Vintage Gas Station Numbers in the Playroom

Sorting through a huge pile of metal gas station numbers on a thrifting trip, I grabbed the numbers 5, 3, and 1 because my son was born May 31st. I planned to hang them on the wall in his bedroom.

When we moved to our current house I decided to use them in the playroom for a numbers wall.  I covered some cardboard numbers with red polka dot paper and grouped them all together in the playroom kitchen corner.

Vintage gas station numbers look cool in so many different settings and they're perfect in our playroom with all of the red that we have in there. They're a fun and interesting spin on any of the ABC's / 123s style playroom decor that can be bought in a store.

Yardstick Magnet Board for the Playroom

Our playroom has been a work in progress (and at times a guest room) for our first year here. We've tried to find quick and simple ways to create a bright, colorful, and fun learning area for our three year old son to enjoy and infant daughter to grow into.

Our yardstick magnet center is an example of one of our simple, colorful, learning centers.

We hung a piece of 24x36 sheet metal on the playroom wall. To finish and make child safe the edges, we framed it with yardsticks.

We glued the yardsticks on the metal at first but it was clear that they would be too easy to pull off so they're now attached with screws.

We use a mixture of letter, number, and animal magnets for different activities.

I found this I Love You print to hang above the board and it provides a good guide not only for helping recognize the letters and their right side up, but also with the alphabet sequence.

Instead of leaving the board a mess of magnets, I found a three section storage bin that holds them all.

 We've been practicing sorting the letters, numbers, and animals when it's clean up time.

The bin fits perfectly in one of the cubbies in our playroom storage so it's easy for little hands to practice cleaning up and putting away when he is finished.

All is well when the bins are stored in their cubbies at the end of the day!

Playroom Progress: DIY Painted Play Sign

Since moving into the new house we've spent a lot of time staying cool at the pool. We've been trying our best to get every box unpacked and everything put in a logical place and that leaves little time for projects. Transforming the big room over the garage into a playroom is on the top of the 'to do' list.
Here is a sneak peek at some of the progress so far.

I painted some mdf letters from with red and white stripes and then coated them with a couple of coats of varnish for shine. They're mounted with hanging putty so when I'm ready to decorate the whole room or if I get tired of the crooked style, I can change it!

I found this Pottery Barn Kids bookshelf on Craigslist for $20 and love the little nook created by tucking it into the corner as you come into the room.

There are two steps down into the room and they make a little seat for reading and allow the shelf to be at a perfect height for little ones.

The Willkommen puppy sign is a souvenir from Germany and I found the Smile, Giggle, Be Silly at Homegoods. I wish it was a little bigger because it's so perfect for a playroom.

Decorating a playroom might just be more fun than decorating a nursery. I have a lot of cute things in store if I can find a little more time in the day!