New Playroom

During the holidays I had two weeks off and took full advantage of this time! The first day I was off I redecorated the front room of our house as a playroom for Ellen. I was a bit nervous about all of the toys that Santa was about to bring and where we would store them all... I have to confess that I tend to be an Ikea snob and usually don't care for the store. Their kid's department may change my opinion a bit. Here is Ellen helping her Daddy to assemble some of the shelves.
She really got into this and placed all of the little screws in their holes. Before Daddy got home I put together the chairs and tables while she said, "Wow, Mommy" over and over again. It is such a great feeling to look cool to your child (even if they are under 2)!

These pictures are one of my favorite parts of her new room. They are just Ikea frames with her artwork - so simple but so cute. I can easily change them out and she is so proud of her art. Later I will post another thing I concocted to display even more art.

These storage bins cost under $200 and hold so much. I have all of Ellen's toys sorted and she seems to get how they are grouped. I am toying with the idea of posting a picture on the outside of each bin to help her sort. I have hesitated because I don't want this to look messy and I want the option of changing things up. Aren't those heart rugs cute! I had to go to Ikea three different times for this project (long story...) and each time I got another rug. Three is perfect!

Ellen loves this little table and chairs. She likes to direct us where to sit and what we will be doing. She usually wants to play with "pay-dough" or "color" but sometimes she feeds us to. Since these were shot prior to Christmas Santa had yet to bring her new pink kitchen. It now sits in the upper right of this shot. We plan to have our house painted this Spring and I will have this room painted a very light shade of pink. This room has really helped Ellen to access her toys and she loves going to her "pay room". I tend to keep the house pretty picked up and this made it difficult for her to get to her toys. Now she knows where everything is stored in her playroom and if it gets too messy I can just shut the door! We can't wait to have friends over to play! Love, The Little Bee and her Momma