Show me your playroom, please!

[aahjed]

We're moving to a house with a playroom, which we have never had before. It's on the third floor, pretty big, really bright, with cathedral ceiling. I'd like to make it a nice space for my DS (4 yo) and DD (1 yo).

For design, I love clean, contemporary, modern design. Like Offi, Dwell, oeuf, bludot

I'd like something gender neutral and not too babyish. I don't want to spend too much money on furniture as this might be a short term (less than 2 year) move and I don't know if our next house will also have a playroom. I also can't decide if I should get a train table. We have a lot of train pieces, but we don't use them that much. On the other hand, we may be able to use the train table to play games, draw, etc.

I'd love to include:
toy storage
open floor space
table for arts and crafts
sofa or chair and a half
maybe our little PBK kitchen (it's no longer made, but it's really small and compact) and maybe more play kitchen pieces

I'd love to see IRL pics, or websites that you've looked at for inspiration. I remember years ago seeing pictures of people's playrooms, but I can't find that thread anymore.

[The Review Mommy]

Well my photo isn't really HG perfect lol but our playroom has toys in a Ikea LACK bookcase. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! VERY durable and you could use it in an office or bedroom/living room later on. They have matching shelving and other pieces with lots of different colors. You can put two of the coffee type tables together to make a train table/drawing table. They had it displayed like that in our Ikea store with the kiddie chairs. I'm looking at my Ikea TV Solutions Brochure right now and on pg 42-47 they some neat ideas. They had the small LACK bookcase laid on its side to use for the TV but that would be nice as toy storage too with the cubbies. EXPEDIT is a fav on here.

I suggest going through Ikea and picking up a few brochures of ideas. Should give you some inspiration.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=lack

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/

Ikea fans gallery
http://www.ikeafans.com/galleries/

[The Review Mommy]

Sorry, I'll try again...

[brittone2]

We don't have a playroom, but for some ideas, you can always check out something like flickr and ohdeedoh.com. One group that I can think of off the top of my head on flickr is called Go To Your Room: Kids' rooms at home or something like that. That one incorporates bedrooms, etc. but it may give you some ideas. Ditto the recommendations for checking Ikea too. We love our Expedit(s).

[endlessheather]

We did the Ikea route too :) I wish we had more of a bonus room / play room but we have our loft upstairs set up, for now. Here's some pics of it but we have since added a play kitchen to the right of the TV along the railing. The train table is a Nilo table and I like that it used for other things besides our trains. We have used all Ikea Trofast stuff to organize the toys and made it a long bench seat, which I love. I was surprised that the Trofast stuff is so nice and am in love with how much storage it provides. We were going to do the 2 tall towers instead of the shorter but we changed our mind since it seemed like a lot of furniture in such a small area. The chalkboard is a magnet wall also but we have since added trim to match around it to match the rest of the house and a 2nd coat. :)

Anyhow, here you you go. I've seen some AMAZING playrooms on this board, HGTV and on flickr accounts.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3362243522_afd5ee0348.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3593/3361427975_f5b7e68407.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3362245206_5a5eb679e3.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3361427509_bd0f56b977.jpg?v=0

[new_mommy25]

Here is the flickr link that Beth mentioned. Some of the rooms are amazing! http://www.flickr.com/groups/kids_rooms/

[aahjed]

Thanks for the pics and links, everyone! I love seeing your playrooms. I think we will definitely get an expedit unit from IKEA.

Keep 'em coming, please!

[JdrKuhnert]

I saw a great idea at our IKEA. They created a train table out of 2 of the shorter Trofast units and then added a board on top to keep it all smooth. There's a lot more storage that way. We have a Kidkraft train table with drawers that has not held up well. We'll replace it with the Trofast idea.
I don't have any pictures, but this is our set up.
We don't have a play room, but have a play area in our living room. We use the 2x4 Expedit as a room divider. The bottom has 4 baskets and the top four shelves are for books and games. I really like having the baskets in the Expedit because they hold a lot and hide the mess. Along one wall we have a play tent that also serves as storage for stuffed animals. The train table and 2 short shelving units are along the bigger back wall. The other wall has their table and chairs. We left the middle open so that they have a place to play. They can pull everything out and put it back when they are finished.

[Ceepa]

The playroom in the pics is really cute. I love how open the space is. TFS!

[Melaine]

Oh I'm totally jealous now! I wish we had a playroom! I love your room, endlessheather, looks so cute and practical.

I was also going to suggest checking ohdeedoh, they have some great inspirational ideas!

[WatchingThemGrow]

My kids would love to have these playrooms! Instead, they get a living room with an equal amount of toys and furniture. What a mess.

[jren]

I got these units (cheap) from Target. I like that there is hidden storage and the drawers are great for organizing. It's a little different now - I'm constantly rearranging. We moved the kitchen behind the sofa - inside a play tent - and her table is right outside the tent. Then there's a desk with more shelving near the door. I don't have a picture, it's just an old desk from when I was a kid - repainted. Great place for all her art stuff, though.

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[MarisaSF]

Check out this blog with a really cool table that was hacked from IKEA stuff. Love this!
http://shisomama.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/how-to-kids-art-table/