Our basement is the most neglected space in the house, and it’s also the most used space in the house by our kids. My husband and I had planned on converting the downstairs living space into a home theater room but then…we found out we were expecting, not one but two kids at once, so we tucked away our plans to revisit a decade later.
When you come to the basement, it’s dark, cold and the only thing inviting is the explosion of colors coming from all the twin’s toys. I personally don’t like spending a great deal of time in this room. The kids come down to take toys upstairs in the wintertime because the floors are too cold. During the time insta blocked me from posting stories, I took a deep look at this room and thought about how I can make the space inviting so the kids hang out here (every day) so I can reclaim our actual family room. I immediately started to envision some cabinetry work on the sidewall so I can tuck away all their toys and create a lot of free space for them to run around in. I also thought about creating a cute little reading space for my kids that could transition well when we do convert the room into a media room down the future.
Oh, and I don’t know about you but I have one twin that loves to draw on the walls! Like I had to buy an extra bucket of paint because we keep retouching the wall so the solution – create a chalkboard wall where they can draw to their heart’s content and I don’t have to worry about painting over it.
Before I breakdown all the things I want to add to this room, let me share with you, my mood board.
When it comes to the playroom, there are some key things I need to do to make the room inviting and functional. I feel like a fresh coat of paint is a good start, a light color preferably can 100% liven up any space. Another great place to focus is purchasing a rug, a nice cozy rug so the kids will love to sit on it and play on it with their toys.
I don’t know about you but one of my little ones loves to scribble on the wall. A LOT. I have almost used up my spare paint to touch up her artwork. Having a chalkboard wall is a great way for me to get her to go express all of her artistic abilities in a key area that is parent-approved. Doing this will be a simple and quick DIY that shouldn’t take me more than 48 hours to put together.
Above is my inspiration board of all the rooms I fell in love with from Pinterest. One of the key things I need to make the room inviting for me (yes, I will call it out) is getting storage units to hide all their toys! I don’t have the heart to donate or give away any of the twin’s toys, I should probably look into this sometime soon, so the best way to keep them is out of sight, out of mind. I found some affordable options at both Pottery Barn and Ikea for discretely hiding the twin’s toys – the best part, when they are much older and I have hopefully learned to part with their toys, we can transition the storage units from toys to the entertainment system.
What part of the playroom design or inspiration do you like? Is there anything you want to incorporate in your kid’s playroom (or bedroom)? Let me know below and in the meantime, don’t forget to come back for Part 2 where I will share the progress of the twin’s Playroom.
- Paint the room.
- Add a trim to make the room look polished.
- Get a large rug that covers the space as much as possible.
- Add a swing so the twins have a cozy space to read their books.
- Make space for a chalkboard wall (DIY).
- Get some cabinets to hide all their toys.
- Grab some picture frames to hang their school artwork.