Project-Playroom

We moved into our house about a year and half ago.  The previous owners used this as their dining room, but for us, it was always intended to be a play room. It has functioned quite well for us so far.  At the end of the day, we have a place to put all of the kids toys. There are still a few things I'd like to do to make this space work even better for us. I'll take you on a little tour of the room, and talk about what works-and what doesn't! 

One of my kids favorite things to do is color.  The table in here is a (very fortunate) hand me down from Pottery Barn.  It is big enough for a few to color at once, and durable enough for my 2 year old who occasionally uses it as a stage! One area I need to work on is storage for crayons, paper and other art supplies. Currently it is all housed in a large black box-which is a MESS! 

As for drawings and crafts, I have strung up two ribbons above the play kitchen, and we use clothes pins to hang up recent projects. 

The play kitchen holds most of our kitchen accessories.  We also use the shelves under the sink for a book shelf.  I have a few ideas to make each of these places work a bit better! Especially that coloring area!

 

1.  This is another area that works pretty well for us.  I purchased a rack of hooks to hang all of the dress up clothes on.  Ella got the doll crib for her second birthday, and I love it because it has the cabinets for storage underneath.  It's amazing how much doll stuff can fit in there! Above those on the wall, I made a pin board where we put pictures and invitations we receive from friends and family.  


2.  The storage unit from Target has been fantastic. Erin blogged about this same unit and how it works for her in her house a little while ago. Each bin contains a different type of toy, and it has not only helped keep toys organized, but it helps teach the kids to sort.  It helps keep things in order....sometimes! 

3. This  area DOES NOT work for me-at all!  The kids never ever us this train table.  On the rare occasion that they do play with trains, they build the tracks on the floor.  This table is mainly used to store the trains, and a few other toys underneath it.  It is obtrusive and wastes space.  This is moving out!

Over the next month (or couple of months, if I'm being realistic) I will be working on little projects to make this playroom more inviting, and more workable for us.  We still have toys stored in other parts of our house.  While I don't mind having them in those areas, it does not seem necessary when we have an entire room dedicated to play.  As I work on it, I will share some ideas, how tos, and certainly a few things that didn't quite work as planned.
  

-Lindsay