P is for Playroom! :)

So, I talked about the playroom/guest room we were working on in our basement eons ago.  Well...we have a re-engerized focus on in due almost entirely to the amount to toys Avery got for Christmas and her birthday.  If there is a plastic thing that moves or plays music, it is safe to say we probably own it!

Now, I am someone is is overly organized.  I label and color code whenever and whatever I can! :)  The toy clutter in our family room is driving me NUTS!  It is driving the husband nuts too, so we agreed to get going on the basement room.  So, we have been working over the holiday to finish.  As I have mentioned in the past this room is a old finished room in an unfinished basement.  I am pretty sure it used to be an old school "men's club" room... with a fireplace, wood floors and all!

So, this is a teaser as we don't have a finished product just yet, but we have painted the wood molding, painted the fireplace, and painted the wood floor!  It is a basement room so I wanted white and bright!  The husband finished the two daybeds.   What is next?  We have a TON of clutter to get out of there, need to add some shelves for toy storage, and do some last minute touches.  Hopefully we will finish soon!  In the meantime, check out this playroom inspiration (thanks Pinterst)!

Want to know how much work this has and continues to be?  Check out this photo (walls and wood paneling painted) but much more left to do!

Doing a house project with a kid is kind of like calculating your dogs age!  For every month we think this will take us it is at least 7! )  HOpefully will have something worthy of sharing soon!  Until next time...xoxo

W... is for wierd!

So, we live in a Royal Barry Wills House.  He was a popular architect in the 1940's and was from the town next to mine.  He was known for his cape and colonial designs.  Ours is a center entrance colonial. Apparently it was a "show house" and as a result it has some extra bells and whistles.  It has amazing moldings, wainscotting and historic details.   I love our house for these very details.

In addition to these historic details, we have a "wierd" room which I have mentioned before.  It is a room in our basement.  It is a finished room in an unfinished basement which is wierd in itself.  It is so finished in that it has a full fireplace in it.   Nice touch... right?   When we moved in it was a room in disarray.  It smelled like cats and was quite gross.  The previous owners had not used it at all, so who really knows when it had last had visitors!  

When we first moved, in the husband took over the room as "Man Town".  In the making of "Man Town", he ripped down the odd fake stone panels that covered the walls and found a wierd surprise!  Behind one wall someone had stuffed cigarette wrappers.... hundreds of them.  Behind another wall the was an entire (peeling) mural.  I wish we had photos- but this was pre-blog and we were not really on top of photographing these types of improvements.  What I can tell you about the mural was that it was a scene of what I call "pirate ships".  Imagine my surprise one day when I saw the mural again!  Perusing Elements of Style, there it was.  Erin had found a Royal Barry Wills house she loved and it had the same mural that we have.  

Now, don't be too jealous!  But here it is in the dining room of this house.  

Courtesy of Elements of Style Blog

I find it interesting that it was in our basement room.  I imagine this room was designed for cigar smoking and whiskey drinking?  Who knows.  Well, since my husband never used "man town"- I have reclaimed it.  Use it or lose it!  So, we are now eagerly at work to make this room a playroom/guest room.  The paint is up, daybeds are still in progress- hopefully we will have a reveal in a few weeks!  

In the meantime, enjoy feasting your eyes on this strange mural!  Until next time.....xoxo