Young House Love

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Playroom Plans

You guys already know that our playroom is looking kinda rough these days (thanks to this whole house update post from last week):

Prog Playroom

But we’ve decided that once we clear it out, it’ll actually suit our family better as a less traditional space. Burger is a beloved member of our family, so we think he deserves his own little area. And since Clara plays pretty much all over the house (in the office, the living room, the kitchen, and her room – depending wherever we are with her) we won’t really need an official “playroom” until baby number two comes along (and we turn the playroom into a bedroom).

And I’ll spoil the surprise for all of you folks on bump watch, Clara’s brother or sister will probably be about three years younger than her because I’ve got strict orders from my doc to give my body two full years between pregnancies to heal (thanks to some birth complications with Clara). And since it takes almost a year to bake a human on top of that two year waiting period, that’s where we came up with the whole three year approximation.

But back to the playroom. We’ve decided… drumroll please… to give Burger his own little nautical themed room! Because every pooch deserves some sea faring fun. He always seems to have the best time at the beach, so that jumped out at us as the right environment to really set him at ease. The sea gulls, the warm summer air, the sailboats, an errant pelican. What eight pound chihuahua wouldn’t love that? But enough talking, here’s our Burger-licious mood board:

Playroom Mood Board

  1. Our color palette will be pretty straightforward: navy, red, and white (with some natural wood tones and maybe a few pops of yellow worked in there for fun). The walls will stay white with graphic red & navy accents along with a super cool mural for added pop (more on that later).
  2. How cute would a few of these $33 seagull mobiles be when hung in a flock from the ceiling? Burger should like them since he loves watching real birds flap around outside in real life.
  3. This boat-ish dog bed was the inspiration for the entire nautical theme. At $260 it’s not cheap, but what can I say? Burger’s like L’Oreal. He’s worth it. Plus it’s such a room-making detail that we just couldn’t pass it up.
  4. Here’s the mural that I want to paint on one of the walls. I like that it’s obviously sea-inspired without being too over the top (a dock with a single pelican in the foreground feels kind of “understated” compared to some of the other busy and über bold murals that we’ve seen).
  5. This weathered ship’s wheel (for $34) should look cool on one of the mural-less white walls in the room.
  6. No dog room is complete without an on-theme dog toy, so this $7.99 blue anchor chew toy definitely fits the bill.
  7. And since we want to keep Burger looking “cohesive” with the rest of the room, we can’t wait to pick up this $27 outfit to help him get into character.
  8. Instead of something more traditional, we thought hanging fisherman’s nets (just $17.99 a pop) as “curtains” would add lots of texture and more sea-faring fun. Fingers crossed Burger doesn’t get all tangled up in them. Haha.

So that’s our vision for the playroom, at least for the next few years. Should be interesting.

Now I’m just putting words here, just to fill up space so that when you’re reading the numbered points above your eyes don’t skip down the page and notice this next part. You know, because it’ll ruin the surprise.

So in case you’re wondering if we’re totally off our rockers… we might be. But this post is still totally a joke.

Playroom Joke

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Did we get you? Did the $260 dog bed tip you off? Or was it our description of the pelican mural as “understated”? Did you really think Burger would be caught dead in that sailor’s suit in the name of cohesive design? Or did you all know this was coming given our history of April Fools Day hijinks (like this post and this post)?

Comments

  1. Cheryl Balmas says

    ahhhh this brings back memories from long ago! I so wanted a playroom when my kids were small (they are 21 and 27 now!) and at the time we could only put one in our finished basement as we didn’t have an extra room. But I had more fun putting it together. It was a large room next to our lower level family room with half walls so they wouldn’t be all ‘closed in’. I’m an organization freak so shelves and bookcases were a must and colorful bins, baskets, etc. all the same size and shape and clearly marked for each type of toy. Yeah, I’m a little anal, but the kids were real good about putting things away in the right spot. They loved their playroom. Have fun with yours! I’m sure it will be functional and fashionable! :)

    Reply

  3. Emy says

    I actually thought : Poor Sherry… she tripped last night and fell on her head… And today, she woke up completely crazy… Hope John gets her back on track before anything bad happen ! Happy April Fool’s guys !

    Reply

  5. Crystal says

    Dude, this totally got me! That room would have looked horrible simply because it has nothing to do with your house’s personality. I love you guys-way to go!

    Reply

  7. kemmie says

    ok ya’ll got me! I was even thinking of which room I could turn into a room for my dog Savannah…she’s sooo spoiled! lol

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s 100% true that we have to wait 2 years between pregnancies. I had a scary complication called placental abruption when I went into labor (which can be fatal to babies and mommas) so the doc wants me to heal up nice and strong!

      xo,
      s

  10. Sarah says

    It was the mural… made me think of my dentist’s office and how he has all these FISH painted everywhere. SO. UGLY.
    but Nautical… I thought you guys had lost it for sure. tricky, tricky!!

    Reply

  11. Stacie Johns says

    Actually, I’ll admit that you totally got me. I kept thinking, “There’s no way they’d do this. There’s just no way!” But I was completely sucked in. Kudos! The joke is totally on me! <3

    Reply

  14. Angie says

    I totally forgot it was April Fools! You got me for the first prank of the day! This room totally wasn’t your jive but then I thought, “Well, if anyone can pull it off it’s John and Sherry. How in the world are they gonna make this work? Should be interesting…” Then I read the last line.
    On another note, how rad is it that so many people can ‘know’ you just by reading your blog?

    Reply

  15. jana says

    I opened up your blog today totally expecting an April fools joke and then got into reading the post and forgot all about April fools! I thought it was serious even as I was having multiple flashbacks of trading spaces episodes as well as memories of neighbors nautical themed rooms growing up, with the nautical wall paper and fish nets hanging in a corner with fake fish caught in them, etc. I thought u were nuts! Especially since hanging fish nets seems like a huge choking hazard. Anyway, u totally got me. Can’t believe I didn’t catch on! Lol!

    Reply

  16. Paige says

    um…I shockingly believed this and was super nervous for you guys. As I was reading the post, I kept thinking, “man…the YHL fans are going to HATE this idea (me as well)”

    ha! so glad it’s a joke. I totally forgot it was April Fool’s Day.

    Reply

  17. kk says

    i must have missed april fools last year because i thought you guys lost it! i was so disgusted after the mood board, i stopped reading and almost left your blog seriously questioning if i should return. luckily i scrolled down to see if there was another post and saw “april fools”! that mural…haha!

    Reply

  18. Meg says

    Dangit. You guys got me again this year. I was thinking the nautical theme, let alone a room for Burger was a bit of a stretch.

    Reply

  20. Kelly says

    Totally got me!

    I started feeling sorry for you with the whole bump watch description. I’m hoping that’s all part of the joke, too?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hah, nope, bump watch definitely happens. My own mother is guilty! So I toss the whole “doctors orders” thing out there whenever I can. Doesn’t seem to stop the belly gazing though. Haha. Maybe the trick posts like this one make people distrust us. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  21. Barbara says

    You guys had me fooled! Thank God you were just joking. I was questioning the $260 sailboat doggie bed though. hahahahahaha!

    Reply

  25. Alice says

    I caught when I saw the color scheme of navy, red and white. Besides, we all know that Burger doesn’t need his own room when he has an ENTIRE HOUSE at his disposal!

    Reply

  29. Mary @ stylefyles says

    hahhaa I enjoyed that April Fools. Thanks for the reminder about what day it is…..I was totally faked out by your plan, and all I could think is how Burger would react when he (eventually) gets kicked out of his room. You know if/when another nugget comes along.

    Reply

  30. Crystal says

    Dang it! April Fools gets me every time! haha One of my facebook friends just got me by saying they were pregnant and now you guys got me…oh bother…lol :)

    Reply

  31. Kat says

    Ha ha ha. You are so funny! I believed it and was thinking “what are they doing?!” I also wondered why it didn’t match Sue the napkin (which btw I also own. I’ve also got the green lamp with the cut outs from Home Goods / TJ Maxx).

    Reply

  33. Donita says

    OK you “almost” got me, by the time I read through the list, I was thinking, this has to be a joke. APRIL FOOL’S joke, of course!!!!! LOL Love it!!
    P.S. That is good that you are giving your body a rest, before baby number two. Most of my family and friends, have had their babies two years apart. With our first, our son, I had complications during and after birth. We waited for baby number two, our daughter, until our son was 3 1/2 years old. I would never do it any differently. It gave us great time with our son. When Deena was able to move around, walk, etc, Daniel was in school. It was her turn to get undivided attention. I watch families with two babes, two years apart, and see EXHAUSTION. LOL

    Reply

  37. Jen says

    I’m embarrassed to admit that you guys totally had me going… I thought this was the beginning of the end of YHL. What a huge relief when I scrowled down!

    Reply

  38. Erin J says

    Oh thank God. I believed you, but was so, so, so disappointed in you. I thought, “This is the first thing these two have done that I have hated! What happened to their sense of style?”

    Reply

  39. sarah k says

    Oh man, you had me for a while. And I was thinking you were crazy! But the dog bed was a little much for me–and then I remembered what day it is today! :) Thanks for the laugh!

    Reply

  40. Crystal says

    I TOTALLY BELIEVED IT!!! I even was looking forward to your April Fools post, and I forgot it was today. I was also questioning your sanity for sure. It didn’t make any sense to me! AND the cost of the dog bed?!? Seriously why didn’t I get it then?? You guys are great!

    Reply

  42. Jen says

    LOL!! You all totally got me. I guess I put a lot of faith in your ideas because it wasn’t until I almost got to the “extra words” part that I was like, “This is kind of a weird idea.” :)

    Reply

  43. Ashley says

    Wow, so many red flags were telling me, “YHL has changed, find a new favorite blog….now”. Great April fools joke. Totally fell for it.

    Reply

  44. AT says

    Ha, I totally just met a woman who is having a custom bidet built in her master bath for her CAT to use as a litter box. So to some people in this great world, this room would totally be subdued.

    (and yeah, you kinda got me)

    Reply

  45. BarbaraB says

    ROFL! You sure got me. I’m thinking what they HEY with that stupid expensive bed and tacky nets and so on. LOL. I did think you flipped your seabird.

    Reply

  47. Henbec Decor says

    This is the first time I have read your blog, so I was thinking what the heck is this, who decorates a whole room for a dog? HAHA I am so happy it was a joke, thanks for the good laugh today!

    Reply

  49. susan says

    Oh thank goodness. I was starting to think y’all were totally nuts. The whole thing just seemed too bizarre – that *should* have been the tip-off right there!

    Reply

  50. katie k moore says

    ummm… totally bought it. i love everything nautical. but when i saw the dog bed, that’s when i knew something was up!

    Reply

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