Kid’s Creative Center

March 22, 2013

We’re in the home stretch of our playroom makeover, and I have just a few more projects to share before I show you the big room reveal! One of the hardest parts of putting this room together was getting everything organized. Kids are messy little creatures and tend to accumulate a lot of stuff! We had toys coming out of our ears! To help keep the playroom organized, I divided the room into sections. There is a place for them to read, a place to play, and a place to be creative! I used this little corner of the room for the boys’ creative center:

Kid's Creative Center by www.lovegrowswild.com #kids #art #playroom #storage

Kids need a space where they can spread out their crayons, get messy with finger paint, and build a masterpiece out of Legos. We were definitely missing a space like that before! The boys’ art stuff was mostly in my office, and they had no space that was truly theirs to get their creative juices flowing.

I found this school desk at Goodwill last year for about $10 and had to have it! I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the time, but I knew I would come up with something eventually. It is the perfect size for our little creative corner! The desk has seen better days, and I went back and forth for awhile whether I should paint it or not. There is so much color going on in the rest of the playroom, I decided to leave it as is for now. But who knows how I’ll feel next week! What do you think… To Paint or Not To Paint?

I’m a big believer of utilizing every square inch of storage space you can find, and using vertical storage is a great way to do that! To store my son’s coloring books, I picked up a set of clear plastic wall files from Staples and hung them on the wall over the desk. They held our coloring books perfectly, but since the wall files are clear it still looked like a bunch of cluttered coloring books thrown in there. I love organizing, and when I can turn my organizing efforts into something beautiful for my home as well I’m a happy camper!

So after a few minutes staring at the plain, clear wall files, I had a brilliant idea on how to hide the coloring books inside and make them look pretty at the same time! I grabbed a roll of blue chevron shelf liner I got from TJ Maxx awhile back, and cut a piece to fit each wall file. I peeled off the backing and carefully stuck the liner to the outside of the wall files. I made a small cut on the bottom corners of the liner to help wrap them around the bottom of the file, like a present. The pretty blue chevron stripe hides away the coloring books and adds a fun pattern to the wall! Mission: Accomplished.

On the other corner of the wall, I hung two organizers for the boys’ Legos and art supplies. I was walking through Menard’s one day and spotted these tool organizers that I thought would be perfect for storing Legos. There is nothing more annoying than getting up at 2 a.m. to use the bathroom and stepping on little Lego pieces! Those suckers hurt!

I dumped all their Legos into a pile and sorted them out by color. I thought it would a great way to keep all their Lego pieces organized and not to mention look pretty too! If you follow me on Instagram, you saw this photo of a very exciting Saturday afternoon spent sorting Legos… oh the glamourous life of being a Mom : )

The little drawers hold the Lego pieces perfectly, and we had extra drawers left over to hold projects they’re working on building. My three year old has a tendency to “Hulk Smash” the Legos my older son is working on when they’re left out, so now we can hide them away in the drawers until he’s ready to work on them again!

I used the top organizer for the kids’ art supplies like glue sticks, scissors, pom poms, popsicle sticks, etc. I made sure they’re up high enough that my littlest one can’t make a mess with them when Mommy’s not looking! On top of the organizers I set this sweet picture a dear friend painted of my boys and our farm. You can read all about my boys’ art lesson with the fabulous Leoma Lovegrove here!

Now the kids have a place where they can come be creative and work on their “projects” like Mommy. It seriously melts my heart to see my boys using their creativity to make special things for people! My oldest son once cut up an empty tissue box so I could store things in it at my desk. Any anytime my youngest son sees me painting something, he wants to be right in on the action! I may not be able to teach my boys how to throw or football or how to change a flat tire, but I can certainly teach them how to use their creativity!

This is my youngest son, Wyatt. Isn’t he a doll? I’m pretty fond of this little super hero.

“That’s enough pictures Mom. Put down the camera.”

Want to see all the projects from our Playroom Makeover?

Click here to check out the room reveal!

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Playroom

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Comments

Our Pinteresting Family says: March 22, 2013 at 1:43 pm

What a sweet space! Looks like he likes it. 🙂

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Chelsa says: March 22, 2013 at 4:01 pm

love it! glad to know my 3 yr old isn’t the only one who “hulk smashes” older brother’s lego creations! eek! that has been a source of contention for us lately!

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Jennifer Hibberd Mundy says: March 22, 2013 at 3:26 pm

So cute! Love the little desk. Looks like lots of fun will be happening in here

Jen
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.ca

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The Weary Chef says: March 23, 2013 at 5:03 am

That looks amazingly cute! I really like the desk and think I would leave it unpainted. I like the vintage look. What a find at Goodwill!

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Melissa Whitcher says: March 24, 2013 at 12:48 am

I have never thought of putting those drawer organizers on the wall. That is just brilliant! Pinning this idea.

I would love to have you share it on our link party!

Melissa
redflycreations(dot)com

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Kristen says: March 24, 2013 at 2:33 am

this looks awesome!! Would love to see you link up to Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings. http://www.ladybug-blessings.com

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Jamie -Better With Age says: March 24, 2013 at 3:41 am

That last photo is awesome!!! Wow, you did a fantastic job. What a great idea for lego! My son isn’t quite at the age for Lego yet but I’m definitely going to try that 😉
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

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Molly Smith says: March 24, 2013 at 7:54 pm

This space looks great. The last photo is priceless. I would keep the desk as it. I think it looks good natural ..

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Eva {Tales of the Scotts} says: March 25, 2013 at 10:48 am

Awww I love that cute little school desk. And what a nice little creative corner for him!

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Kelly @ View Along the Way says: March 25, 2013 at 1:44 pm

I love this! What a sweet little spot for him to be creative. Thanks for linking this up to Monday Funday!

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Brooke says: March 25, 2013 at 2:16 pm

I love this corner! I have three little boys, and this looks just like an are we’d have. The Lego organizer is awesome! I’m in the process of getting a hold on our Lego piles. LOVE your idea. Thanks so much for sharing! Have a great day.
P.S. We also experience the “Hulk Smash” syndrome daily at our house. 🙂

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Christa @ Controlling Craziness says: March 25, 2013 at 3:56 pm

Great idea. What a good use of a little corner. Although that’s not nearly enough room for my son’s Lego collection. We’ve resorted to using his closet for a Lego storage area.

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Elizabeth says: March 25, 2013 at 8:39 pm

Great idea! My kids love to craft with me I think a corner for them would be perfect 🙂

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Lauren says: March 26, 2013 at 3:07 pm

What a fun space! Love how everything is easily contained and organized. I’m going to have to keep this idea in mind when my kiddos are older.

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Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says: March 26, 2013 at 9:09 pm

I am in love with this Liz! I need it in my life. My daughter is SO messy!

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Carissa Rasmussen says: March 26, 2013 at 9:48 pm

well done! can’t wait to see the full reveal

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Alicia says: March 26, 2013 at 9:57 pm

These are great ideas! We had a nice little creativity center set up for my daughter before we moved, but it doesn’t work in our new place, so I’ve been on the lookout for some fresh new ideas. Thanks! Also, stepping on legos is pretty much the worst pain ever. And I say that as someone who has gone through childbirth unmedicated. 🙂

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Mominin says: March 27, 2013 at 12:25 am

Looks Great! I love your lego organization. I found your blog through a bowl full of lemons!

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Gretchen says: March 27, 2013 at 1:10 am

Fun! Great idea for lego storage. And I LOVE that painting!

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Rita says: March 27, 2013 at 1:12 am

Love this little creative space, especially the vertical storage! So clever.

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Bonnie and Trish @ Uncommon says: March 27, 2013 at 8:10 pm

Perfect little space Liz!! Love the lego storage idea!

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Janine LaTulippe says: March 28, 2013 at 1:59 am

Love the lego storage! Stopping by from MOM on timeout. Hope to see you at True Aim!

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Cole Nemeth says: March 28, 2013 at 3:29 am

This craft corner is great! I’m in the process of coming up with ideas for my daughter’s room, and she’s been begging me for a craft area. I might steal some ideas off of you! 🙂

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Jenn @ Clean and Scentsible says: March 28, 2013 at 4:08 am

This is awesome! Love the Lego storage!

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litlsis says: March 30, 2013 at 1:21 am

Love it. I’ve just decided our Lego scene is TOTALLY not working. Thanks for the idea. Tool organizers make sense.

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[email protected] says: April 1, 2013 at 12:34 am

You are featured this week on Busy Monday at A Pinch of Joy! I hope you will stop by and grab a Featured Button from the Button Box on the sidebar. Pinned. Can’t wait to see what else you’ve been working on!

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Miranda @ Someday Crafts says: April 3, 2013 at 5:08 am

This little corner is soooo cute! The Chebron book holders ar ejust absolutely darling! We’ll be featuring this at Someday Crafts tomorrow, so come on over if you have a minute!

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Keith Hecht says: October 1, 2013 at 2:58 am

Thanks, A very useful information.

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jodi says: February 5, 2015 at 1:04 pm

I’d love to know how you hung the tool/lego organizers?

Thanks!!!

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- Liz Fourez says: February 5, 2015 at 10:00 pm
  
  Hi Jodi! The organizers came with holes in the back, so I just had to drill some screws in the wall (I also used wall anchors) and hang them. I hope this helps!
  
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amanda says: April 16, 2015 at 2:17 pm

Hola! Me encantan los rincones creativos. Pero aquí cambiaría la mesa por el mueble de los cajones para que tenga más luz.
Preciosa la mesa. Me recuerda a los pupitres de cuando era pequeña.
Me encanta el blog.
Saludos.

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