Alrighty. I'm excited!! A little exhausted too, not gonna lie. I still have a few things I'd like to do in the loft but I told you I'd share it this week so I'm sticking to it. The remaining projects are minor in comparison to what I've accomplished in this space. I'm super, SUPER proud of what I've created here.
First up, let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? This room first started as a lounge space for my husband and me, waaaay back in the day. Then our boy was born and it morphed into a playroom as well. I looked back at this post and got a little teary. It's not my style anymore but seeing the old room makes me feel happy:
This reminds me of such a sweet time in our lives. I have loved our home every single step of the way.
Then I started simplifying things a bit. The toys moved downstairs, I took down the picture shelves and added some board and batten:
It was looking a little bland, now that I look back. But I was so happy to see those shelves go -- they were feeling so heavy to me.
We had the walls in most of the house painted (and contrary to the look of this photo they are not green) and then added my inexpensive DIY craft table:
That thing worked well for years!
The room was OK but we really didn't use it like I knew we could. It's a big room with a lot of potential for storage and better functionality. I had a plan in place for two years before I finally started tackling it. This was mostly because we knew all along we wanted to extend our hardwoods into this space -- I wasn't able to do much until that was finished. And that wasn't finished for years because, money. And finishing kitchens and such.
So the day before the floors were put down the room looked like this:
And now? Now it has TONS of storage, a bunch of places to sit, a massive desk and beautiful planked (or shiplap as the kids call it now) walls. I am so beyond thrilled with this room, I can't even tell you:
Revealing a room is like presenting my new "baby" to you all -- I forget all the hard work (OK, that's a lie, I haven't forgotten just yet. Too. soon.) and just revel in how pretty it is and how much I love it.
It's been mostly done for a couple weeks, I've just been working on smaller projects. So we've been using it for awhile and it's been a joy. I wanted this to be a space for many things -- work, crafting, wrapping and lounging. We have some of the lounging accomplished with the window seat but later we hope to add a sofa up here along the opposite wall.
The desk is HUGE. I had butcher block cut down into three sections -- two for the countertops and then one large piece for the desk. It is three by six feet and I love it. As you can see two of us can sit and work comfortably. The Bub comes up after school and does his homework here most nights. My husband plans to use it as well:
It is nice and big so we can spread out work, have plenty of room to craft, it will be a great spot to sew and I am already looking forward to wrapping Christmas presents here. :) As you can see the desk is taller than the average height. I knew that going in but most rolling desk chairs (including these) adjust to the perfect height. I HAVE to sit with at least one leg underneath me but these are roomy enough to do that and surprisingly comfy.
I built the bookcase at the end for support and more storage. It is a fun spot to display items too. I had so much fun going down to our storage room after the room was complete -- I've had so many items sitting down there for years waiting for my vision to be complete!
I'll go into more detail about the functionality of this space very soon. The organization in here is AWESOME.
I've shared the other side of the room over the past couple of weeks, but here's a before of that area:
And how it looks now:
Excuse the cat.
I will share all the sources and project links later this week for this room, so please let me know if there's something you're curious about! For now I'm just going to share eleventy billion pictures with you, because I AM TIRED but so proud:
(If you are on mobile you may have to click on the photos to get a clear view.)
The DIY chalkboard makes such a statement in here and is one of my favorite parts of the room:
I rearranged the doors to the cabinets so that they open the opposite way under the desk. They are still really easy to get to, but I've put my seasonal craft stuff in there so I don't have to access them often:
I usually sit on the opposite side of the desk so I can watch TV. ;) We have it on a mount that moves back and forth so I can lay on the window seat and watch too:
I have everything I need within reach and I love it. My little dollar spot craft caddy I made years ago goes perfectly in here:
It spins so either person at the table can access what they need easily.
I shared that Goodwill stool redo years ago. I had it on the other side of the room but placed it here because it's a perfect perch for a third person to work here. We can just move the caddy and there's plenty of room for everyone.
Have I mentioned all of the awesome storage in here? Yes? Well, that's because it's awesome:
I have used the DIY gift wrap station and LOVE it. I've always wanted one and it put this wall space to good use:
That little table belonged to my sister-in-law when she was little. I painted it years ago for our son. He's so big for it now but still loves it and sits there often. If I'm up here when he comes home from school he'll come up and eat his snack here or at the desk with me. Love. THAT is what I imagined for this space. We've already used it more in the past few weeks than we have in months.
I haven't finished the half walls on the other side of the room, and I have no idea when I will. I did finish up the door trim on the double door:
You can kind of see our printer there -- we have one in the basement and one up here now and it's SO nice. When we get a sofa I'll show you more of that side.
This is the view when you come up the stairs -- I LOVE it!:
I've worked so hard on this space! I think it was even more labor intensive than the kitchen, believe it or not. So. much. painting.
Here's a full view from our stairs:
The sofa will go where the bench is (to the right) eventually.
I almost forgot to include the nighttime photo! I love the sconces so much and they add much needed light in here at night:
Oh my. OK, I think I'm done for now. :) Of course I have to wrap this up by sharing another before and after, my favorite! Here's how this room started out years ago:
And here it is before I started:
This is how it looks today:
WHOOT! Now bring on the fall crafting projects! Yay! Can you believe I got this room done in three months? I seriously think that is a record for me. I didn't hit my goal of being done before school started but I was close enough. Now I am free to focus on the upcoming holidays and I'm thrilled.
If you have questions about anything, please let me know in the comments. I'll either answer you there or be sure to address it later this week when I share resources and project links.
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