We built a big house last year and by far the best bit of it is....THE PLAY ROOM!!! It saves my sanity big time.
We have a tv, dvd player, book shelf, a big train table, a comfy breasftfeeding couch, bean bags and tubs of toys in there. And although, we still get some toys through the house it's so manageable! If I'm feeling lazy, it doesn't get cleaned and I can just shut the door! We have french style doors on it too, so we can see in there from our living area.
We have a massive playroom, dedicated solely to DD and all her toys, books, puzzles, DVD 's etc.... It would be 1.5 to 2 times the size of an average bedroom, so not small at all and we still manage to have toys strewn throughout the house (namely the kitchen/family room area and sometimes in the study if me or DH are in there). It is good at night though, just pack it all away in her playroom and the rest of the house seems spotless
We don't have a play room, but we have set up a play area. Our main family room is a big square, with the kitchen in one quarter, the dining area in the quarter next to that and then, we have a sofa seperating the other half into 2 quarters, so the play area is behind that. We have a road rug from Ikea, and also one of those shelving units from Ikea that have square shelves, and on each shelf is either books are a container with a lid with toys in, so bricks in one, animals in another, etc. DD knows that we have to pack a box away before we open a new box. I reackon thats the best thing we did to keep toys to a minimum. We still end up with toys everywhere, but we have a big tidy up with DD before bedtime, and so by the time DH and I sit to watch TV, there isn't a huge pile of toys there.
Thanks guys, I think we will do it! Just need to get our hot little hands on a second tv!
DH is worried that it will put buyers off though, but hey, if it will help keep me sane during the week while he's at work, I don't really care about what potential buyers think.. LOL
We turned one of the bedrooms in our 3br house is a spare room/play room and it has made such a huge difference. There are virtually no toys in the bedroom or loungeroom - yes, things get dragged around the house from the playroom but it is so easy to just chuck the stuff back in there and shut the door. Plus the lounge room is usable again!
We don't at the moment but I'm seriously thinking about it
The other thing that works is making sure you have enough storage in your living room. I just bought a retro 18-drawer thingy for the loungeroom (sounds crap but it's really nice) that I throw all the kids' stuff into. I'm looking around my lounge room now and there are NO TOYS on the floor. I have two kids and I'm not tidy. So it's working at the moment. What IS driving me bonkers is that I can't listen to the news during the day because either the kids are making too much noise or heaven forbid, they want to interact with me. So I'd really like a playroom so I can at least have 15 mins now and again listening to the news.
We have one off our lounge and dining area, it works most days unless they want mummy too. The girls are learning to put things back and they stay out of the kitchen. There seems to be much less mess, except ds has learnt to pull things down.
Our lounge room is a death trap half the time with toys and bits from toys scattered everywhere!!!!!!!
I do hope to get some ikea storage into DS1 room so some toys cane be there and not as much in lounge! DS2 will eventually share with him and then more toys will be in there bedroom!!
MNB - I really don't think it will put buyers off. It's a garage - most buyers would know that you stick a car in a garage. The fact that you're going to turn it into a playroom will just make other people see the possibilities if they're not fussed about undercover parking.
If you asked my DD, she'd tell you that Yes, she has a playroom... the whole bloomin' house!
In all seriousness though, she has her bedroom + a toy room. And the toys seem to migrate to everywhere except her room and toy room. Right now, smack bang in the middle of my (very small) lounge room is a doll's bed that I am not allowed to move as I will wake her baby. Ah-huh...
Then there's the card game set up on the couch and if I move THAT, I'll ruin the "WHOLE game Mum!"...
Oh, and we also have a notebook and pen on the TV cabinet which is open... and can't be touched as the people in the cafe are still deciding what they want to eat and we don't want to be rude...
Then there's the button collection scattered all over the toy room floor - a treasure hunt for the Fairies when we're all in bed...
There's the Zingo game in the middle of HER bedroom floor - so she remembers to play it tomorrow...
And the toy pram that is at the end of MY bed - can't explain that one...
There's the noise making door thing down in the study (Fisher Price toy I'm not allowed to chuck)...
The playdoh hidden in the spare cupboard NEXT to my wedding dress (she'd better pray it just stays in the container and doesn't grow legs!)...
There's the learning tiles scattered on the floor post tantrum because they got hard (oh, but they're in the TOY ROOM!)...
The craft things that I discovered in my laptop case...
The toy whisk I found on the kitchen bench 20 minutes ago (I'll pay that one - it IS a kitchen utensil after all!)...
Oh, did I mention the 6 Polly Pockets, Polly Pocket boat, Barbie Mermaid, Barbie bath swing set thingy, 3 rubber ducks, two Polly Pocket pets, Iggle Piggle and Macka Packa wash dolls, watering can, and upteen cups in the bathroom?
I am officially jealous of each of you that have a designated playroom that works! I love the idea of converting the garage... I'd do that too except that is currently the only place free of her toys and is where I train... no wait, her bike, pool floaties, sand gear, and several balls are in there... SEE! NO where is sacred!
Lol mg! I really felt like I was in your home from that description!
We do have a playroom in this house.... The conservatory! It works well as long as ds' little mate doesn't come over.... When he comes, nearly the entire contents of the playroom gets hoarded on the couch.
Don't know what will happen when we move back to Perth. We left our little 3 x 1 with 1 baby and not much stuff and will come back with 2 kids and ten tonne of toys!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - I wonder what the kids are up to....Better go!
We have a playroom, we used the formal lounge at the front of the house as ours (we don't need two living areas for three of us) and we plan on turning it into a teenagers retreat when the time comes. We built our home in 2007 planning ahead for a family though, so even when looking at display homes/plans etc a space like this was always on our list.
Since setting up the playroom, I've found the house is much tidier. We set it all up properly a few months before DS's 1st birthday. DS doesn't have toys in his bedroom, I prefer to keep bedrooms for sleeping and have him playing out in the main part of the house where I can easily keep an eye on him and be involved in what he is doing. He does bring toys out to other areas of the house, but happily puts them back so it works well. It's nice to keep some space as adult space. Plastic toys spread and multiply overnight it seems
Another tip though - I am not a fan of toy boxes, I think that if you just pile stuff into a 'box' you tend to end up with all sorts of crappy and broken toys. We have a heap of the IKEA expedit shelves and all DSs toys are easily accessible. I think this also works in the fact that he plays with everything, things don't get forgotten buried at the bottom of his ttoybox. We quickly tidy the toy room each night (DS helps) and return everything to its spot, I find it teaches DS respect for his belongings and keeps all his things in good condition also. I have packed up all his 'baby' toys (currently in the roof space in case we have #2).
Having a TV and DVD in there is a nice luxury too We have a cheap sofa (again from IKEA, and yes I have an addiction ) which comes in handy. Having a radio/CD player is handy too, as I dont always want the TV to be on. DS seems to enjoy the radio - is a bit of a pop fan much to his metal fathers disgust hahahahaha
Go for it Nerd Burger, you wont regret it And the kids will LOVE it!!
BellyBelly Member
MG, your stories of your DD's thing made me laugh. I love it!
We have a cheap sofa (again from IKEA, and yes I have an addiction
) which comes in handy. Having a radio/CD player is handy too, as I dont always want the TV to be on. DS seems to enjoy the radio - is a bit of a pop fan much to his metal fathers disgust hahahahaha
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