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Original poster

When did playrooms become a thing?

141 replies

00100001 · 19/05/2023 21:03

I'm early 40s and not a single person I knew growing up had a playroom. Now it seems it's quite common? Or definitely not unusual?

Why did they become a thing? What happened to kids just playing with their toys in the living room and their bedrooms?

OP posts:

museumum · 19/05/2023 21:13

In my world it came with video games / consoles. When I was a child we didn’t have these so we played in our bedrooms. When my youngest sibling was a child they had early Nintendo consoles in the family living room then their bedroom and it became clear to parents that neither location worked well…. We have a “playroom” part of our open plan space and I keep the consoles there as I’m not convinced about screens in bedrooms.

Hazelnuttella · 19/05/2023 21:14

Hazelnuttella · 19/05/2023 21:12

We had a playroom in the 90s. Grew up in a 1930s semi - it had kitchen, dining room, front room and playroom (which was the back room).

I will add that the “play room” was also a living room. The front room was for adults/guests.

PurelyBelter · 19/05/2023 21:15

My friend had one growing up in the 90s. I grew up in an ex-council house with only a galley kitchen and a living room. No dining room either. So the only space was the living room. My DD has a “playroom” but it is the dining room on reality. We have 2 chairs, her high chair (folds) and a drop leaf dining table that is always folded unless we’re eating.

I know friends with them and without them. I think it just depends on the house.

Thelondonone · 19/05/2023 21:15

I didn’t know anyone with a playroom during my 80’s working class upbringing but we had a lounge diner (knocked through) and separate kitchen. We have a playroom as have a kitchen diner extension so no need for dining room. It works well but I am posher than my parents are and have a bigger house. Not sure I’d have one if I lived where I grew up, it’s not so much of a thing.

BreathesOutSlowly · 19/05/2023 21:15

I had one in the 70s and my kids had one in the 00s. It just means room for kids stuff that doesn't get in the way of adult stuff.

Simplelobsterhat · 19/05/2023 21:16

Actually thinking about it I'd guess less people would have them now as any spare rooms are more likely to be used as home office since more working from home..

BarbaraWoodlouse · 19/05/2023 21:16

I suppose up until the 50s it would have been a nursery. After that I think playrooms were more a case of prioritizing space between a formal dining room or a more family centric space. Definitely not a new thing.

FluffyDiplodocus · 19/05/2023 21:17

I didn't and don't remember any of my friends having one, but I remember a girl and her brother on my street did, their parents had converted their cellar into habitable rooms so she had one down there next to the kitchen (the house was on a slope so it wasn't dingy or anything as it had windows and light!). Most houses just didn't really have the space then, I guess a lot of people have had extensions / conservatories / don't use the dining room and turned it into a playroom. We have a playroom now off the sitting room and it's great, I love the sitting area actually looking like you can sit down in it without having to shift a load of toys!

Twinstudy · 19/05/2023 21:18

It was quite common when I was growing up in the 80s/90s. Don't know anyone with one now!

Babdoc · 19/05/2023 21:20

I converted the integral garage into a play room by installing a wall and window at the front, replacing the garage door, and cutting through to make an internal entrance into the house from its rear. I then built a new garage on the other side of the house. That was in the early 90s, when the kids were preschool age. It was ideal for keeping all the mess out of the sitting room and dining room.
Once the kids were older, it became variously a music room, study, gym, and spare tv room. They’re in their 30s now and have their own homes, so it’s become a storage/junk room!

fiorentina · 19/05/2023 21:20

Mid 40s and I and many friends had one.

Denise82 · 19/05/2023 21:21

When I read the title I thought this was a post about 50 shades type adult playrooms 🙈😆 whoops 🤭

And to answer the actual post lol , no I'm 41 and we didn't have playrooms for kids, just toys in our room.

Jenasaurus · 19/05/2023 21:21

I am 58 and had a playroom growing up, we had a 4 bed house, 2 single bedrooms and 2 doubles, my parents had one double. me and my DS had a single bedroom each and then shared the other room as a playroom

When I had my own family, we built a playroom on behind the garage that adjoined on to the lounge, we thought it was better value than having a conservatory, my 3 DC used it a lot but were very annoyed when my youngest claimed it as her room as she had the smaller bedroom and moved in to it at 12, they lost their pool table etc to make way for her bed.

Vallmo47 · 19/05/2023 21:23

I had one in the 80’s/90’s, was lovely having one space for sleeping and one for all your stuff.

DanceMonster · 19/05/2023 21:25

I’m 40 and we had one, as did at least 3 of my friends. It was basically just another reception room (aside from the living room and dining room) that we kept our toys in. Ours had a sofa and TV.

seven201 · 19/05/2023 21:27

We didn't have a playroom growing up and that was quite a big house. We're now in a small 3 bed semi that just has small kitchen diner and a living room. We recently had a 3, nearly 4 year old round who kept asking where the playroom was and would not accept that we didn't have one. He really thought we were playing a trick on him. Our living room has most of dd's toys in.

ShadowPuppets · 19/05/2023 21:28

We have a playroom, it’s the original living room. Have extended at the back to make a kitchen diner and another living space. It works for us, the plastic and mess is contained and we have an adult space for chilling in the evening.

I was a kid of the 90s and some people had them but generally not so I’m assuming it’s the trend of extending the kitchens that frees up an additional reception. We have a sofa bed in ours that DH’s mum sleeps on when she stays (we do have a spare room but she keeps odd hours and likes to be able to pad around downstairs without disturbing us at 4am!)

Tellmeimcrazy · 19/05/2023 21:29

52 here we had a playroom

Newusernameaug · 19/05/2023 21:30

I’m 40’s and had a playroom

GP75 · 19/05/2023 21:32

I'm 47 and I had a playroom so they've been around a while 🤷‍♀️

Jelly4444 · 19/05/2023 21:35

Early 40s and we also a playroom. It was nothing fancy but it was better than having toys all over the house. It was used as a spare bedroom eventually.

Puppers · 19/05/2023 21:35

Tastes and lifestyles have changed. The trend in recent years has been for open plan kitchen/dining/family rooms, with lots of families no longer keeping a separate dedicated dining room, which instead is used as a playroom or office.

shelbabab · 19/05/2023 21:41

I knew no one growing up with one. I lived in a typical terraced housing though so houses were small there was no room for one!

We have a playroom. We converted our garage for this purpose. I know quite a few folk that have done exactly the same.

The kids have a room each and we have a spare room. However despite that I was sick of my living room still being filled with toys too. So we def needed it and we cld afford to so seemed a gd idea.

It has a sofa and a tv in it too. When it's not being used a playroom anymore it will be a second living space.

LimeCheesecake · 19/05/2023 21:41

when I was young (and all this were fields etc), posh people we knew had a nursery - which wasn’t the room their dcs slept in, but another room for toys and child related shit, it was upstairs. Downstairs, a spare reception room would be kept “for best” - there would be a family sitting room, and a parlour. The parlour (normal on the front) would be a beautifully decorated room used only when high level guests like a vicar or police man over a certain rank visited.

now a days, normal people use their front room to sit in, so similar houses have a spare reception room that could be a playroom. They also wouldn’t have the dcs share a bedroom in order to keep a nursery room free.

Jifmicroliquid · 19/05/2023 21:41

I had a playroom in the 80s and 90s.

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