Sharon's mom is moving to England at the end of the month, and so has generously donated lots of her stuff to us - Potato got a new bed, Jester got a washing machine, Sherlock got some chew toys, and I got THE CHAIR. It's amazing. Super comfy, vibrates, heats up, and even has fold out arms that you can use as a side table! I am in love. Unfortunately, it was a bit worse for wear, so, when I went out to the fabric store to look for a mat for our "classroom" (see below), I picked this cute stripey cotton on sale. Lacking the appropriate tools - like a staple gun - I've re-upholstered it using strategically placed duct-tape! So far, it seems to be holding! I think it turned out pretty well. :-)
Before
Ok, so this is a very old 'before' picture, from Tiffany's days. Apparently I don't often photograph the volunteer room... Anyway, with us starting school next week, I needed to make our space a little more conducive to children (read: Potato). So, into the shower space went the double bed - after no small amount of pushing, shoving and wobbling - and the room was ready for its makeover.
After
It would be cool to get a bird's eye view of this room, but my camera is not that cool I got some awesome animal shower-curtain material for the 'mat' down the middle of the room. It's water-resistant enough that any messes should be able to be wiped up before they ruin our carpeting. The boys and girls have a "sticker chart" on the walls - when they listen nicely they can put a magnet on and at then end of the day we'll have sweets. The TV stand is also doubling as our 'cubby' - each one has a blanket for storytime, books they won't break and it's also storing our instruments and imaginary play toys.
Side view, with "mommy's chair" and our work table. Unfortunately we only have 5 chairs, so we'll have to bring them to and from the garden each day since the other table is out their for them to eat lunch at.
Our new "Potato-proofed" curtains (shorter so he can't pull them down!) and learning posters. These, he obviously will pull down, which is why they're on the painted wall and not the wall-papered one!
3 years of asking for bath toys for Christmas has paid off - we've got more than we know what to do with! The kids got lots of bubble bath for Christmas this year, so bath time is more fun than ever before :-) See the IKEA crocodile, Mom and Dad? At least now we don't have to freak out when they stand up.
The changing room - the single greatest thing our architect did for us. EVERYTHING you could possibly need is in these drawers, and there are cupboards full of clothes on the other side. Now all we need is to find some way of stopping Potato from slamming the drawers into your shins as you are changing somebody!
The boys' room - LOVE these 2 cots, both were donated since we moved in. We have 3 cots and Potato's "big boy bed" in here at the moment, so the cupboard in the corner may be sacrificed to space considerations in the near future.
The girls' room - with spare cot for that baby girl that will come eventually! Both the girls are on proper beds now, which they think is great. And heaven help you if you put the wrong blanket/teddy bear on their bed - my Princess had a temper tantrum the other day simply because her bear was on Chipmunk's bed.
The lounge (play room side) - this space is also great. The kids are where you can see them, and part of the action, but you can also sit on the couches to the left and have some tea. The wall of windows is one of my other favorite parts of the house - you feel much less cramped with all that light pouring in!
