Our passage was always filled with an overflow of toys from my daughter’s bedroom. There was always an easel and crayons, a ball and some Lego scattered across the floor. Eventually I decided to stop fighting it and lean into the idea of our passage becoming a sort of Playroom. It’s been more than a year and I can honestly say, it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made. Once I defined the space, and gave everything a place and function within that space, my passage became a fun family hangout that somehow always looks great and is so much more organized than before.
This is also a great project to take on during Lockdown as a lot of what I used can be found in your kids toy chest or garage. If you don’t have a passage, maybe turn the space under the stairs into a mini Playroom or even the linen cupboard can be emptied out and re-imagined. It just takes a little imagination and some elbow grease.
Here’s how I transformed this ordinary passage into one of my favourite spaces….
Feature Chalk Board Wall
I used masking tape to create geometric shapes along the left hand side wall. The biggest shape I taped off was the lower half of the wall that I painted in a grey chalk paint. I used another shade of grey and some turquoise sample paints to paint the smaller shapes on the top of the wall. I added some Bob Marley lyrics I had, as a finishing touch to the feature wall
Tips and tricks
Start painting on the masking tape, moving away from the tape. Also pull the masking tape off before the paint completly dries, this helps to ensure smoother lines
Once your chalk paint is completly dry, you have to chalk the wall. This means you have to rub chalk over where you have painted and then wipe it off with a dry cloth. This leaves a fine layer of chalk behind and helps you to easily erase the chalk drawings in the future.
Activity wall
I also painted half this wall with chalk paint and then filled the wall with some fun activities.
Magnetic Whiteboard
I dismantled my daughter’s magnetic white board easlel and painted the edges of the frame. I attached it to the wall using double sided tape. I used gold spary paint to spray some colourful fridge magnets gold. I love the way it turned out.
The base of the eagle I used to make a art display. I threaded some rope through the holes and used pegs to hang up notes or pictures
Lego board
I attached 3 grey block boards to the wall using double sided tape. My kid could now play with her blocks vertically!
I also added some clipboards and a pin board to hang art work, notes or photographs.
Book Shelf Wall
My daughter’s bedroom is right next to this little library, so it really feels like an extention of her room. She can easy grab a book for bedtime or chill out and read on her elephant bean bag.
This is the first thing you see when you enter the passage, so I wanted it to represent us a family. I hung a lage family photo and added some ledge shelves. The white ones I bought new and the bottom shelf I bought from a second hand store and painted it in my accent colour. I filled the top shelf with little buckets of chalk, and magnets. The rest of the shelves I filled with some of my daughter’s favourite books.
This was really a fun and easy project to do. I started on a whim late one afternoon and by the next day everything was done. So if you’ve got some left over paint in the garage, why not paint a fun design in your passage or hang those pictures you’ve been meaning to. I feel like I’ve gained an entire room in my house with this project and I hope this inspires you to re-imagine what your passage could be.
CREATIVE | MOM | TRAVELER | DIY ENTHUSIAST 