If you were a kid again, what kind of playroom would you most like to have: a basement full of discarded furniture (because no one cares if you jump on that worn-out couch), or a colorful room that celebrates toys and art and makes you invites climbing walls?
It is not difficult to guess which many parents have recently chosen for their children.
“Growing up, the playroom was always the worst room in the house because it wasn’t given much attention,” says Karri Bowen-Poole, a former teacher who is the founder of Smart playrooms, a design firm in Rye, NY “So it was incredible for me to see the transformational thinking that has happened. Design affects children – how they feel about themselves, what they do and what we can make them do just by how we create a space.
A thoughtfully designed playroom should be equally appealing to children and adults, says Anne Gillyard, an early childhood development specialist who founded grOH! Playroomsa design firm in Washington, DC, with Jodi Arellano, a former teacher.
“One thing many adults feel when they walk into their children’s playroom is, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to be here,'” Ms Gillyard said. “But if we can create this space where the whole family – adults and children alike – feel welcome and want to spend time, then they’re more likely to use it, play in it, bond and just have a really rich relationship. ” .”
So what makes for an extraordinary playroom? We asked designers for some tips on how to make one.
Have fun with the decor
If there’s one room where you should feel free to play with color and pattern, it’s the playroom.
“This is the place where you can do anything,” says Susana Simonpietri, a partner at Chango & Co.a Brooklyn-based design firm that has drawn admirers on Instagram with photos of children’s rooms full of color and pattern.
Ms. Simonpietri likes to use bold, graphic wallpaper in playrooms and has patterned with vibrant diagonal yellow stripes, animal illustrations and large-scale overlapping geometric shapes. For durability, she sometimes chooses a vinyl-based wallcovering, but in most cases a high-quality paper wallcovering will work just fine, she said, especially if the room has wainscoting.
Some of her clients worry that they will get tired of those eye-catching patterns or that the wallpaper will become damaged over time, Ms Simonpietri said. But she reminds them that it can be replaced quite easily.
“People think wallpaper is something you have to love for the rest of your life, but it’s actually temporary,” she said. “You can go for it now and change it later.”
Another option is to paint a mural or bright, solid colors on the walls and ceiling. The designers of grOH! Playrooms often design murals for walls and ceilings with motifs reminiscent of mountains, rainbows and water lilies. Like wallpaper, a mural can feel like a major decorative hazard, but not when you consider that it can be painted over if you get tired of it.
Prepare the floor
Hardwood, painted wood, and wall-to-wall carpeting are all acceptable flooring choices for a playroom. But if you’re renovating and have the chance to try something new, Ms. Bowen-Poole recommended choosing a sturdy material like luxury vinyl tile (aka LVT) or laminate.
“They’re just super easy to clean,” she said. “Pets, children and markings hardly leave any traces.”
Mary Flo Ouellette and Steven Santosuosso, the partners of Squarehouse Studiosa design firm in Somerville, Massachusetts, such as commercial grade carpet tiles such as those of Flor. Not only are they easy to clean, but if you buy a few extra, you can easily replace individual tiles in the future. That way, Ms. Ouellette said, “you don’t have to worry about spills, paint and things like that.”
Layered on top of the primary floor, area rugs can add softness and help define areas of the playroom. They are also easy to replace if they become worn or stained.
In active areas where there is a risk of an emergency landing, Ms. Bowen-Poole likes to roll out a thick foam mat. And if there is enough space, she sometimes builds a pit of foam cubes.
Install friendly furniture
To furnish a playroom, Ms. Simonpietri prefers long, low seating options with no sharp angles, as they are just as good for headstands and somersaults as they are for lounging with a book. Sometimes she installs a low-slung sofa. Other times she uses French mattress-style cushions on the floor and piles them on with patterned fabric cushions.
Anyway, she said, “You want something that’s really well padded,” to avoid injury. And if you choose mattress-sized floor pillows, she added, they can be pulled into the room for sleepovers.
Tables can also be designed to move. Jen Talbota Chicago interior designer who began her career designing children’s spaces, often uses work tables on wheels in playrooms.
“We make a lot of children’s tables on wheels so you can move things around,” Ms. Talbot said. If the table is in the center of the room, it can be used for art projects, games and puzzles, she said, “but then it can move aside if they want to build a huge block structure.”
Create a toy hub
Storage is critical if you want to keep a playroom from becoming a chaotic mess. And the most vital piece, Ms Gillyard said, is a storage wall she calls a “toy hub.”
This could be an inexpensive unit from Ikea or a comprehensive set of built-in appliances, she said, but her favorite designs include cubbies that keep different toys separate. “It really helps kids know where things go back,” she said.
Smaller toys can be collected in bins or baskets that are stored in the cubbies. “Larger or oddly shaped toys can be placed in bins on the floor,” said Ms Gillyard.
She also suggested having a set number of bins in the playroom and placing excess toys in deep storage. “We often get the question, ‘Well, where’s everything else?'” said Ms Gillyard. “Our answer to that is toy rotation, with a library of toys elsewhere.”
An advantage of this system, she noted, is that children often find old toys that have been in storage a while enticing again.
If you’re going to add built-in shelving to the room, Ms. Ouellette recommended keeping it fairly simple rather than opting for a youthful design so it can be used as book storage in the future. “If you’re going to do recess and put that much work into a room,” she said, “you have to ask yourself how it’s going to work for you in five to 10 years.”
Add an Art Station
In addition to toys, an art making area is a popular feature in the playroom. Depending on the shape of the room, a table and chairs can be placed in an alcove or nook, or at one end of the room.
Walls near the table can play a supporting role. One or a few walls can be covered with chalkboard paint or a dry-wipe coating for children to draw on the walls. Mrs. Simonpietri has put up large notice boards. Mrs. Talbot once strung a line with binder clips to create a place for displaying art.
For one playroom, Squarehouse Studios created a multi-purpose wall by mounting floor-to-ceiling metal panels that work with magnets but are also covered in chalkboard paint. Then the designers added holders for rolls of paper that could be unfolded for painting.
Let them swing, jump and climb
If you have the space, you can add features that make your playroom feel like an indoor playground.
When Ms. Bowen-Poole started designing playrooms, she focused on toy storage and art stations, she said. But nowadays she often looks for opportunities to introduce equipment that focuses on gross motor skills, including climbing frames, climbing holds and swings.
“We can use the walls and ceilings and have all these activities that meet their sensory needs because they can swing, jump and get vestibular input,” she said. When she couldn’t find the products she was looking for, Mrs. Bowen-Poole founded a second company, Project playroomto make them, and now sells the pieces to other designers and individuals.
Kids will likely be fed up with just a few bars or climbing holds, she said, so when she installs them, try to create a circuit: For example, a wall of climbing holds leading to a series of ceiling-mounted climbing frames leading to a hanging rope .
Remember that such playground equipment must be securely mounted in a material that is stronger than drywall. “You need some form of blocking unless you have a concrete ceiling,” said Ms Simonpietri, referring to solid wood installed between ceiling joists that accepts mounting screws.
Mrs. Simonpietri is also a fan of swings and hanging chairs in playrooms. “But we definitely crashed a few when we first installed them,” she said. “That’s how we learned it.”
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