We originally thought about adding wallpaper, but really couldn’t find any that worked with our budget. After scrolling Pinterest looking for inspiration, I remembered a post by “Room for Tuesday” (a blogger) I had seen a few years ago. I knew it was the look I wanted! After revisiting the post, I was officially hooked on the color-block idea for our playroom loft. Because the room has a unique ceiling that creates a visual seam, I decided it would be a perfect space to recreate the look I loved so much!

I’ve done a bit of precision painting in the past, but I knew it would be a challenge to get this one right. I used Sherwin Williams “Alabaster” on top and “Amazing Gray” on the bottom. It ended up being the perfect blend of neutrals and gave the modern lines of color-blocking, a softer, more timeless look.

If you’re wanting to try your hand at precision painting, I shared all the details and tips for how to achieve a perfectly straight line in this Instagram Story Highlight. Prepping your space using quality materials is absolutely the key to getting perfect blocking.

Once the walls were painted and the built-ins were sprayed, it was time to start planning the style features. I knew I wanted to play off of the wood tone in the existing banister, but also wanted to keep things neutral. I chose this beautiful woven light fixture to replace the ceiling fan. I love the texture it brings to the space, plus it feels whimsical and fun. It’s very budget-friendly and would look great in a lot of different areas in a home.

Choosing the wall color and the light fixture satisfied the “impact” pieces for the playroom loft. These are elements I like to choose first in a space, elements that will make the biggest impact. After those selections are made, other accents fall into place.

When choosing how to style the walls in this particular space, I had a few ideas but didn’t want to take away from the color-blocking either, so I narrowed it down to two larger scale wall elements. I created a gallery wall on one end of the room and used acrylic shelving to add an art display to the other.

On a smaller wall in the room, I rehung a piece of playful art I’ve had since we first moved in 4 years ago. Before this house we had never had a playroom before, and I purchased this adorable sign when I was still dreaming of having a beautiful space to hang it in. In fact, I was inspired by the frame and colors in this piece when I chose the color palette for the rest of the room. It’s one of my favorites!

Let’s talk about acrylic. I love it… in moderation. When I was trying to think of a modern way to display the kid’s art, I came up with the idea to use nail polish shelves! That’s right, did they look familiar? Turns out, they’re the perfect depth to hold a canvas! I ordered these as a set and I’m so pleased with how they turned out. We worked hard to leave our mark on these canvases, so I’m happy with how beautifully they’re displayed.

In addition to the shelves, I also chose an acrylic chair to accent the built-in desk. I love how petite it is. The thing about acrylic is, it’s useful and functional without being visually weighted. I liked the idea of the space feeling open and airy, plus we added a beautiful new gold pull to the oversized desk drawer. Who would want to hide that with a chair?!

The organization in the space was obviously a huge detail to consider. I went with easy, affordable storage from Target. I love mixing wood tones with other natural elements like basket weave and woven cotton. Accenting with a metal is always a good idea, and small, gold accents were a perfect touch to this room.

Overall, this project took longer than expected because of item availability and weather, but it was worth the wait. Sometimes there are things out of your control when you’re working on a space, and that’s ok. Design takes time!

I hope you enjoyed the details of this room makeover and choose to stick around for the next one! Follow along on Instagram to see which project is next! Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo

I knew I wanted to keep them very affordable, but I also wanted the photo quality to be excellent. No sense in having photos on the wall if they’re a blurry mess! As you know, sometimes when photos get enlarged too much, they end up looking computer-generated. I was really trying to avoid that problem, but also keep the cost down. I found that Office Depot’s photo prints were affordable and had great reviews, so that’s the route I took. I decided to take my own photos and have Office Depot print them.

Taking the photos:

I set my phone up on a tripod so that the lighting and angle would be the same for each photo. I used a white wall in my office as the background and had each of the kids stand on a piece of tape. They took turns getting into frame and acting silly! I took around 10 photos of each of them so I would have a few to choose from.

Once I decided on my favorite photos, I edited them using the Lightroom app on my phone. I used the preset “B&W Low Contrast” and didn’t have to do any cropping at all since I used a tripod, this is key.

Ordering Prints

On officedepot.com you can easily upload your photos and select the size. I had mine printed as 24” x 18” because it was a good fit for the wall I chose. I chose “55 lb. matte” paper. Prints with these specifics ended up being $19.99 each and shipped in about a week.

Framing the Photo Posters

Originally, I had ordered a pack of 6 poster frames from Amazon, but when they came in they were sooooo cheap and flimsy I returned them. I ended up happy with these frames from Target. The quality is good for the price, they’re plexiglass, lightweight and great for kids’ spaces.

Hanging the Photo Posters

Obviously, you’ll need to measure your space BEFORE printing and framing your posters, but there are a few tips I can offer for hanging. I like to leave 3-4 inches between art on all sides, with a 6 inch+ offset from the corner/edge of the wall on either side. These rules can be applied to hanging most galleries.

The frames were easy to work with. I made sure the plexiglass was free from dust after removing the protective film and was careful not to touch it at all. Because these particular frames hang from a single hook, I added rubber pads to the bottom corners of each frame. I’ve found this extra step keeps the frames from slipping out of square once they’re hanging on the wall. I’ve used this trick a lot throughout our home.

Overall, the project cost about $170 and I’m more than happy with that! A piece of wall art that is personal, impactful and affordable is what I was after. I hope you found value in the ideas and tips I shared in this post. If you create a photo poster gallery in your own home be sure to let me know. Follow me on Instagram @hello_bloomcreative for more!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie G. xo

It’s a very small room, so were prepared to use a bit of creativity to pull it together and maximize its functionality. We are thrilled with the way it turned out. I’m sharing all the diy details, photos and links below. It is, without a doubt, everyone’s new favorite spot to hang out!

We started by changing the wall color. I wanted something dark and cozy. We went with an old favorite… “Iron Ore” by Sherwin Williams; and because it is such a small room, painting was quick and easy! We also did a bit of touching up on the moulding and caulked a few cracks to make the space look fresh and crisp!

Next, we hung the TVs, yes TVs with an “S”…. two TVs! It makes sense for us because the girls (3 and 6) often want to watch a movie while Clark (10) wants to play Xbox or watch something different. The type of TVs we chose have an aux jack for headphones, so usually one of the kids wears headphones to keep the noise from the other TV out. So far, it’s worked out great!

We dropped new wire in the wall from the attic and used recessed outlets to ensure the TVs would hang flush against the wall. The universal brackets we used from Target were easy to install and worked well with the TVs we bought.

Once those were hung, we added a fun neon-look LED light above the “gaming” TV. The kids thought this was so cool! To conceal the wire, we cut a small square in the Sheetrock behind the light itself, and dropped the cord down to the new outlet behind the TV below. We used a special outlet box that easily accommodates unusually shaped and various sized wires. To make things nice and tidy, I finished this gaming area off by hot gluing the neon light-switch to the back of the TV for convenience. I’m so pleased with how great this spot turned out!

As far as TV room furniture, we kept it super simple by choosing bean bags that convert to full size beds! They’re incredible! We ordered them from Amazon, and they’re made by a company named Cordaroy’s. During the week we keep them zipped up in bean bags because they’re perfectly compact for TV watching on school afternoons. On the weekends, we unzip and lay them out to create the perfect pallets! All three kids love having weekend slumber parties all piled in the new room together!

We kept an old coffee table in the space for playing games, puzzles and coloring. The warm wood tone of this table is beautiful and was what inspired the curtain color I chose… camel! Velvet camel-colored curtains!

I asked on Instagram for guesses on the curtain color, not one person guessed correctly! I’ve always been a sucker for “gun metal gray” and “cognac leather” together. The finished TV room gives me all the right vibes!

The very last thing to be installed on the last weekend in January, was the wall art! I’m so proud of how these turned out!!! They were insanely easy to do, relatively inexpensive and add a warm, family-friendly feeling to the new room. Of all the changes and improvements we made to this space, my favorite has to be these framed photos of the kids! I’ll share all the details to create this photo poster gallery in a future post if you’re wanting to get the same look in your home.

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that this room will get plenty of use for years to come! Not only is it cozy and amazing, but it is the first room that’s completely made-over and “new” in our “12 rooms in 12 months” project challenge!

Cheers to a new fun space for us, and hopefully inspiration for you!

Thanks for stopping by, xo Jamie

While the big kids were at school, I dug out some fun decor pieces I’ve used in years past. Clark and P had been playing with random decorative spiders and rats, but wanted me to “style” their room as they say. lol!

I snapped a few pics for you and also am linking similar items below if you want to make your child’s space come to life this Halloween, it’s fun, easy and affordable!

Click here to see the decorating in ACTION!

Click here to shop! Happy decorating!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo