Planning a playroom

[Stereotypesarenotnice]

Would appreciate some advice - we've just moved into a new house and are considering our options for the kids' playroom. We've looked at GLTC and Aspace and like what we see, but would also like to look at similar stuff from other companies. Can you recommend any? thanks!

[befuzzled]

Me too. I have a GLTC playtable which is fantastic. Pricey stuff though. Same with Aspace - I think you can get the same stuff elsewhere cheaper with a bit of googling.

I am thinking of getting a wall of floor to ceiling shelves with cupboards built in, similar to the aspace units, but built in to maximise space.

Not sure about flooring though?

[runtybunty]

How old are the children?

[befuzzled]

mine are 7, 4, 1 - would also appreciate some ideas. Need to zone it somehow so 1y old cant get at 7y olds lego models etc.

[Stereotypesarenotnice]

Thanks - DD is a little over 2, DS around 4 months old.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Vertbaudet have some useful bits and are cheaper than GLTC.

[kbaby]

We went to ikea and bought floor to ceiling cupboards besta I think. Then have tubs etc inside. We have all the younger child's stuff low down and the older child's stuff higher up. Then at the very top is my crap and moon sand and any other art stuff I don't want them to have.
We then have sofa, tv and DVD there. The only problem is some stuff is too big for the cupboards so makes it look messy like the dolls pram, car garage. The aspace stuff is nice but expensive when you work out how much storage you need.

[mckenzie]

I would second Ikea. We were surprised how quickly they stopped using the playroom. I'm pleased we didn't spend shed loads of money fixing it up.

[londonlottie]

When do children stop using them? I've 2 yr old twins and am not sure whether to bother fitting a room out as a playroom. To be honest they always want to be where me or other adults are rather than playing in a room on their own but I guess this will change as they get a bit older?

[mckenzie]

I'm not sure that mine used it that much at all. Perhaps because it was at the front of the house and the kitchen and main living area was at the back. It was good for toy storage and bigger items like the pool table.

[Glittertwins]

We used our smallest bedroom as a playroom after the loft conversion for our pair. Most of the toys are in there with some stuff in a bunk drawer and bits downstairs. They have an old coffee table as a desk and 2 Ikea storage units, one vertical, one horizontal. They will be 4 in a couple of weeks and happily play in there before we get up too.
Not sure what we'll do when they get bigger and have their own bedrooms. If it survives, the x- trainer will need to go somewhere however I would like them to have their own tv room instead of having a tv in each bedroom.

[IvanaHumpalot]

I bought an Expedit (4x4) unit from Ikea. They come in various sizes and colours. I priced up units from GLT, Aspace and The White Co - eye watering £.
The Expedit has been great, you buy boxes to sit in the cubes and I've filled mine to the brim with Lego, knex, rubber lizards, aliens etc etc etc... No open shelves to artfully arrange, just chuck stuff in and close - Ahhhhh.

[HappyAsEyeAm]

I have the Northcote from GLTC in the playroom, and I really recommend it. That said, I haven't got anything playroom related from anywhere else, so I can't directly compare.

Dunelm also does playroom storage for a fraction of the price. And there's loads in the Argos catalogue.

[startail]

Storage, storage, storage.
Room for tablefootball/airhocky/snooker table when older.

Floor space for train tracks and farms etc when younger.

Somewhat for mum to sit, they won't go there on their own. Ours is a bench full of soft toys.

We've found over the years that to start with you need cube storage. We have pine Argos units that take standard plastic crates. Then open shelves for board games and jigsaws. Followed by shoe box size storage to sort adult Lego and playmobile (DD2 actually did her own labled shoe boxes and DH made her a bookcase to fit them)

Ours is too small for there to be cupboard door opening room.

Our art and craft stuff lives else where, but a high cupboard to keep paint out of fiddling range (I had to hide ours) and wall shelves to display finished models would be great.

[forevergreek]

Definitely recommend the biggest expedit unit from ikea that will fit. Or several smaller if you want it all accessible to the children.

We have x2 5x5 with the bottom 3 drawers accessible themselves and top 2 rows are for things are too high atm. One row ( 10 cubes) are for the likes of paint / small pieces etc.. Plus storage of snow suits /hat etc in summer. Also have folding change mat/ nappies/ wipes etc in one for changing downstairs

In total we have 50 storage cubes this way!

All toys fit in them in our house as there simply isn't space not to, all relatives know this and buy in accordance :)

Top row ( last 10 cubes) are for our things/ paperwork/ hobbies/ crap

[Fizzylemonade]

We converted our double garage into a playroom but kept the back of both for storage. So the playroom is 5.4m long x 3.6m wide.

We have windows on one wall (the 5.4m one) and opposite I banked it with a 4m run of PAX wardrobes from ikea.

There is a massive sofa bed which is opposite the wardrobe with the tv and wii in, and there is also all the games they can play without me needing to be with them so connect 4, dominoes, snakes and ladders etc.

On the top shelves out of reach I have playdoh and even my almost 9 year old still plays with this. Also paints/glue/sticking stuff and anything else I need to be with them for, like scalextric.

We also house all coats, shoes, hoover, ironing board etc in these wardrobes.

We have Ikea Trofast storage for pretty much everything else as I bought it years ago. So back then it contained a massive amount of wooden train track in the large ones. cars, k'nex and dress up in the medium ones, paper, felt tips, and the glue etc in the small ones.

As I have more tubs than storage I used to swap them out so they wouldn't play with the same things all the time.

Basics are
storage and more than you think you will need
Place to sit for you
Table and chairs for the children
Space to do jigsaws, cars, trains, run about

[hifi]

Our playroom is about 14 x 10,we have the ikea box shelving x 2, and a small sofa.we also put a tv on the wall with all the game consuls.large items,dolls houses etc,go of top of the shelving unit.i had doors fixed to all
The bottom shelves and that's where shoes/bags are stored.best thing we have ever done.