Before the Homearama show wrapped this weekend, we slipped in on Friday with Teddy in our carrier (Clara was with the grandparents) to see the homes while visitors were still touring. It was great to talk with guests, watch our pantry fill with food donations, and even find a sweet note left on a notepad in the girls’ room. The highlight was seeing the People’s Choice Award that our house won—the voting was tight and every home was beautifully done. It’s hard to capture how much we learned during this year-long project; being part of it was a true honor.
Even though the show is over, we still have more of our virtual tour to share. Today we’re covering the home’s playful spaces: the kids’ bedrooms, their shared bathroom, and the playroom/reading room.
We’ll start with the boys’ room (labeled “Bedroom 3” on the floor plan). The walls are painted Moonshine by Benjamin Moore, and the built-in bed area is the room’s main feature. The show encouraged carpentry upgrades to showcase customization possibilities, so this built-in was designed to fit a twin mattress and is dressed with Target bedding and Ikea pillows. If a future owner wants a larger bed, a full or queen could extend into the room by adding a simple platform; rolling under-bed drawers could replace the existing built-in drawers that would become inaccessible.
The desk is an Ikea find we picked up secondhand on Craigslist. The orange stool and wire basket are from Target. Lamps and lighting accents are HomeGoods discoveries, and the Legos scattered around the room are from my childhood stash—thanks, Mom, for hanging onto them.
The wooden crate framing the star actually came with the star as packaging; we liked how it looked and repurposed it as a little display ledge for Lego scenes.
Our favorite built-in feature is the raised nook we nicknamed the “Crow’s Nest.” We brainstormed this with John the Builder and John the Carpenter—both were essential to making it real. John the Carpenter even sourced a rolling library ladder and adapted fittings when we learned the original top rail would blow the budget. The bug pillow and the blue fabric in the nook are from Ikea. We didn’t get custom upholstery in time, but a small dog bed from HomeGoods fit almost perfectly and was re-covered in the Ikea fabric. The overhead pendant is part of our Shades of Light collection.
On the shelves we mixed books and playful props; my favorite is the “Viking Octopus” plush loaned by a friend—because, naturally, an octopus can be a bearded Viking.
The room’s patterned carpet is Stanton’s Revere in Silver from a local supplier, ProSource. We wanted one bedroom to have a special carpet since most of the house features hardwood floors, and the textured pattern felt playful and practical for a kid’s space.
At the foot of the bed there’s additional drawer storage and a large wardrobe left empty so future owners can customize shelving or add another clothing bar. There’s also a closet on the opposite wall for bonus storage.
The two kids’ bedrooms connect via a Jack-and-Jill bathroom designed to be light and neutral so it flows between the distinct bedrooms. The walls are Simply White, the floor is a white lantern tile with gray grout for durability, and the vanity cabinet—our colorful moment—is painted Courtyard Green by Benjamin Moore.
A wall-to-wall mirror spans the vanity with mirror-mounted faucets and a recessed double trough sink set into a white Corian countertop. Many visitors told us the big sink and mirror-mounted faucets were their favorite bathroom features, so that design choice paid off. Towels and bath accessories are from Target.
Behind the sink is the bath/shower/toilet area. We added built-in shelving above the toilet for extra storage—something John the Carpenter planned during rough-in by setting the toilet plumbing slightly away from the wall. The framed poster in the bathroom is from Help Ink.
John also installed slatted wainscoting, which balances nicely with the ornate floor tile.
The shower uses two colors of glass tile to create chunky stripes, and the showerhead includes a Bluetooth-connected speaker—something kids (and adults) loved during tours.
We also added a small towel nook behind the shower, styled with rolled towels for easy access and a neat visual detail.
Now for the girls’ room. One of the most interested buyers actually has two boys, so they’d tweak this room to fit sons—Sherry is already planning to “house crash” them someday. We installed a large window cornice built by U-Fab in patterned fabric, mixed bedside tables (a blue Target table and a yellow garden stool from HomeGoods), moved the bed slightly toward the center, added pillows and a blue throw, and hung casual art along with surprise string lights.
“Princess Truthful,” a chicken painting loaned by a friend, sits above a thrifted headboard painted Hydrangea Flowers by Benjamin Moore, set against a stenciled Hibiscus pattern over Simply White walls. A glass-based lamp from Target adds a soft glow.
The double desk adds concealed storage and a large work surface. After reading reader suggestions, we staged one side as an art station (complete with a kid-level painting) and the other as a homework area with room for a laptop or monitor. The chairs were thrifted, painted, and reupholstered, and pillows came from HomeGoods.
We wanted an unexpected ceiling detail above the desk, so we strung a 50-foot strand of cafe lights on discreet hooks. We had an outlet added up in the vaulted ceiling that connects to a switch by the door so the lights are a fun surprise when turned on but barely noticeable when off.
On the door side of the room we kept styling casual with taped-up art, an Ikea poster above the dresser, and customized rail hooks by the door for bags and jackets.
Beyond that door the hallway leads to the playroom/reading room, which sits behind sliding French pocket doors so it can be open for family time or closed for quiet reading.
The playroom walls are painted Dragonfly by Benjamin Moore. The built-ins were intended to be painted the same color but were left white by the painters; it turned out to be a happy accident because the contrast felt right. Wall art is from World Market and a wood plaque was a thrift find.
We debated staging the room as a media or video game space, but chose a simpler layout: a low table donated by West Elm, two poufs from Target for board games, and a Dash & Albert rug. We even glued down the Monopoly pieces after worrying small children might try to eat them—thank you to the buyer’s daughter who taught us that safety lesson in advance.
The room includes a large shelved closet for game storage. We kept the styling light—no need to demonstrate over-cluttered closets when we already do that in our own home.
And with that slightly dramatic game-closet finale, we’ll wrap this photo-heavy post. We planned to include the remaining rooms here, but we’re already long-winded and will follow up next week with the final spaces plus a video walk-through we filmed.
Thank you to everyone who toured the showhouse, donated to Habitat, left canned goods in our pantry, and cheered us on through this decorating marathon. We couldn’t have done it without you. As for Teddy’s first official showhouse visit—he slept through the whole thing.
Psst – Want to see more showhouse photos and details? Check our full showhouse tour for final room photos, the floor plan, budget information, the video walk-through, and the shoppable list of furniture and accessories.