't wait to see how the basement space shapes up. I'm sure it'll be as beautiful as it is functional for your family. One word of caution on cork floors, though. I'm replacing mine as soon as I can save up the money. The previous homeowners put them in and they're in the bulk of my small home (everywhere but the two bathrooms and kitchen). I was so excited to see a unique flooring choice during my home search and it was one of the things that sold me on this house in particular. But they are just so delicate. I have two big dogs (not Charly big, but 50 pounds each) and I don't baby my floors in general and they're starting to look it. I even took YHL's advice and put three coats of polyurethane on them before I moved in and they're still showing signs of wear in the high traffic areas. Sure, they're supposed to be soft, but I don't really notice that all that much. For my money and peace of mind, I'm going with faux wood tile similar to what you put in. So if you decide to go cork, DEFINITELY do your research first. I know you will!

  8. Can't wait to see this transformation. We had a projector couch on one side of our basement, but not really much on the other side except an old table/chairs.

    Also, love those lights! They remind me of the bell pendant from Pottery Barn (we just put them in our bathroom actually).

    Love everything you guys do so I'm sure this will be equally fab. :)

  9. I love a good renovation, I'm almost sad that your kitchen is done (although I'm sure you aren't). I'm excited to see what you guys do down here.

    I also like how housing terms are so different in various parts of the country. I like the name rambler. In New England I think we'd just call it a ranch with a finished basement.

    Good luck!

  10. You guys just lit the fire for me to start on my basement, wish we had walls though. But you're right, a good Winter project.

  11. This does sound like a great space, indeed! I'm really curious to see how you guys divide the space up in two. I love when you guys create spaces for the kids. I used to have that Ikea kids table but my son has also outgrown it. We got a table with mini stools and it's great cause adults can use them, too.

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