The fact that we were even looking into kids playroom ideas was all because of my childhood. When I was little, my siblings and I use to spend hours in our basement taking up as much space as possible on the orange and brown shag carpet. Yes, orange and brown shag carpet. We’d play house, hunters and gatherers, or any other strange game we made up — and other days we’d watch Land Before Time on the box tv that sat in the corner.
I remember so many great times in that basement. It was our space.
So this past Christmas (yes, Christmas this post slipped through the cracks a few times) when we were thinking about what to get Hayes, we decided to turn our den into a playroom. Containing the mess of toys, books, and whatever else she decides to play with into one room is definitely a perk of the present. But also, I really wanted Hayes and her future sibling(s) to have a space to call their own and to make memories in.
We kept things pretty simple, but there are plenty of days when I walk by and I’m shocked by the tornado that she has put through the “simple” playroom. Must mean it’s already well-loved. Messy or not, I am excited about this room and so excited to share it with you!
My favorite kids’ playroom ideas
I tried to find simple neutral playroom decor, storage, and toys to make the playroom something that can easily grow with our kids as they get older. Who knows, in a dozen years this room might end up being the hub of homework filled with desks instead of a playroom. It can flex!
I was excited about these products for the playroom when I was picking them out. And now that it’s all put together it’s been fun to seen Hayes have tons of fun running from one thing to the next day after day.
Here’s what we bought for her playroom.
Playmat that looks just like a fancy rug
I need to thank Instagram advertising for introducing me to Little Nomad. They are a small company based out of Connecticut that makes beautiful, spill-friendly play mats, kitchen mats, and other everyday mats. We snagged this beauty over their Black Friday sale because I had been eyeing it and I love how easy it was to put together (just like puzzle pieces) and how we get the best of both worlds — looks like a beautiful rug, acts like a functional mat!
Organization is just a soft neutral basket away
Baskets are THE KEY to a clean playroom (or, honestly, any room when you have kids) because they make it so easy to get everything cleaned up and out of sight. We have so many. They are all strategically placed in pretty much every room. These big ones are from Target, I love the little fringe texture detail and the faux leather strap. Plus, they fit (hide) a ton of stuff.
I also put a bunch of baskets that we had leftover from our old house up on the built in shelving in our playroom to keep that area organized, but also because I can strategically keep things out of Hayes’ sight. Like the TV remote or the crayons, which feel risky until she’s a bit older (I’d rather not Magic Eraser crayons off the wall or find her eating through the pack).
Heart-melting play kitchen
A play kitchen is one of the kids playroom ideas we were set on from the beginning because Hayes loved to play with hers at daycare and was always “making things” in our pot and pans. Just like baby clothes that look like adult clothes melt me. This kitchen melts me. Seriously how cute is this? We originally found it on Wayfair, but it kept selling out around the holidays so I did some searching and found it on sale on Amazon. It’s not on sale currently, but here’s the link to the simple kids play kitchen in case you’re in the market for one.
…p.s. Jeff says assembly requires at least one glass of whiskey 😉
Toys and books as decor
While I know I still need to find something to put on the walls, I am pretty content with using toys and books to decorate our built in shelves. They are a great pop of color against the neutral playroom that we put together, they cost nothing, and they can strategically keep certain messy thing (our stacks of puzzles) out of the way until it’s time to play with them.
Fun lights
I’m a sucker for globe lights. Put them on a patio of a restaurant and I’m 90% more likely to want to eat there. So could our list of kids playroom ideas be complete without them? Nope! It just automatically feels cozy, fun, and inviting. I wanted to add that same type of cozy charm to the playroom, but instead of globe lights, I went with bananas. So far bananas take the trophy for Hayes’ very favorite fruit so it only seemed fitting to snag them when I saw them tucked into the impulse aisle at At Home.
Simple kid-sized table and chairs
When I started to venture into all of the kids play ideas, I knew I wanted a table and chairs. I spent more time than I would have liked looking at child-sized options, but I am really happy with the quality and simplicity of the ones we settled on. So many looked flimsy, too ornate, or really expensive. The wooden kid’s table and wooden kid’s chairs are both the Pillowfort brand from Target. They weren’t the cheapest but I love the simple white (which I will definitely have to take a magic eraser to over the years), how sturdy they are, and the fact that I will probably be able to buy another two chairs if we need them.
Techy shout out to my husband
We weren’t going to put a tv up in this room, but we had an extra one that didn’t have a home, we liked the idea of using it for music, and we figured we will just have to monitor the amount of time it’s on — so we went for it!
This is also the room that housed everything for our internet so when Jeff mounted the tv he created a little bit of space to store all of the necessary gadgets without seeing cords, modems, etc. So happy with how clean it makes it!
Next up!
Even though I started with a Pinterest board full of kids playroom idea, I’m not planning on doing much more to the room. I like that we kept keeping the space intentionally simple so the kids don’t have so much stuff and the space and what fills it can grow with the them.
I would like to add a little something something to the walls because they are currently bare. And right now, I’m really excited about the possibility of craft paper roll on the wall that the kids can draw on or rip a piece off of — debating whether that would be me inviting toddlers to write on my wall, tbd.