Rainy Day Fun - an indoor jungle gym

About a year ago,  we finished a 500 square foot addition on the second floor of our house.  While the kids' toys were getting smaller (polly pockets and lego's), the kids were are bigger and more active.  Our hope was that a new playroom would give them a place to run, jump, play and be loud.  And a place where the noise and mess could be hidden behind a closed door! Here is our house before construction began...

And three short months later, construction was complete!

We live in a part of the country where we often see this in our backyard...

Rainy weather isn't always conducive to spending time outdoors, so we created a small indoor jungle gym in the new playroom.  We were inspired by some friends who did something similar in their basement (OK, maybe 'inspired' isn't the correct word....we basically copied their idea!).

The rings are from Ikea and were relatively inexpensive.  The line is called Ekorre, but unfortunately, I cannot find it on their website anymore.  A set of two rings was $10 and I believe the ladder was $20.  Hopefully they will carry it again soon because the price really can't be beat!

Installing them was easy (thanks to the help of our builder!).    I purchased two 2x4's and painted them the same color as our ceiling.  Lag bolt screws were screwed into the 2x4's at even increments.

Our builder drilled the 2x4's into the cross beams in the ceiling, using giant screws to secure them into place.  Then, we clipped the Ikea rings and ladder onto the lag screw bolts.

They are so secure that Dan and I can even hang from them!  But mostly, it's kids under the age of 8 that are caught swinging.

Thank you to our friends for the great idea!  The rings have been a great indoor activity on many rainy days!

Jen

linking up to:

the shabby creek cottage, the 36th avenue, house of hepworths, the brambleberry cottage, somewhat simple, aka design, happy hour projects, romantic home, shabby nest, at the picket fence, common ground, stuff and nonsense, my repurposed life, it's a hodgepodge life, fingerprints on the fridge, chic on a shoestring decorating, redoux, a glimpse inside, days of chalk and chocolate, funky junk interiors, tatertots and jellosweet talk shop, toys in the dryer, a simply klassic home, six sisters stuff, be different act normal, i heart naptime, sisters of the wild west, nifty thrifty things, my 1929 charmer, i should be mopping the floor, making the world cuter, diy home sweet home, sumos sweet stuff, craft o maniac, embellishing life, the southern institute, between naps on the porch, how to nest for less, home stories a to z, my uncommon slice of suburbia, todays creative blog, tip junkie, debbie doos creations, romance on a dime