New.

With the new year, just like every new year, I'm bitten by the new bug, or maybe it's the fresh bug. Just wanting to change things up a little bit, make things a tad bit new and fresh.

I'm in the midst of totally changing around our main floor bathroom which serves as both the kids bathroom and one for guests. For the last almost 8 years the decor has been fish and frogs and water life. Which was fine but it's getting old. Fast.

So I'm totally doing something new except I'm leaving the walls blue. Both because my husband has said no painting projects right now and also because I am a very bad painter and very impatient when it comes to having others paint for me.

Before Christmas I finally finished the basement playroom decor. For the longest time it was just "the playroom" with no rhyme or reason for anything and I kept thinking an idea would come to me. One finally did and here's pictures of the finished product. {I'm pretty proud of it. Also, if you must know, the total cost for the project including bins for the shelves, frames, pictures, canvasses, poster was....$180.}

All the bins on the shelves are from Target. Words on the wall from my friends at Design with Vinyl.

This is the forced family fun project I did with the kids awhile back. Canvasses from Michaels.

The shelves are organized with paint and playdoh on top of the shelves. Then board games followed by arts and crafts supplies and the bottom two shelves are all toys. The blue buckets on the floor here are full of costumes from various Halloweens over the years. The toy box on the left (which we already had) is FULL of LEGOS.

Poster from Etsy. Frame from Michaels. Love.

In the orange bucket on the floor we have building blocks. Then ALL of the baby/doll stuff is set up as "baby world" with the play kitchen and table. And then my wall of pictures.

No rhyme or reason to the way they are arranged on the wall. Just an idea I had and went with it. Frames are $1.99/each at Ikea. I got the mats at Michaels and printed various family and kid pictures at Costco. What I love about the wall is that we really have pictures from when it was just the bigs, through H's babyhood and even now.

What do you think?

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In other news and events around here. I joined Pinterest on Sunday night and while I definitely don't know all the ins and outs of it yet, I'm kind of smitten with it. I might pin some of my basement (and eventually bathroom) pictures to share too if/when I ever figure that out. Are you on Pinterest? I'd love to follow you, find me or leave a comment with how to find you.

I'm not a big resolution person but I love the idea that I've been hearing round the internet for the last few years of choosing a life word for the year. I've been thinking and thinking and thinking of a word I want to live out for 2012 and once I've chosen it I'll be sure to share. Do you make a resolution? Or what word would you pick?

Finally, I wrote a little story on parenting resolutions. No time like the present to decide to make changes in the way we parent our children. Take a wander over here for the story.