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One of the reasons why we chose the house we did was because it has so much space, and lots of rooms that we could do what we wanted with. We are fortunate to have two reception rooms on the ground floor and the living room is a decent size so we turned the second reception room into a modern playroom for the children with a rainbow theme.
The room really lends itself to being a playroom. It is in the middle of the house so the children can be heard easily and it has doors that lead out into the garden so in the summer they can run in and out with their toys. It is a victorian house and we love the original features that we have, but there aren't many in here so it lends itself well to a more modern playroom theme.
What the playroom looked like before
The playroom was one of the first rooms that we decorated when we moved in - here is what it looked like. It doesn't look hugely different now but we have learnt what works and what doesn't in the space and given it a little makeover to make it baby proof for the littlest one. I really love it now, it is easy to rotate toys and to see where everything belongs and therefore easy to put toys away. It is bright and colourful because this stimulates the senses and gives it a bright look befitting a modern playroom.
I've popped a video tour of the room on my YouTube channel and you can watch it further down this post but let me walk you through it here too.
An Artwork Wall
On the wall as you walk in I have made a feature wall out of the children's artwork. I've fixed it to the tape with washi tape so it's really easy to put up new artwork and it doesn't ruin the paintwork when you take it off.
Toy Organisation
Keeping everything organised and accessible is really important in a modern playroom.
We also got two of these Ikea Besta units which provide great storage. Inside we have stacked up all the games and there are also these Ikea Kuggis storage boxes that contain smaller items like duplo, puzzles and stickle bricks.
We took all the puzzles out of their boxes and stored them in Ikea sandwich bags to save space. We cut out the picture of the completed puzzle from the box and included it in the bag so we know what the completed puzzle looks like. It has saved so much space and it is much easier to look through all the puzzles to see which there are. Little Boy has played with so many puzzles since we did this, it has made such a difference having them more accessible.
We have done a similar thing with our small games such as Orchard Games. This time I used these sturdier zip bags and it has created so much space getting rid of all the boxes for everything.
A reading corner
Next we created a little reading nook in the corner. An Ikea Billy bookcase stores the books (in rainbow colour order to look pretty!). I love how the books look when they are organised like this but it also makes it easy for the little ones to put them away as they know exactly where to put them. The bean bags are amazing - they are actually filled with all our stuffed toys! Such a great space saving solution and they easily unzip if they want to play with them. I can't find the exact ones we have as these are a couple of years old but here is similar on Amazon. The rest of the toys on the shelves are organised so that they look nice but they also are Little Boy's favourites which makes them really accessible when he wants to play with them. The idea is that I will rotate these shelves every few months.
Alongside this is our main toy storage - a huge Kallax unit with various boxes and open shelving to store all the toys. Bigger toys are on top of the unit and get brought down as and when they want to play with them. This works really well as they don't clutter up the space and I found that when these toys were always out they never got played with, but now they can be rotated into play they are used much more. The boxes are labelled so we know what goes into each, we have one for cars, one for trains, one for playdoh, one for paints etc. It's so easy to grab a box out for them to play with the contents and then put it back.
Next to this is where Lexi sleeps in the evening in her crate, and all her bits and bobs are stored on top.
Flooring for a modern playroom
The rainbow rug you can see is a new addition and I bought it on Amazon, it was great value and I'm really pleased with it because it's hardwearing but also thick so nice to sit on. It's really easy to clean and doesn't show marks easily which is what you want in a children's modern playroom! The rest of the floor is painted with floor paint and this has lasted really well, nearly 3 years now and barely a mark.
On the other wall we have a toy kitchen with toy food and pots and pans. This we bought second hand at a nearly new sale and the food and bits I have picked up along the way from Ikea and Melissa and Doug. This toy kitchen is really well used and they often make me some tea or dinner. I'm going to pick up some more food bits as I saw some great new fabric foods in Ikea when I was there this week.
On the wall above this area I have created a gallery wall of various prints and pictures. In contrast to the other wall these are all framed or canvases. They are mostly the same as before, there is one new addition - the Welsh alphabet print which was a gift from Walia Bach which I love. They have lots of other great prints so do check out their Etsy store.
Sensory Table
Also along this wall is another new addition - an Ikea Flisat table. I saw these first on instagram and they looked like such a great idea! You can remove the panels on the top and fit small tubs inside and they are great for sensory play set ups. Have a look at the #flisattable hashtag on Instagram for inspiration. It was also a total bargain at only £40 and the little boxes inside were only a couple of pounds each.
Dressing up corner
Finally in the corner we have a rail with all the dressing up on. The girls were really into dressing up but Little Boy has been much less so. Still it's great to have it all out on display on this rail so that when they want to dress up they can just go for it. We also have a drawer in the Kallax unit which has dressing up accessories and bits in. It's really helpful to have such a collection when there is a themed day at school!
Also we have another Ikea Besta unit, inside is the same as the other one with puzzles and boxes stacked up. On top of here we have the TV which is attached to a DVD player so we play kids DVDs in here and have movie days for them. They don't actually ask to watch this TV much which is odd - probably because it doesn't have Netflix!
A video tour
So there we have it - I hope you liked this little peek into one of my favourite and most used rooms in our home! I have also filmed a YouTube video tour if you want to see it in more detail...
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