playroom slash schoolroom slash art room refresh with bemz slipcovers

hi sweet friends! we've been super busy here trying to get a pool and pool house ready before memorial day...and i will share pics of that soon, but wanted to share the little refresh we gave the girls in 'their space'. for you friends that have been on our journey a while, you may recognize this as the carriage house den/kitchen. it is the space we used everyday for 11 years. and then when we moved into the addition, i knew i had to create the girls a space, a space to be creative and have fun and just be kids. a place where i could let them leave out all of their art mess and not have to clear it off before dinner time....which was the case for 11 years...lots of clearing off the table before each meal;) so i truly appreciate this space...and hopefully they do too! so what started this little refresh was the girls wanting a sofa or beanbags or a place to 'lounge' upstairs. so i started pricing options and the ikea ektorp sofa and chair were a great price. then once i found www.bemz.com and their gorgeous linen slipcovers...(they make slipcovers to fit every make and model of ikea's sofas, armchairs and footstools) well, then i knew the direction we were going. yes to sofa and no to beanbags;) to visit bemz click here this will one day be maggie's living space, so i wanted something that would be comfy for everyone to lounge on, young and old;) i chose the bemz slipovers in the loose fit country...i wanted a bit of a looser fit, kind of a shabby chic look. another thing i love about bemz is that will send you free samples, so i picked several of their neutrals, creams and whites....it is always so helpful to look at the fabrics in your home...colors aren't always what they appear on the computer screen. and my very favorite was the rosendal pure washed linen in unbleached. it goes perfectly with the wall color (the same custom color we have in pretty much every room;), the check drapes from ballard designs, and provides the perfect backdrop for the fun, colorful pillows. i am just in love with the bemz slipcovers and the way they barely puddle and just give it that extra comfy cozy feel. we have all already been enjoying the new space...i do not want to put a tv upstairs...i want to make sure they come downstairs ;)...but jeffrey did put a movie screen and a projector up for now, and we have loved cozying up and having movie nights...and all of the girls have been spending time on their iPads and reading books cuddled up under quilts in the space. the adorable pillows on the ends that have the sweet ties are from tori and www.thelinenrabbit.com, tori has so many gorgeous custom pillows, click HERE to check out all of the pretty! and the other pillows my mom came to the rescue and made them for me out of rifle paper co. fabric...i couldn't find any other pillows that i just loved for the space...that would give it that sweet 'three girls live here and enjoy this space everyday' feel;) the drapes are the taupe check from ballard designs, and the precious stuffed cat is from www.blablakids.com....i sold them at the briar patch, so we have MANY blablas...our magpie LOVES them, they are just so squishy and soft and perfect for her to tote around. rayley beth made this sweet owl in third grade...this entire room is filled with the girls' artwork...it makes it so happy and cheerful and one of my favorite rooms in our home. i feel so very blessed to have such an amazing space to homeschool our magpie... i painted the tree on the wall five years ago this fall...i had found a tree decal with vintage wallpaper for leaves, but it was around $300....so it was out of budget. so i started thinking of how i could do something similar for a lot less money...and another problem...every tree decal was only 8 or 9 feet tall, and i needed it to be 10 feet tall. so of course a diy tree came to mind. i taped off the tree design using painter's tape, and then sketched out a pattern of a leaf on cardboard, and then traced it on to several different scrapbook papers that i picked with a vintage look. the entire thing cost less than $20, and i still love the way it turned out. and just a few more fun pics of their space....the table and art box are made by jeffrey. i wanted something to hold all of the jars of markers, crayons and colored pencils to keep them in one spot...so sketched it out and sweet hubby made it happen. and the little shelves for the books are also made by jeffrey ....using some of our 100 year old barn wood we tore off of our barn when we restored it... and if you don't own any of the pigeon books....i highly recommend them! we have several and they are just the cutest! more of my sweet girls' artwork, the banner we made after i found several fabrics with a vintage look and in colors i imagined for the space, cut our the triangles and my sweet mom stitched them up for me.... the dollhouse is a hobby lobby kit that i made for rayley beth a few years ago for Christmas....it took MANY late nights of painting and staining each tiny shingle and wallpapering teeny tiny rooms and having jeffrey cute teeny tiny trim...it was a labor of love for sure, but i hope it is enjoyed by our girls and then by our grand babies one day... and of course it wouldn't be complete without a couple vintage chairs...perfectly sized for our magpie. i have such a love for vintage children's chair...thinking about all of the tiny tushies that have sat in them throughout the years. i may have almost 20 wee chairs. (insert face gritting teeth in disbelief;) and other than my girls' artwork, one of my very favorite things in the space....this antique newel post that i fount at an antique shop in franklin over 16 years ago....they said it came from an old school house... i love to think of all of the tiny hands that touched it before our girls' tiny hands....(and this is at the top of the 19 steps in the carriage house, the 19 steps we climbed multiple times a day for the 11 years we used this as our den/kitchen...and now use as the playroom/school room/art room...i know it a bit confusing until you see it all in person;) so i hope you all enjoyed the tour...it is still a work in progress...i'm on the hunt for the perfect rug, and we have several things to finish up on the other side of the room that is so cleverly cropped out;)...but i will share the rest of the space once it is finished. hope you sweet friends have a week that is as happy as my girls' artwork!