Wild Hairs

Two posts in one day?! Can it be real??? Yes. It can be. And it is! Because Sophia is sleeping, and Ryan is playing with Maya, and it's Sunday so I don't have to work, and it's raining so we have an excuse to not be up "doing something!" Yay!

So in this post I will continue giving you all a tour of our latest home improvement projects. This one was for fun, but also to give Maya a bigger, more awesome space to play in her room.

We painted her room very shortly after we moved in, because it was plain white with a floral wallpaper border around her windows, and she did not seem too thrilled about sleeping in there by herself. Up until Sophia was born, Maya had been co-sleeping with us, so we knew that moving her into her own room with her own bed was going to be a big transition, but we were hoping it wouldn't be too difficult to get through.

As luck would have it, as soon as daddy and Papa Jim gave her white walls a beautiful lavender-purple wash, and mama gave her dull yellow dresser a bright and cheery yellow and lavender update, she suddenly loved her room and began sleeping in their by herself with nary a complaint!

However, we soon began to realize that her already-small bedroom was being taken over by her toys, books, movies, and furniture. We tried weeding out toys, putting in a bookshelf for the books and movies, making use of her closet to store some of her things... But it just never seemed like there was enough space for her to really move around and spread out whatever projects or creative endeavors she happened to be interested in on any given day.

Our solution? A super-fantastically-awesome new bed with a clubhouse underneath!!

We started by taking apart a futon frame we had that was in great shape, and re-using the slats for the base of her bed...

 There had to be some sort of safety railing so she wouldn't fall off while sleeping (the girl tosses and turns mucho)...

 There was much drilling, hammering, and a teensy bit of swearing happening over the course of about a week... BUT...

 The end result! The top and bottom steps were left open so she could store her shoes and games in them...

 What's inside the door???

 Her own playhouse! With a bookshelf, and some fun pillows....

 And whatever else her beautiful little heart wants to take in there with her!

After helping daddy decorate the interior and exterior with frogs, flowers, turtles, and owls, she loves it, and we have had a couple of picnics, My Little Pony plays, and reading sessions in there so far, and I have to say it's a pretty cozy, good-vibey hideaway!