It’s such a great combination of color, organization, and practicality. I can’t wait to show you the tour. I’m sure you’ll want to borrow several of the smart ideas. The simple gray sofa used to be in the guest room/office, but after deciding to put a double bed in the guest space, they moved the sofa into the playroom. It fits so nicely and provides the perfect perch for parents during playdates. Since it’s a sleeper sofa, they use this room as an extra guest room when needed.
Rachel created a giant bulletin board over the couch and filled it with animal flash cards to make a collage. Eventually she plans to use this bulletin board to hang her daughter’s artwork.
The side table is an old school desk that Rachel found at her Mom’s house.
Rachel’s husband, Paul, built the play table. It’s just the right size for their daughter, and it rests on casters — so they can slide it out of the way when they need to open the sofa or clear more floor space for playing. Great idea!
Rachel is still trying to decide if she wants to stain the table or leave it natural and put a coat of polyurethane on it. What do you advise, Dear Readers? Stain or natural?
In the hallway leading into the room, Rachel painted the wall with a coat of magnetic primer. She left a bumpy texture, then lightly sanded it before painting the surface with two coats of gray chalkboard paint. She warns, “Sanding made a HUGE mess. Seriously, black dust covered everything in sight and I had to clean everything several times to get rid of it. But, I do have a relatively smooth wall, which is much better for the chalk.”
She also bought paper doll stickers and hung a frame around them to serve as artwork for this chalkboard wall. Isn’t that cute? I love that the wall is both chalk-ready and magnetic. What a welcoming space for busy, creative hands.
The shelf below used to be a bookcase in Rachel’s uncle’s garage. She sawed off the legs and hung it on the wall where her daughter can easily reach it. I love that she thought to hang it! It makes cleaning the floor much easier.
Rachel says one of her favorite parts of the room is the Roman shades. I can see why. So bright and fun and stripe-y. What’s not to love? And they mirror the stripes behind the little closet kitchen too.
As you can easily guess, everything has been a big hit with Riley. Apparently, she runs straight for the playroom when they walk through the front door. She certainly looks happily occupied:
Thank you so much for the playroom tour, Rachel! We love what you did with the space and can’t wait to incorporate happy yellow stripes into our own homes.
