Mamas, I've finally reached my limit with the toys all over the house! It was somewhat manageable with one child, but now with two girls and two sets of toys I just can't take it anymore! :)
We're converting our guest room into a play room and I'm looking for fun ideas for storage, decor, etc. The room isn't all that big. We're having a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelving unit with a window seat installed this weekend, but other than that I'm at a loss.
Do any of you moms have any ideas for what works -- or what doesn't -- in a playroom for two little girls? The oldest just turned three and the youngest is 8 months, but I obviously want stuff that will last/adapt as much as possible as they get older. Thanks!
I just did a playroom for my daughter. the land of nod has great alphabet 8x10 cards for the wall. They also have woven bins that I used on a bookshelf for toys. They really hold up to the little ones dragging them around
In our play room we painted part of a wall with chalboard paint(buy at loews or home depot) And it works exactly like a chalk board.We also got a peice of sheet metal and put that on the wall for magnets and hanging art work.It has been great.T.
My main suggestions are to make it easy for the kids to get the things they use the most, and easy for them to put them back. Clear containers are great - so they can see what's inside, but if you don't like the look or want to use something else, then take a picture and put it on the outside of the container. Don't try to "shove" too many things into a space either - I've found things that I can easily fit on a shelf together are impossible for the little ones to do. Also, this is difficult and requires storage elsewhere, but if you can put some stuff in the basement and rotate it in and out, it makes it all new when they see it again. I also found a small carpet sweeper kept in the room makes for handy cleanup of craft projects, etc..(get a Bissell at WalMart for $20). I just did a playroom myself, and found reasonably priced baskets at the Mill Stores (there's one in Stratham, NH). Also Christmas Tree shops had some wonderful foldable "linen" covered boxes with lids in vibrant colors (lime green, pink, blue and cream) that were really reasonably priced (I pinned name tags on them with descriptions of what's inside). I also tend to leave the lids off all containers. The kids can't get them off, and they just get tossed all around. Better to have an open container the kids can see into. Good luck!
Do you have any storage? We put toys in bins & then put the bins in the basement. I rotate out what they want to play with. They always have toys out, just not all of them at once. It seems to work well for us.
Hi M.!
good luck with your play room. We set one up for our soen two years ago adnit is great. One thing i did was purchased soem Post it note photo paper adn used it to make labels for the bins adn baskets that held teh various collectins of toys. My sone helped set up adn take the pictures adn after I printed it, I labeled the picture with a word adn we stuck them on the bins together. It helps with clean up and finding what he is looking for. It also helps when he has freinds over for play dates, to know what goes where. The lables do not last forver, and they are easy to peel off, so it is not perfect, but it works.
Another thing I learned is to "close" or limit some of the baskets of toys during play dates. I can't believe that I forgot that my little guy is so used to his toys, but the guests found it all new and novel and great for dumping! Oh what a mess-but they had a great time!
Good luck!
C.
I purchased these wooden shelves that hold plastic bins from Ikea. They are sturdy and perfect for all the toys, clothes, diapers, etc. that my son has. They are in my living room. I think the name of it is the Trofast system. They have different size bins and different colors (I think even pink). You can find it under children's ikea on their website. If that is too casual, they also have the wooden shelving unit that you put baskets in. My sister has it and purchased hers at Ikea. Ikea has great organizational units and they are pretty inexpensive.
M.,
they certainly are not the prettiest or fanciest of things but we just have plastic bins with the covers that clip on and have wheels. They've literally survived two girls, a move, over flowing toys, banging, etc. They will last you and are easy to store and move around.
A few quick functional ideas: Get the paint that dries like a chalkboard and make your own chalkboard on part of a wall. Put up corkboard or narrow strips of it so you can display their artwork. Get a case of some sort so you can display their 3-d artwork, there will be lots of it coming as they get into school! Stores sell vynal wall clings now so you can peel them off and change the designs as they grow for not much $. Good luck, have fun!
Once your shelving unit is installed, measure the shelves - that will ensure that whatever bins you get will fit on them without hanging over the edge. I wouldn't bother with lids for the bins. I would suggest a separate bookcase, away from the toys, with a bean bag, to make a reading corner. With all this said, I'd recommend holding off on buying too much at the beginning. Resist the urge to complete the room now. Live with it for a while and see how the kids use the room, so you don't end up with furniture or storage ideas that don't work for the way they play. Your kids are lucky! May they have lots of fun in their playroom!
My kids have had a playroom since my daughter was 3 (she's now 12 and my son is 8). It has changed many times over the years and I've learned one very important thing - scale down. My kids wouldn't play with their toys because there was just too much to choose from and it was overwhelming. I finally decided to keep it simple and select toys that they enjoyed, were easy to organize, could be used for many different activities and that they wouldn't outgrow or lose interest in too quickly. By doing this I provided a neater space with more playing room that was easy for my kids to maintain some organization in. Bins are a great idea but I most recently puchased some plastic stackable drawers that I think help keep the toys from overflowing and out of the bin.
Another key is to purge as often as possible - I do it every few months, you never know what has ended up in those bins when you aren't looking.
My last suggestion would be not to expect to set-up and organize the playroom only once. If you see something isn't working, change it - as often as you need to. Kids change the way they play so the way their toys are set-up should change with them. Once you've got the organizational tools they can be reused in any way that fits the needs of your kids.
Good luck!!!
Hi M.,
Many parents are at a loss when it comes to fun storage and play spaces! I own a custom children's design company named Bumblebug that specializes in room design. I provide one-on-one assistance to create a plan that you and your family would love! I also offer hand-painted murals, wall accents, furnishings and draperies. Since each family's needs are unique, I can work within a budget! I am located in Hartford and also offer in-home consultations. You can look at my clients reviews on Mamasource under Bumblebug.
Thanks and good luck,
O.
I also agree that Ikea has great storage units for now much money. We also made the bench seating in our basement into trunks also. We made the top flip up with hinges so that there is storage inside the bench seating. Then we placed lots of pillows on top.
The chalkboard paint is great - we used it on the door in one of our rooms - so my DD can draw. I have also seen people use it on top of an old kids table - so the kids can draw right on top of the table.
Instead of a toy boy we use rubbermaid containers - they may not be as pretty and cute - but they are durable - and easy to move around.
Make sure you have a small table and chairs for the kids to sit and draw, read, etc. We also have lots of big pillows so that we can crash on the floor comfortably.
have fun with it - and remember it will get banged around - so just don't hope everything stays prestine. My DD bangs something all the time :) LOL.
have fun!
I recently created a playroom for my 2 kiddos. I put some older furniture in there so they had a place to sit (or us to sit in there with them) that I am not worried about getting ruined. I also put up chalkboard paint on one section of wall and I LOVE it. Both kids use it and it's relatively easy to put up (just follow the directions). My daughter just turned one when we put the room together and even she loves using the big colored sidewalk chalk on the wall.
We also put Tinkerbell decals on one wall and Cars decals on the other (I have a boy and girl). I even let them pick the colors of the walls and although it's pretty ugly to me, they love it and I figured I can always re-paint later. It's lime green on 2 walls and royal blue on the other two. HEHEHE.. Good luck and have fun!
one idea: When my girls (now 8and9) were little, I bought the wooden peg coat racks at the unfinished wood store (under $5), painted them and hung all the dress up on those. This way, they could get hung up and not shoved into a bin - which is fine to store, but when they go digging, they all end up everywhere. I used hangers too, and they liked how it all looked "displayed" so they were encouraged to put them away when finished (and prompted!)
