Kids Kitchen Makeover - Process

Finally, after a visit from family, a weekend music festival, a week of the dreaded cold all round and a spasm in my shoulder and neck, I bring you the process post for our gorgeous kids kitchen makeover!

As mentioned in the reveal post, our kitchen has been well used and loved and it certainly showed so giving it a makeover was high on our priority list. Our kids toy/ play area is a part of our open living room so I constantly stared at it when sitting on the lounge.

I received quite a few emails following the reveal post (thank you to everyone who took the time to drop me a line, I am always humbled when I receive them) and a lot of people had asked me about the process and how I went about the makeover.

Firstly, I dragged the kitchen to an area that I knew would be convenient and comfortable for painting, with good ventilation and where I could leave it for a few days (out of the way) in between steps. 

I then used a small hand sander to buff all the areas that I wanted to paint. 

I then gave it a good clean and wipe over with some cleaning spray and a dust cloth to ensure the surface would be smooth and dust free to begin the painting and priming process.

I used a water based primer in a plain white and covered all the areas well , that needed to be painted with the feature colour. I left to dry for a day , just to make sure.

Choosing the feature colour would have had to have been the hardest decision of them all!! I ended up going for a gorgeous Taubmans colour called BERYLINE,  and was instructed by the gentleman at the paint shop to use a gloss acrylic paint as you see less brush strokes and the finish would be more durable . Of course this is all up to you. Ideally, if this was a new kitchen and it hadn't been put together yet, I would have preferred to use spray paint. I just prefer the finish!

Then the gorgeous colour coats were applied. I was instructed to wait 5-6 hours in between coats but seeing as though my husband was working and I was going solo with supervising 4 kids as well as undertaking this project, I just did one coat a day. 

It wasn't all smooth sailing with this makeover , and I knew it wouldn't be. Its one of the first bigger projects I have undertaken by myself but I was more than determined to do it solo!! Hmm I think they call that stubborn! 

After painting the second coat, I started to notice the paint taking on a 'crackled' effect. It looked like I had used that old school crackle paint, only I hadn't!! I made the decision (after a phone call to my hubby and darling Dad) that I would let the coat dry, lightly sand the effected areas then paint them again. Thankfully this worked and after the third coat of paint, you couldn't tell it even happened. 

Reasons why we think this happened? Seeing as though the paint is oil based, I left the brushes to soak in between coats in a jar of Turps. I think there may have been residue on the brush (even though I had cleaned it well) and this effected the coat of paint as it was being applied. 

Lesson learnt the hard way! 

Once all the painting was complete, I bought the kitchen inside (as its lighter when separated) and then re-attached the top section to the base unit. 

We then added some cute knobs above the oven area (there was never any there) and these have made a great addition for the kids role play activities. 

I really wanted to add a splash back to the kitchen, so my husband just cut a thin sheet of particle board to fit the area, I sprayed the area with Spray Adhesive and rolled and secured some gorgeous wrapping paper from Love Mae called Confetti to the area. I trimmed the excess then we secured it to the back of the kitchen with small nails. 

There are so so many lovely choices out there (especially on the Love Mae site) for wrapping paper and splash back options but I wanted to keep to something fairly neutral, seeing as though the colour was quite vibrant. 

Once Mum had had her turn sprucing up the kitchen and adding a few 'style' touches, the kids couldn't play with it fast enough! They had really missed it while it was out of action , it would have to be the most played with piece in our home! 

All in all , this project was quite easy to under take ( I managed to do it by myself so I am sure you can too!) and really didn't cost a lot. 

Cost Breakdown ;

Primer Paint $40 

(I used about a 1/4 of a tin but have used it for many many projects since!)

Teal paint $34

Paint brush $8

Glass Knob $0 

( I already had these knobs from a previous project but you can pick them up quite cheap on eBay)

Particle Board $14 

(we have excess we have used for another project also)

Wrapping Paper $4.95

I hope I covered most of the questions 

TOTAL - $100.95 

(however most purchases have been used in other projects and still have surplus!)

I hope I have covered most of the questions asked and been able to give you a quick run down of how we completed our Kitchen makeover, please don't hesitate to email me if you have any more further questions!!

And good luck to anyone thinking of making over their own kids kitchen! I would love to see the finished products!

Painting Projects

The painting bug has bitten me and nothing is safe! I had been struggling with our new 'rental' status, after always owning and living in our own home. I love to be able to drill holes, put shelves up, add bits and pieces around the house and anytime I please. In a rental you have to be creative and use other things to get the 'change hit'. Its like a drug to me, I paint something, make something, change something and I get this high and then after a while it runs out and I need to find the next thing. 

Perhaps I should go on The Block?

Whats the best thing to mix it up and give a 'change hit' in a rental? Why paint of course. Adding pops of colour to items around your home can really boost a room and your mood. So the past few weeks have been full of painting projects.

Kmart has been rocking it in the home wares department  and I picked up this house shelf. The outside was a whitewashed wood and the backing a hessian type material with the printing. Pretty drab really 

A trip to the paint shop, a sample pot of Seafoam half and we were set!

I pre under coated the unit (more for the hessian at the back) and then popped a few coats of this yummy blue all over. 

Ta - da!! A new home for little Super hero figurines in the boys room and a colour hit at the base of Angus' bed. The boys love it! Win

Next on the list was these cute houses that I finally managed to nab from Cotton On Kids. The sold out so quickly the last time they were released and I just had to have one! 

A base coat ( I already had a tin from my Kitchen makeover project) and a few coats of these yummy colours ;

 a pretty yellow called Lemon Delicious and the most devine pale pink called Tea Party.

And now they are a cute feature in the corner of the play/toy area. 

A few command strips and voila, perfect for a rental! 

The perfect spot for little bunnies to look cute and watch over all the fun play that happens here ( and the bickering and snatching etc)

I have been on a basket buying ban for a while and have only just allowed myself to purchase a few newbies in the last few months. Why? Because it was like they were breeding in our house. I had baskets everywhere and not all of them were being put to good use. 

Now? A few years on , they are all starting to look a little worse for wear. Nothing a can of spray paint won't fix!! This little basket was white, dirty and scratched and ready for the bin. Now its the ideal home for bits and pieces of lego that I find around the house and any projects that Max is working on at the time. 

Its situated low on the boys bookcase in their room and matches with their new photo wall perfectly ( a post on that is coming soon!! )

An old tray that was a very yellowy/creamy colour needs a spruce up , again , nothing that a can of white paint couldn't fix. Nice and fresh now! 

And another little Kmart purchase that received the start makeover treatment was this cute metal stationery tray. It was originally a bright red colour and a bit leery for our home , especially the girls very pink bedroom. But as the 'Loom craze' has overtaken our house, I have been finding those little suckers everywhere!! Long after the girls have packed the boxes away, random little bands pop their ugly little heads up. ALL. OVER.THE. FLOOR. Drives me bonkers. 

And me being lazy, I simply can not be bothered walking to their room, opening the containers and putting the found bands back in there, so they were ending up in the bin. These chucked bands add up and I knew I had to stop. Enter the Stationery tray. Kmart for about $8 I think. A can of white spray paint. Wonderful!

It is a great size and sits well on the shelf of their bookcase. It is a quick dumping spot for all the bands that I find around the house, for half finished bracelets, beads in bags and items that Stella likes to keep handy, in the event of having a few minutes spare to loom up her magic. 

The loom band storage boxes sit next to it, as do the loom boards so its all corralled in the same convenient area.

These are only a few of the paint projects happening here, I doubt the list will ever end and the workers at the Paint Place are really getting to know me and the kids now! 

Oh the power of a good paint colour , warms my heart! hehe

Kids Kitchen Makeover

After having our kids IKEA kitchen for a fair few years now, it was looking tired and grotty. Our toy area is a part of our open lounge room area and every time I sat on the couch , I seemed to catch sight of it and it bugged me. After seeing a gorgeous picture on Instagram of someones clever makeover of an IKEA kitchen for their daughter , I was inspired. It couldn't be that hard to do , surely?

Enter mass Pinterest pinning session.... It didn't take long to convince myself that I could do it!

And now ? I am so so pleased with how it turned out!

 Not only does it add a gorgeous pop of colour to an otherwise bland area, but it looks devine ad the kids have been re-inspired to play and use it. Win win! 

Here it is before its little tizzy up. The bench top are had a dark stain/mark that I could not get off, the tap was broken and it was looking a little used and abused. 

Now it stands , pride of place in the toy area. Surrounded by a sea of gold polka dots at that! 

We have added some pretty glass knobs above the oven area as well as a few cute tea towels (I cut a pretty Target tea towel in half and just whizzed up the edge on my sewing machine).

We also added a 'splash back' behind the sink and stove area using some pretty wrapping paper and a thin sheet ply board cut to size. 

A few cute bowls that I picked up the the Coles Dollar Dazzlers section finished the new look perfectly and the kids are having a ball with 'precious bowls'.

As I said, we are completely in love with the 'new' kitchen and think that it looks amazing. It wasn't hard, nor expensive to do and it makes such a change to an otherwise plain kitchen and kids area.

Stay tuned for a follow up post on how we underwent this project. 

Toy Room Questions and Answers

Wowzers!! What an overwhelming response I had to the Toy Room Makeover post!!
Thankyou so much for all your lovely comments ! Its so nice to know that everyone loves the space as much as we do! The colours are so lovely and cheery and we are loving the new touches.

 

I have received a few questions about various things around the room, so I will try and cover those here , but if anyone else would like to know anything, please do not hesitate to flick me an email and I'll try and answer everything the best I can ( or remember)

 

First up, one of the requests was for some inside shots of our toys. Even though the Toy room looks as if there are a lot of toys, as there are a lot of baskets, most of them are only half full and there are even a few that are empty. In our home , I do cull toys on a regular basis and try to only purchase ones that are wooden or more natural. The kids tend to play with the same things everyday, trains, lego, wooden blocks, cars and dress ups. Throw in a kitchenette and some play food and they are set for a good time forever!

 

So here is a sneak peek inside a few baskets for you!

 

 

 

Cars are a real necessity for any toy room, even for families of just girls I believe. These are the communal cars, and ones for when other children come over to play, Max has his special cars in a Carry All from Pottery Barn that he carries them around in , and they keep them separate.

 

 

Puzzle boards, the pieces are in the top basket, in zip lock bags and labelled accordingly.

 

Balls- just that and not too many just yet. These are on the Christmas list for the kids actually!

 

Phones- something we can not escape and I find these are great for the kids to play with for Role Play and imagination. Some are old phones , others play ones.

 

Wooden Blocks- classic and still a hit everyday!

 

Another Question was how I store our soft toys, well this is it! As above,they are stored in 2 baskets in the Toy Room and individual special ones with each child on their beds or in their rooms,

I tend to only keep the special soft toys, they are real dust collectors and you tend to accumulate so many over time!

 

The gorgeous labels create such a uniform look. Love them!

 

Another question was about the Target print , and what did is say. Here is a closer photo, as you can see , it is just perfect for a childs room or play area. I bought it on sale a little while ago but I am sure you could find one in a store somewhere , or perhaps try a home shopping store.

 

More details on the Curtains- They are from Spotlight and VERY reasonably priced for what they are. They came in a green and blue, but they were different patterns. I can not for the life of me remember the brand name , but hopefully this pic will help you further!

 

 

Lastly, a question about the kids pencil turntable, pictured at the top of the photo below.

 

 

This is a Mini Lazy Susan from Pottery Barn. Its a perfect size, divided and obviously spins for convenience. I bought it some time ago , and it was pricey but has been well worth the cost!

 

I hope I have answered your queries adequately, and like I said, if there are any other bits and pieces anyone would like to know about, just let me know!
Thankyou all for your support, yet again, now on to the next big project!!
But it might just be selling up and building yet!! eeeek

 

The Toy Room Makeover

Finally our Toy Room is finished. It has taken some time, whenever funds and spare time permitted but we are chuffed with the results.

The bones of our toy room were already quite good, and many would have been happy with it, but I was bored of the same decor, things were getting worn and tired looking and as our room (which is supposed to be our formal lounge/open theatre ) is ope to the main hallway and one of the first things you see when you enter our home, I wanted it to look a bit 'nicer'.
There are some before photos in posts HERE and HERE

Our home is predominantly beige/brown and white in colouring, so I knew I wanted to try something different and perhaps a little out of my comfort zone. Seeing as though our existing art canvas is yellow, it was a great place to start and there are so many products available in the grey/yellow tones at the moment so the decision was made.

You might remember I wrote a post with a few plans for the room HERE , well these were the main products that I purchased, the floor mat and the couch cover, and they weren't cheap, so this is one of my 'not so cheap organising posts' but I have never actually set out on a mission to decorate a whole room, in a theme or 'look'. My rooms have all just evolved and its probably why they all look unfinished. Well not this time, I was doing it right this time!!

So , here it is. Our toy room.

(NB- this room hardly EVER looks this way. Sure, maybe at night, when the little cherubs are tucked up in bed but during the day, its a sight to behold!!)

ta-da!!

Ohh I love it!! Absolutely LOVE it! So fresh and crisp. Colourful but not too 'in your face' and still nice and neutral when you walk by.

Now more details for everyone;
The floor rug is from IKEA, super cheap at $49.95, called GISLEV
Our original brown couch from IKEA got a new cover KARLSTAD Grey $199.00 (eeek I know! Nice Tax refund but a cheap alternative to buying a new couch!)
Yellow lamp on side table - Target , $35 on sale, originally $50

On the couch there is a mix of patterned cushions , all keeping with the colour theme, but all purchased on sale.

Yellow back cushion - $8.86 ( x 2) Target

Grey and yellow chevron cushion (x3) $8.86 and one was $5.86 with a small hole I repaired. Target

Grey polka dot cushion -  I made it. The fabric is Michael Miller and it was in my stash. The ruffle is just some scrap material and the gorgeous Felt flower is handmade by my sister from Bread n Butter Factory .(They are a brooch or a hair clip and come in a range of colours!) 

The reading corner has been very popular since removing the small couch. It was super cute but the kids were using it as a step ladder to reach higher books, and it didn't fit all 3 older kids , which resulted in fighting!
I just replaced the couch with white pillows, a few scatter cushions (the chevron one for $8.86 and a plain yellow I scored from Target last week for $2.86!!)
The star mats help to define the area and keep it soft to lay or sit on , and are from Target a little while ago, I scored them for $15 , and originally bought them for Angus' room.
The book shelves are the famous BEKVAM spice racks from IKEA, and we love them!! They are used all day , every day and the kids love being able to see all the books.

I made the Art Display Canvas a while ago, and it has been a fantastic way to display the current craft projects or drawings that come home from school.

Its just a large canvas (that I already had) , spray painted , with bulldog clips glued on.

The curtains are a new addition, and purchased from Spotlight. Also a while ago ( I told you I have been buying stuff gradually!). They are a light fabric with a gorgeous Grey and white pattern, and we reused a rod from our living area (we replaced curtains with Plantation Shutters).

The Storage unit is quite old but still in fantastic condition, it is the TROFAST unit from IKEA.

I picked up the print (in the greeny blue) at Target and it is perfect for a toy or childrens area.

On the main wall, we have put a few RIBBA Picture Ledges (also IKEA), at a bargain of $19.95, they are the perfect size to create this display area. I have placed a few framed prints that I found on pinterest, free of course and had them printed at a photoshop.

They are 4 cute Nursery Rhymes and you can print them in a variety of colours! Things like 'If you are happy and you know it' and 'twinkle twinkle'

You can find them HERE.

 We also added some small canvas' that the kids have done , and will swap and change these as new pieces are created.

The print on the end in yellow is from a little delightful and says

'so many smiles begin with you' . You can find it HERE

A few yellow tin buckets bought from Crazy Clarks for about $6 each were added as storage for play food, kitchen items and tea sets.

.

All the toy baskets were tizzied up with gorgeous yellow labels, laminated and tied on with yellow bakers twine. I am so pleased with the uniform look , and they have been great for Stella with letter and work recognition. They are the perfect size and I love the colour! Do you think you would like them too? (hint hint)

The white boxes hold all of the kids craft supplies, such as paints and glues, paper supplies, craft items etc. And the top row of the shelves is perfect storage for my scrapbooking albums and the kids art folders. They like to look through them whenever they please.

And on top of the Expedit unit, 2 baskets from Woolworths hold items that need to be out of reach from the kids, like a DVD folder, some colouring books etc.

The kids drawing supplies are kept in the turntable and a cute 'You are my sunshine' print found from HERE, was also printed onto photo paper and popped in a frame  I scored from Target at 50% off.

There you have it. Our childrens space for learning, playing and interacting.

Like I said, it has been one of our more expensive projects, but well worth it in the long run!

I hope you like our new space and have gained a few ideas or projects to do at home too!

I am so excited to be able to share a wonderful printable with you soon , so that your toy room could look as organised too!
Stay tuned!