So the playroom project began back in April. With sledgehammer in hand, K took out the ceiling and some of the walls. Removing the ceiling was his idea, and it was a brilliant one. By taking it out, we now had an expansive space with lovely exposed rafters and a pleasant open feel. It also enabled us (or more accurately, Kristopher) to add insulation where it had previously been lacking. More to the point, Esme's room could finally be insulated! We had suspected all along that the wall she shared with the garage's upper level was sorely under-insulated. What we did not know was that it wasn't insulated at all! Brr. Well we (and by we, I mean Kris), fixed that. After the insulation came the sheetrock which at times required some death-defying balancing acts on ladders with nail gun in hand all while hoisting incredibly heavy panels of sheetrock into place. Again, him not me. I provided meals, moral support, photo documentation and child care. In other words, my weekends started to look an awful lot like my weekdays.
Spackling and painting followed. Kristopher rented a paint sprayer which did in the end do the job but not without its share of malfunction, frustration and mess. Everything was coated, including Kristopher. More painting followed. Including covering one wall with "chalkboard" paint. This is one of my favorite features of the room. One entire wall dedicated to chalking to your heart's delight. Fun!The biggest investment, outside of time and energy, was the doors. We knew in order for the room to really work we had to do away with the overhead door. What we wanted were wooden swing-out doors. A little research revealed that these are called "carriage house" doors. Such a noble nomenclature also justifies a very expensive price tag. To be fair, they are custom made. And they are solid wood. We found the best deal we could and saved a lot just by virtue of the fact that K installed them himself. He never ceases to amaze me. And they are beautiful and have contributed significantly to the curb appeal of our house, too.
After debating various options for lighting, we decided to go with Japanese lanterns of various sizes hung at various heights. For the floor we went with interlocking foam tiles. Very soft and kid-proof. We can easily take them up. And we could customize them to exactly the floorspace we wanted to cover thus enabling us to keep the walkway from the exterior door to the kitchen clear. This is where the stroller can be rolled in and kept safe from the elements. This is where muddy shoes can be left or snowy boots defrosted. K hung some hooks for coats (at both kid and grown-up level). We put up a shoe rack and allocated a basket for mittens and hats and scarves, oh my. For as much as the kids are enjoying the playroom, I'm enjoying this small feature. Just to have a place, a mud room of sorts, to manage all that stuff and to not have the space be in our living room is, in a word, wonderful.
The final feature is a long clothes line for displaying art. This thrills Esmé to no end. And we love it too. Her colorful oeuvres brighten up an otherwise dull wall. Plus there's plenty of space for Theo's contributions once he's ready.As time-consumming and difficult as it was for us to make this happen we knew all along that it would be worth it, and it was totally worth it. The kids are getting so much out of it, and so are we. We'll know the extent to which we appreciate it come winter when we can't use it because it isn't heated. That too may be something we'll look into down the road. For now, this is enough.
