Playroom feng shui

It's a good day, my friends.  Sofia slept through the night, I got a good nights sleep and we were out the door this morning and I didn't even forget anything!  Where did we go, you ask?  Why, thank you for asking, because

I WENT TO YOGA!!

Sorry for the all caps but it was the best freakin' class ever, it was just what I needed and I have a meeting with the head instructor on Monday to talk about teaching!!!

Sorry for the excessive exclamation marks, but if I get to start teaching again, well, I don't need to tell you how happy that would make me.

THEN, after class, Sofia and I toured a new preschool.  While I've made my peace with Sofia's teachers doing her crafts for her, I would still like for her to have the chance to do them herself.  So, we went to the Yocum Institute for the Arts, and as soon as we walked in, I knew I wanted Sofia to be here.  There was art and color and creativity everywhere!  It made me wish I was a kid again so I could paint and dance and play musical instruments all day.  The kids' art was all over the walls and every single one of them was different, and looked like a child made it, and It. Was. Beautiful!  I was so excited and I can hardly wait for her to start.  Of course, I *am* worried that she won't handle the transition well and that her current teachers will be mad at me for taking her out of their program.  I kind of feel like I'm breaking up with them when they've been nothing but good to me.  Do you think they would get it if I said "It's not you, it's me?"  At any rate, I have until June to figure out how to gently let them down.  Now watch, I'll spend all this time worrying about it and they'll end up being like, Peace!  There's more where you came from!

Aaaannyway, let's continue these Friday feel-goods with some playroom progress!  When we last left off, I painted the accent wall and I was scared, because It Was Blue.

Go Big Blue!

But I did a second coat and busted out the fancy camera, 

and suddenly it wasn't so scary.

In fact, I kinda liked it.

However, I didn't like the lack of balance.  I had the big honkin' liquor cabinet next to the somewhat delicate sewing table with its skinny legs and the light colored chair with its also delicate and curvy legs.  It was way too heavy on the left side, so I fixed it.

I also threw the baby pool into the other room.  It was getting on my nerves.

Even though this chair is nowhere near comfortable, I plan to sew a seat cushion for it and that'll fix it right up.

But now there's balance!

Can you see some big picture frames above the table?

I'm thinking four big square frames, maybe white to really stand out against Big Blue.

Then I turned my attention to the other side of the room.

This needs fixing.

Problem number one was the kitchen.  Well, not the kitchen so much as its placement.  You might remember, but if you don't it's cool, that I must have an awning for Sofia's kitchen.

Like so.

source

However, there is only one small window for the whole basement and it's right above the kitchen.  If there were ever a need to get out through that window and God I hope there isn't because it's a teeny window, having an awning just beneath it wouldn't be so good.  That means the kitchen had to be moved to a more awning-friendly location.

That's better.  Now my awesome awning won't keep anyone from 

escaping from the bad guys if they're upstairs.

Then I looked at the whole room and that big honkin' liquor cabinet 
was still throwing things off balance.

Sofia ran over to her new kitchen area was all 'I make dinner!' 

while I did a  little switch o' the bookcases.

Plus, now you can actually see the Lack shelf that's going to go above the bookcase.

With the white Expedit beneath it, all that white blended too much.

The light and dark is a nice contrast.

Then I put everything back in its place.

Then I played around with the camera, trying to get some artsy shots.

Sofia loves these books; whenever we come downstairs she'll grab a book and be like 

"Mommy read stories! I feel happy!"

Danny and the Dinosaur was my absolute favorite book when I was a kid.

I hope Sofia likes it too.

The Expedit is just patiently waiting to get filled up with all sorts of cool stuff.

Another attempt at an artsy shot.

These were Drew's when he was a kid.

Sofia loves to boss us around and be like "Mommy Daddy pull train!"

We are nothing but her dancing monkeys.

Drum solo with cocktail stirrers and coffee cans.

This is an abysmal attempt at showing you the whole room, 

but I promise it looks good in real life.

With the dark bookcase opposite the dark liquor cabinet, it makes a huge difference.

The room feels like it's really coming together and I'm so happy with the progress.  However, I just got another project added to my list and I'm hoping to tackle it tonight.

I finally got the second coat of primer on all three doors and the bookcase and 

hopefully I can actually paint them tonight.

Along with the fireplace. Booooo.

I didn't want to have to paint it, but once the doors next to it became 

nice and bright, the fireplace looked horribly dingy and dirty.

So it looks like I'll be painting that too!

I also have to paint that part of the wall right next to the tree.

I was debating whether it should be Krypton or Big Blue so I left it,

but I'm thinking it needs to be Krypton.

Once I'm finished painting the doors, fireplace and bookcase, I'll be done painting.  Then I can get to the fun part - accessorizing!  I'm going to sew new pillows, put up pictures, make a dress-up corner and fill the bookcase and Expedit with all manner of fun and educational toys, games and crafts.  

This is where y'all come in.  What are some things I absolutely need, craft-wise?  I'm talking about crayons, different kinds of papers, different kinds of scissors, that kind of stuff.  I have a playroom board on Pinterest (psst, come follow me!) with all the stuff I want to put in her playroom. 

I want it to be an oasis of learning and creativity and happiness and light and fun.

That's not too much to ask, right?

So lay it on me:  What stuff would you put in your ideal playroom?  I'm looking square at you, kindergarten teachers, kids at heart, moms who've already made a playroom, and all the rest of you who have amazing and wonderful ideas!