Home Reno

Playing with leaves in new snow suit (yes, it really is that cold)

Our condo looks like a daycare. At least what I imagine a daycare would look like, as I have never stepped foot in one. I really don't know how or when it happened. While I was pregnant with baby #1, I made sure to buy only non-primary-coloured toys and furniture. We did not paint her room, and bought mostly neutral clothing and toys.

But as I look up from my laptop, I see only primary colours. Our living room area rug, a neutral ivory colour, has long been replaced by blue and green foam floor tiles. The area rug was replaced after a failed attempt at having it cleaned by a professional carpet-cleaning company. The area rug, once pristine, needed cleaning after multiple spit-ups by the Brat. Rather than replace the rug right away, we opted for a temporary measure until she stopped spitting up. She hasn't spat up in over 12 months...yet the foam tiles are still very much a part of our living room playroom. Additionally, there are quite a few bright-coloured toys in our living room. There is a rocking horse; actually a rocking ladybug which the Brat loves, in bright yellow and red. It was a gift. Our arm chair is covered in teddy bears. Three to be exact, plus one plush puppy dog. At least they are neutral-coloured. Most of them were gifts as well.

Initially, I transferred most large and primary-cloured toys to my mother's house, where the Brat spends on average one day per week. And at one point, I must have realized that we could not transfer everything over there, and the Brat's belongings started accumulating in our home. First it was just a few items, but somehow, they seem to have taken over almost every room in our condo. With the exception of the bathroom, the kitchen and our bedroom, the Brat's imprints are everywhere. While I realize this is usually what happens when you have kids, I have a plan to better organize her belongings. To banish a child and her belongings to one small area of a home is both unrealistic and selfish, but this does not mean that your children's play things cannot be incorporated into your home with style.

I have had this plan for sometime, but this week, it finally took shape. The first part of the plan was to transform the Brat's room. Until this week, her room was part office, part baby nursery. Against one entire wall, custom office furniture resided. Against the opposite wall, we somehow managed to fit her crib, the glider chair and a small table. Her dresser was up against a third wall, right around the corner from the doorway. The fourth wall is taken up by an eight-foot high window. The office furniture was stained dark, in contrast to the baby's bright white furniture. The room was a definite eyesore, and I am grateful to our friends who, this week, picked up the office furniture. The Brat had also learned to climb atop the desk via the swivel chair, making the room off-limits. Her room, now bereft of the office furniture, looks spacious. Her crib (now a toddler bed) and dresser are against the same wall, opposite the glider chair (sadly we still have to rock her to sleep, but that's another story).

The second part of the plan was to set up a shelving unit in her room against the same wall as the glider. This shelving unit would house her many toys, books, and other odds and ends. I had scoured countless home decor magazines and websites, and finally came across a very affordable shelving unit. Actually two units as to take full advantage of our 10 foot ceilings. This would allow her toys to be better organized, all the while leaving room in the centre of her bedroom to play.

Here is a photo that I cam across on one of my favourite websites,  www.ohdeedoh.com. The baby's room is certainly not as spacious as the room depicted in the photo, but we will be installing one 4 x 4 (cubbies) unit, and bolting a 2 x 4 unit above it (in the photo, there are actually 4 shelving units). We will additionally be topple-proofing the unit. We purchased part of the unit last night, and brought the other unit home today (as only one would fit in the car at a time), and we will hopefully be building the unit this week-end.

Inspiration for our shelving unit, expedit from Ikea

The third part of the plan involves working on our common space. We have a very nice open-concept common area, including our kitchen which is bordered by an island, a dining room, and the living room. we have already incorporated a few items for the baby into the common space. There is a small table with two chairs at the end of our kitchen island, and between our kitchen and dining room, there is a non-primary coloured play kitchen (although, not surprisingly, she still prefers playing with our kitchen). With the new shelving unit in place, a lot of her toys currently residing in the living room will find a new home, even though we expect that she will be bringing them into the common space to play with during the day. Additionally, a few weeks ago, we ordered a smaller dining room table to replace our very large current (square) table that is rarely used, thus freeing up some much needed space. In the corner of our dining room, we will be setting up a small corner office with floating shelves as to keep the floor space clear, and to which we will transfer the many items from our old office that are currently in storage. I have yet to reach the carpenter for this project, but I keep telling myself we cannot do everything at once. And lastly, this week, I ordered carpet tile samples from an American company in the hopes of finally replacing our current green and blue foam tiles in our living room.

I find myself excited at the prospect of this mini-home renovation. Although months ago, I did ask myself if it wouldn't be easier to simply move to a larger home. We have quite a few things in storage at the moment, and have given away a number of furnishings to transform our home into a family home...yet at the moment, I think it makes most sense to stay put. No doubt we will be re-evaluating the situation once Brat #2 arrives...