About a month ago we were walking in the park and Clara pointed to a dogwood tree and said, “Wow, that’s a big, big tree in a big, big world.” John and I cracked up. Now whenever I think of Clara’s playroom—her future big-girl room—I picture that big, big tree and our big, big world. Hilarious. Anyway, back to the space we affectionately (and a little ironically) call the playroom. Do you remember what it looked like when we first moved in?
Over time it became cluttered with boxes, projects and an assortment of junk. We organized it once with my mom’s help, but it slowly slipped back into chaos. A year later, thanks to months of book shoots and storage overflow, it was back to looking like a catch-all again.
We finally tackled it for good: a deep clean, a yard sale, and auctioning off many book-related props for charity. When it was all pared down, the room felt usable for the first time in ages. I may or may not have done a little victory dance around the daybed—complete with a painfully committed moonwalk. Reclaiming this room after letting it be a junked-up storage space for three Christmases felt amazing. Now it will serve as Clara’s playroom and, eventually, her big-girl room once she transitions out of her crib.
Why switch rooms? The nursery is pretty small, and adding a daybed there wipes out the floor space. Moving Clara to the larger spare room and keeping the nursery available for a future sibling makes the most sense for our family. Of course, if we do have another little one someday we’ll update the nursery to suit them—kids’ rooms are some of our favorite projects.
Once we cleared the extra items and pushed the remaining things to the center of the room, it was time to paint. This room had been a secret backdrop for book projects, which meant sections of the walls had been repainted many times in different colors. One window trim was even painted a moody gray and part of a wall had been stenciled. Nothing was safe from the book-photo madness.
So paint was definitely in order. First, we repainted the window trim from gray back to a glossy white. Before choosing a wall color we thought about the other things that will share the room—furniture, toys and the fabrics we want to bring in. We also asked Clara what colors she wanted. Unsurprisingly, she picked “pink and red.” Her favorites had shifted from pink and orange to pink and red about a month earlier, so we leaned into that palette without going overboard.
We don’t want the room to feel like a pink-and-red cave, so the plan is to balance warm accents with white and navy, and add pops of yellow and teal to keep things lively and layered. We gathered a small assortment of items we’ve been saving for Clara’s room to see how they play together—think of it as a casual floor-pile mood board.
To make sure those items stand out, we chose a soft, warm neutral for the walls rather than a cool gray. Kids change their minds about favorite colors quickly, so a versatile wall color will let us swap accents later without repainting. We settled on a super-soft tan tone—somewhere between tan and a warm gray, like tea with a little too much milk. It still fits our overall house palette but leans a touch warmer than the cooler grays used elsewhere.
We were deciding between two very similar shades and went with the one that felt right in the room. We used Benjamin Moore’s no-VOC paint in an eggshell finish. As usual, John handled the rolling and I cut in around the trim and ceiling. Watching him roll over the many patchwork colors and stencils felt oddly satisfying; the room finally became one calm, consistent color again. We left the ceiling white for now, but we’re considering adding a soft tone up there later once the room starts coming together.
We’re really happy with the wall color. It’s not too pink, gray, or tan—just warm enough to let the white trim and future crown molding pop. Now we’re waiting for the paint to dry so we can move furniture back into sensible spots and begin styling the space.
We’ll share more photos and details as the room evolves. Clara’s first nursery took shape over many posts and a few months back in 2010, and we expect this room will develop gradually, too. Can’t wait to watch this bare little room turn into a cozy, layered space for play and sleeping.
So that’s what we’ve been up to. What did you do this weekend?