To say there is a lot going on in our rock & roll under stair playroom would be an under statement, and this post is all about sharing the sources of the products that we used to give this long, thin play space so many widely varied functions. If you are just looking for all the pretty pictures of this space, I suggest you start with the room reveal post.
I received some free products from Command Brand and from Ikea Centennial to help bring this room to life. As always, however, all opinions are completely my own, and I would never endorse a product that I didn’t believe in! This post also contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you will pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.
RECORD COVERED CEILING
RECORDS – The ceiling is covered in 135 vintage vinyl 45 RPM records. A few of these records came from various thrift stores around town, but the vast majority were purchased for a mere $.25/each at Angelo’s CDs near downtown Denver. During Week 2 of the One Room Challenge, I talked all about our experience shopping for enough records to cover the entire ceiling.
COMMAND™ PICTURE HANGING STRIPS – Although we love the look of the records on the ceiling, we wanted to find a damage free way to affix them so that they would be easy to remove in the future. We also wanted it to be easy to remove and replace individual records if the kids should break one. After considering all our options, we decided the best solution was to attach the records to the ceiling using Command™ Medium Picture Hanging Strips. We’ve used these Picture Hanging Strips for many projects in the past, so we knew they would hold strong, but would also remove cleanly and easily in the future. I’ll be sharing a full tutorial on the installation of these records in a the next couple of weeks.
ART & MUSIC GALLERY WALL
Because the room is so narrow, we wanted to give this wall a lot of function without taking up much depth. The solution we came up with was to create and art and music gallery wall that also incorporates small instrument/toy storage, as well as book storage. All of the frames and storage solutions on this wall came from Ikea.
FRAMES – All of the frames on the gallery wall are part of the Ikea Ribba series. Pictures frames can get expensive, but Ikea has a large collection of inexpensive picture frames (with mats) to suite any style! My Ribba series is my favorite because of the simple modern lines and color options.
- Large poster frames – Ribba, Aluminum Color, 20½” x 28¼”
- Our posters were non-standard sizes, so I removed the mats, wrapped the frame backer board in black wrapping paper, and placed the posters on top of the wrapping paper.
- I particularly like that these large frames have a thin, clear plastic instead of glass, making them ideal for use in a kids space – no fear of glass breaking!
- Frame around guitar – Ribba, Black, 19 ¾” x 27 ½”
- This frame comes with a mat for three photos. I removed the glass, mat and the backer board, and used red Scotch duct tape to cover the unfinished inner edge of the frame
- Frames used for kids art display – Ribba, Black, 12 ½” x 16½”
- These frames came with mats for 8×10 photos, I removed the mats and glass and collaged the backer board with brightly sheet music to create fun displays for our kids art work. I’ll be sharing the tutorial for these art displays soon.
- Square Frames (with black and white photos) – Ribba, 9″x9″
- We hung all the frames using Command™ Medium Picture Hanging Strips. By using this product, we were able to secure both the top and bottoms of the frames to the wall, which was important since many of the frames are within reach of the kids, and could easily be bumped as kids run in and out of the narrow space. The Picture Hanging Strips prevent the frames from swinging or moving when touched!
POSTERS
- Steeze Headphone Chimp (blue) – 13″x19″ (available in multiple colors, sizes and styles)
- ABCs Musical Instruments (available in multiple colors and sizes)
GUITAR & GUITAR HAND
- First Act Discovery Acoustic Guitar for Kids
- Silver Hand Guitar Hanger – (available in multiple colors)
SMALL INSTRUMENT & TOY STORAGE
- Storage Rails– Each 21¾” long
- Hanging Storage Buckets – Available in multiple colors
BOOK STORAGE & READING PILLOWS
- Magazine Racks – Magazine racks used for book storage; the ones I used are no longer available, but I linked to a similar version
- Pillows – All of the pillows are from Ikea
- Stockholm cushion (3)
- Vargyllen cushion (black & white stripes)
- Bjornloka Figur cushions (solid black, and black, white, gray and yellow pattern)
MAGNETIC WALL
We covered this entire wall in sheet metal, which we had fabricated to fit at a local Denver company – Calebs Sheet Metal Inc. They created four interlocking sheet metal panels to fit the exact measurements of our wall, and then we installed it ourselves. A complete installation tutorial will be coming soon.
The main function of this wall is for the ping pong ball wall coaster that we created using ABS pipes, plumbing elbows and connectors, and magnets (all from Home Depot). We decorate the pipes with Scotch duct tape, and purchased the ping pong balls from the Dollar Tree. A full tutorial for the ping pong ball wall coaster will be coming soon!
In addition to being used for the wall coaster, the sheet metal wall also allows the boys to play with their magnetic letters and numbers, and can also be used as a dry erase board.
LIGHTING
This under stair space originally had just a bare light bulb fixture on the wall. We installed a new light fixture on the wall, then added additional lighting in the form of rope light around the room, and lighted rugs on the floor.
- LED White Rope Light – We used boxes of 27′ length Commercial Electric LED White Rope Lighting
- We chose LED rope light for several reasons, the primary of which is because it does not get hot, making it safe for use in a space where the kids can reach it, and reducing fire hazard.
- We installed the rope lighting using Command Outdoor Rope Lighting Clips.
- Vantad Rugs with LED Lights from IKEA {now discontinued; but occasionally available on Ebay} – We used two of these rugs, butted end to end
- We leave the rugs plugged in all the time, and the kids use the control buttons (which are affixed to the base board using Command™ Medium Picture Hanging Strips) to turn the lights on and off, and to set the lights to solid or flashing.
- Mottled Silver Arm Hardwired Wall Sconce – We were told by our local Lowe’s that this light fixture has been discontinued, so we had to purchase the floor model. However, this fixture still appears on the Lowe’s website, and it looks like it is still available for online purchase, and the price can’t be beat
SHEET MUSIC COLLAGE & MARQUEE LETTERS
The sheet music collage on the upper portion of the walls was an easy DIY project, and I’ll share the tutorial for this collage technique soon. I purchased the printable sheet music online, and created the lyrics posters myself in Photoshop.
The marquee letters are from the Heidi Swapp Marquee Love Letter Kits from Michaels. I purchased each letter individually, and then decorated them to coordinate with the space. I’ll be sharing the quick and easy tutorial for these DIY marquee letters soon. The marquee letters sit on a 3 inch deep shelf that we installed above the door.
Finally, the Dutch door was a DIY project undertaken by my husband and father-in-law. Scott will be writing up the tutorial on converting a door to a dutch door, and I’ll be sharing that with you in the coming weeks.
MUSICAL TOYS
SHOP THESE INSTRUMENTS:
I think I managed to touch on just about everything in our under stair playroom, but if I missed anything, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email me.
MORE UNDER STAIRS PLAYROOM POSTS & TUTORIALS:
