Alright, time for the final part of the 2017 house tour! I’ve already posted about the exterior, and the main living areas, so keep reading to see the bedrooms, bathrooms and the loft.
Let’s start with the loft…
There it is, truth…I bet you weren’t expecting to see a giant mess right off the bat were you?
The loft is the only thing upstairs (besides the attic) and it serves as the kids playroom. It’s perfect, because every single toy the kids own is up there and I can’t see any of it. I can have my clean downstairs, they can have their messy play area, and we can all live in harmony. (Also, all the choking hazards stay up there where the baby can’t get to them.)
At first I went back and forth about whether I should make them keep it tidy or not, but I ride them pretty hard about keeping their other spaces clean…putting away their dishes and laundry, keeping their room clean, making their bed, etc, so it’s nice just to give this one up.
About once a month we go through and make it perfect again, but other than that I’m pretty hands off.
Anyway, this room is also very unfinished, we really just threw the boys stuff up here and forgot about it. The floor is just plywood, which we painted white. We had to paint it so that we could check the “flooring” box and close on our construction loan, but we are on the hunt for real flooring because the plywood is crazy loud. I’ve almost pulled the trigger on carpet multiple times (even though I hate carpet), but I can’t decide if we should get something decent that will hold up, or the cheapest carpet ever because it’s a playroom and it doesn’t matter. Problem is that even the cheap carpet is still kinda pricey. Now I’m looking into noise reducing laminate wood look flooring + rugs, which I like better and is about the same price. If anyone has advice/experience in this area, I’m all ears!
Okay, back downstairs. Today I’ll be showing you the areas in red, and if you want to see the other parts you can read my previous post.
Here is the front bedroom, Elijah and Levis room –
It’s very plain right now, but here is a moodboard of where we are headed –
Before our last baby was born I posted the room plans, the boys wanted and underwater ocean room…squid and octopus, specifically. My original goal was to get it finished before the baby came, but then I got to thinking….if the baby was a girl (we didn’t know the gender) we would need to move all three boys to the other bedroom because it had more wall space for beds, which meant starting on an ocean room would be dumb. So I did nothing instead.
The baby was a boy though, which means I’ll have four boys in two rooms and we are good to go on the underwater/ocean bedroom. I’ve done a few things, like sell the bunk beds and bought the fabric and paint, but I’ve stalled because I really, really don’t feel like painting. I used to enjoy painting, but painting with littles around is hard (and it’s not like I can do it at night when they are sleeping).
Anyway, painting this room is on our June to-do list, so hopefully we will be a few steps closer to an ocean room very soon!
Next we have the boys bathroom.
Isn’t it glorious? Minimalism at its finest.
I have big plans for this room. It’s probably the first room in the house that I saw exactly what I wanted to and it hasn’t changed in the last year and a half. Unfortunately none of it has happened yet, but it’s going to be great. I’ll share those plans later so that this post doesn’t get crazy long, but for now we’re off to a good start (with the tile, not the mop sink).
Next up is the middle bedroom, Judah’s room (the baby still sleeps in our room).
This bedroom currently has random stuff from about three different rooms in our old house. I had planned to turn this room into the a cowboy themed bedroom (since that is what we did in the old house and I have all the stuff) however, Judah LOVES dinosaurs. Loves them. He’s obsessed actually, so I’m thinking we might have to go that route. We will see if he is still head over heals in love with dinosaurs when we get around to decorating this room, or if he has moved onto something else.
It’s so plain y’all, everything is so plain and white I can’t wait to start getting to the decorating phase in this house!
Onto the last bedroom, the master. This one actually has been decorated a bit and is currently my favorite spot in the house.
These pictures are from a post a few months ago, but it still looks the exactly the same, no progress has been made (except now there is grass outside the window instead of dirt).
Here is the master bathroom –
It’s off to an awesome start, but like the rest of the house we still have to finish the majority of it.
Both of our bathrooms are going to have double sinks, but for now they each just have one temporary sink. The boys bathroom has that mop sink, and our bathroom has this….thing. Its teeny tiny and super low, but it was free and we needed to check that “each bathroom has a functioning sink” box to close on the construction loan, so we threw it in and here it sits. Hey, at least this room has a flooring, right?
Also, that giant window above the vanity (ahem…future vanity) was a great decision. Whenever I do my makeup in that mirror scrap above the sink I can’t help but smile about the lighting. It just comes pouring in around the mirror and there are no harsh downward lights or anything that makes me look more tired and wrinkly than I actually am. Best decision ever.
We just recently started using the shower here, it wasn’t quite finished enough to use until last month (we’ve all been sharing the shower in the boys bathroom). It still needs glass and I need to clean and seal the tile, but it’s usable and everything I hoped it would be. If you are building a house and wondering if two shower heads in the shower is worth it, it is.
Opposite the shower is the toilet….not much so say about that, it’s a toilet. It gets a little friendly in here when someone is in the shower and the other has to use the restroom, but after 13 years and four kids the mystery is gone anyway.
And last but not least the master closet, which you enter through the bathroom.
I revealed this finished space back in January, you can read all the details about it HERE.
And that’s it, the whole house! Whew!
I’ll leave you with this picture of Abram, who is seven months now and followed me around to each room as I took these pictures. Try not to smile when you look at this face, I dare you.
Love it all — real talk from the start with the playroom toys and adorable baby at the end with a big gummy smile.
Thanks for sharing!!
Try looking into cork flooring for the playroom – it deadens sound (my grandparents used it in their house back in the 60s in their upstairs – four girls, two bedrooms). Young House Love also used it in one of their kitchens.
Agree, and it’s also comparatively soft underfoot.
Having a baby sure takes most of your time but you will get it done one day at a time. Good luck…Millie from. http://frugaliciouschick.blogspot.com
That’s a good idea about the cork flooring. ^^ Cork also has a bit of give (or maybe that’s just my imagination) and seems like a warmer kind of option for the playroom. Plus the natural look and texture of it would be beautiful up there.
It’s interesting looking at these rooms after the way the boys’ room in particular was in the old house. It’s definitely a pretty blank slate at the moment The bones of this house are so great, though. Do you plan to put any furniture in the loft? Some beanbag chairs would be super inviting! What a fun space. And how fabulous that it contains ALL the toys!!
Everything is coming along and your tile and flooring and things that are installed look really good. It will be so fun when you get to start adding in the colour and fabrics and texture!
The cork flooring is a great idea and probably the best solution, the only problem is (from what I’ve seen) I don’t really like the look. A lot of the laminate stuff has cork on the underside, so perhaps I can still get the benefits while still getting something more my style.
I do plan on putting furniture in the loft, but the layout is going to be kinda weird. I don’t want to put any furniture against the railing, and I also don’t want any furniture up there that the boys could move against the railing (like chairs). I have this fear of the toddlers climbing up on furniture and hurling themselves over the loft. The railing is extra tall and non climbable (small wire), but still…I’m a mom, so that’s what I do. I do think we are going to take that queen bed out of Judahs room and put it in the corner of the loft (where the lego table is) and make a guest “corner”. We didn’t put any extra bedrooms in this house, but I’d still like to have an extra space for people to sleep anyway.
That surprises me, because a friend of mine had cork flooring and the look was very similar to a paper bag floor, like brown clouds almost. Very pretty. Are you tired of the paper bag look after all your various experiences with it?
About the railing, for sure! I get that. Do you think they would be able to drag those really huge beanbags chairs over to the railing? Those things are awesome.
I liked the paper bag floor look…for practically free flooring :) Adam read all these comments last night and is sold on cork, so we are looking into it. Noise reduction really is our main concern, and cork seems perfect for that!
What I would do to have a walk-in closet like that! I love your home and your baby is adorable
Ashley,
I’ve followed your blog a long time and have never posted! Your house is looking lovely and I can totally commiserate with you about how long these projects really take – I think you’re doing fantastic! I have a question about your shower niches, since I’m also renovating my master bath and have been thinking about putting a few of those in my shower. Did you use a tile-ready insert that you then tiled over? If so, which brand did you use? Or did you make the forms yourself with cement board? The tile-ready inserts seem to have mixed reviews and can be pricey, so I’m curious what worked for you!
Thanks, Louise
Hi Louise, thanks for commenting! The shower niches are great and I’m glad I did them (I considered not doing them because I read some bad reviews like you did). My inserts are pre-made (Tile Redi brand) and I bought them from Amazon – http://amzn.to/2s4LgFG
Hi Ashley, greetings from Germany! I am your silent reader for years now. Breaking my “silence” for a comment: take cork flooring. I did it 10 years ago with hesitation while the look was not really “mine”. Best decision ever. Not for living space, certainly, but great for kids or even bedrooms. We took laminate for other rooms – will never do it again. Anything is better than that. It is just a plastic thing with the photo of your favourite wood on top. It is plastic, it feels like that under your feet and wears off like plastic. And noisy despite of all the extra 5 mm thick isolation material we carefully laid under it. Another advantage of cork: it is really, REALLY feet friendly, robust, long-lasting, forgiving and warm.
Thank you for breaking the silence! Adam read all the comments on this post last night and is totally on board for cork flooring. We did some research and it sounds like it has all the benefits we are looking for, the only downfall being that it isn’t our favorite look. Whatever, it’s upstairs and it’s not carpet, right? Now just to find one we like that doesn’t break the bank…
Right! Just make sure to take the “real” thing, not the fancy looking ones which are “prettied” up and actually look like nice wood. Those have again the top which is not cork. The real ones aren’t actually expensive. Ours has bigger parts of cork mixed with smaller. It was twice as expensive and not really better than the normal, monotonous looking ones, which I would buy today. The top part is cork covered with some protection layer which makes cork really robust without robbing it’s natural warmth and softness. Even if your kids will manage to somehow damage some parts of flooring, you can’t see it anyways. And there are surely some small repair sets available. I never needed them. The only disadvantage of cork , apart from the look, is that it gets influenced from sun light. You kann only see if you move a piece of furniture after some time. But again, it equalises itself completely after a few weeks. I hope my English is understandable, if not, just ask :o)
By the way, your kids are really sweet. I always smile while looking at their photos.
Another vote for cork! :) A quick google search brought up all kinds of different looks. Wayfair has lots of options too that I never imagined cork to be!
Your place is looking so great!!! Can you tell me more about your railing panels? What did you use (whatbis that kind of panel called) and where did you get them? I am looking for something to use for mine and I love the look of yours. It’s so exciting to see your place and all of the progress that y’all have made!!
Tim wants you to know that there is so much you can talk about with the toilet…but that’s the plumber in him coming out. Is it low flow? Is it comfort height? What’s the make? I saw it dual flush? Haha Hope y’all are well! Love y’all!
Kayla
Kayla,
You tell Tim that is a Delta brand, Turner model, elongated bowl, comfort height bad boy. No low-flo for this family. We are Americans and we take our “business” seriously. In all seriousness, I’m a terrible plumber and our baby managed to pull one of the toilet anchor bolts out of the mount with the white plastic cap still connected and proceeded to suck on it. Gross right. Is it still snowing in Canada?
Love, Adam
How about luxury vinyl plank tile in a wood look. Virtually waterproof is a good idea for a playroom in my book, and it’s soft and warm. It’s also easily laid in the click installation.
Maybe do a barn-rail door with frosted glass for the toilet? You have enough room on the wall for rails, it fits the rustic theme, keeps the nasty air to one small easy to vent space. Also, you could install a light that would turn on and off with the door opening and closing.
Loving everything about your house. I’m envisioning matchbox cars rolling off the 2nd story from under the railing. You need a bunch of pool noodles from the Dollar Tree while they’re in stock for summer.
Do you have an idea or pics for the mirrors in your masterbath when you do get the vanity installed?
I am awestruck what y’all have accomplished! It is a beautiful, beautiful house. I remember when my kids were that age It was an accomplishment that everyone got dressed and fed. It’s such a busy time , no sweat if it takes years to finish the details. This may not be your aesthetic but I put indoor outdoor carpet in my twin boys room and it cleaned up like a dream, plus it was so neutral it didn’t really make a design statement. It was really, really cheap too.
Catching up on all my DI posts I have missed. I’m wondering about the bookcase (toy case?) in your loft. Did you make it or buy it? It looks exactly what I want for a bookcase/tv stand for my room! I tried looking through your posts for any mention of it but have not found anything.
I love seeing updates on your beautiful house!
Thanks Amber! We made the toy shelf a few years ago, here a link to the post about it – http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2015/02/kids-room-toy-shelf/. We also made a media center using the same basic plan, here is the post about that – http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2015/10/sliding-door-media-center/
Thanks Amber! We made the toy shelf a few years ago, here a link to the post about it – http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2015/02/kids-room-toy-shelf/. We also made a media center using the same basic plan, here is the post about that – http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2015/10/sliding-door-media-center/
I just had to comment to say, my daughter is just a week or two younger then Judah, and she is also OBSESSED with dinosaurs. I am kind of excited to see what you do for a dinosaur bedroom if you go that route. Right now her playroom is pink and purple with flowers, but I am expecting #2 and don’t know the sex yet. If it’s a boy I would like to do a theme they can both appreciate, and dinosaurs was my first thought.
Your house looks fantastic! My wife will turn green with envy once she sees your walk in closet!
It is kinda mess up around here. But i love the baby on the last photo.