The first project began with the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, as many of my projects do (Fall 2008 edition). At this point, we only had Drew and Owen and even with just the two little boys, the toys began to pile up in the family room, and were literally taking over. So much so, that we decided to transform our spare bedroom into a playroom to house the overwhelming pile of monster trucks, train tracks, legos and games that were invading our family room. In searching for the perfect design, I fell in love with a particular room decor and decided I must have it for the boys' playroom. So I set about selecting the right colors, figuring out how in the world to paint stripes on the walls that were 'perfect' (i.e. stripes that were level and equi-distant from each other and the floor - note that this idea was not well-thought through and will likely not be done again in the Niebruegge household), and how to design the cubby wall system featured in the PB Kids magazine without spending a fortune. This is where Uncle Tony comes in.
After only showing him a picture from the magazine, Uncle Tony designed a cubby wall system that boasted nine individual cubes, some of which had four more cubes internally hidden behind doors, and the middle cube which housed a flat screen TV for the boys to watch their movies on. He designed the handles in a tic, tac, toe pattern and painted and stained the entire unit to coordinate beautifully with the rest of the room. Check out his handywork:
And thanks to my Mom and her embroidery talents, each of our canvas baskets is organized to document the contents held therein (note that I don't think we've really been that organized since it was built!)
Uncle Tony also provided us with some great Lightning McQueen accessories for Drew's big boy room (this was another one of the crazy projects that started from a PB Kids room design - I decided to stencil the alphabet onto the wall in rotating colors when I was eight months pregnant and not thinking clearly - thanks to my Mom who helped a ton with this).
And speaking of handy, my Dad made the Thomas Train table below for Drew's third birthday. Drew LOVES trains and keeps this train table at the end of his bed for ease of play:)
This next project is amazing. Uncle Tony has blessed Drew, Owen and Evan with their very own, custom designed swing-set that features a wave slide, clubhouse, picnic table, rock-climbing wall, glider and three swings. From every angle, it is beautiful and a nice addition to our backyard!
For Easter, Uncle Tony designed 'specialty' birdhouses for the boys. Drew got a Thomas the Tank Engine birdhouse and Owen got an airplane (Greta got an adorable little dollhouse and Evan got his very own swing for the swing-set). All were custom painted and had their names engraved on them.
And although Uncle Tony wasn't involved in our baby room (Evan's room), I felt compelled to include some photos of his room since it is the only one not previously mentioned . . .
And finally, I'll share a photo of the handmade baby bassinet we've used for all of our kids. It was designed by Marvin Kloepper (my step-grandfather), for us, when we were little. Unfortunately, I don't think that my parents had enough room for it, so it went unused. When I was pregnant with Drew, my Grandma unveiled this beautiful piece of furniture and I was thrilled that this could serve as our babies' first crib. Baby Evan is still enjoying some good sleeping in this beautiful bassinet.
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