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Original poster

If you have a playroom in your house, do you use it?

43 replies

Moonshine160 · 28/07/2023 13:34

Our downstairs has a kitchen, dining room and largeish lounge. I have two young boys. There are toys everywhere. We have two 3 seater sofas in the lounge. The dining table in the dining room is quite large but if we got rid of a sofa and bought a comfy chair instead then we could potentially fit the dining table in the lounge and could make the current dining room a playroom for the boys. Even if they don’t do a lot of actual playing in there, I was thinking of getting some ikea storage and it would be a place to store toys. We also have a small soft play slide and ball pit so all of that would go in there (which is currently in the lounge). We keep as many toys as possible in their bedrooms but the rooms are small with not a lot of space to play. DH thinks that it’s a bit pointless - the lounge will look way too cramped with the dining table in there and the toys will just end up back in there again because they won’t play in the playroom.

If you have a playroom in your house, does it actually get used?

OP posts:
Hugasauras · 28/07/2023 13:36

Yes, all the time. It's where all the toys are kept, both DDs play in it frequently, when DD1 has a friend over they just shut themselves in there. I dread to think about the state of our house without it!

Our playroom is off the kitchen so with door open there is basically an open flow between, which helps I think.

Ihavekids · 28/07/2023 13:37

We have one. Tbh the kids don't spend that much time in it, but it's a good dumping ground for their toys. I banish them in there occasionally.

We have no toys at all in the living area and I love it.

They have to tidy their playroom once a week.

Works great for us.

Hugasauras · 28/07/2023 13:41

And even when toys do spill out into rest of house, being able to return them to a room and close the door on it all is really nice. Before we built the playroom, our main living spaces were really cluttered and it was tough finding spaces for the bigger stuff like toy kitchen, etc. that didn't impact on us enjoying the space as adults after kids were in bed.

watersprites · 28/07/2023 13:41

No, we store toys there but they take them out. I've given up trying to nag them about it. Tbf I had a playroom & for the same as a dc!

Chasingsquirrels · 28/07/2023 13:41

My boys are now 20 & 17, so no 🤣.

I had an extension which we used as a playroom when they were about 6 & 3. It was used extensively.

I think the main factor in the playroom being used was its accessibility to the rest of the house. I have sliding doors between the playroom & lounge. In the day these were open and the kids played happily in the playroom if I was in the lounge as they were in the same overall space as me, rather than being in a separate part of the house.

Howmanyweekz · 28/07/2023 13:44

My boys used their playroom lots up till senior school - it’s now mostly used for playing the PlayStation and watching movies - still good for them to have their own space . They are 13 and 15 . Also means they can hang out together out of their bedrooms which aren’t massive .

Howmanyweekz · 28/07/2023 13:45

I forgot to add we also lost the dining room - but squeezed a big table into the kitchen .. it’s a bit tight for space

TMess · 28/07/2023 13:46

Yes, always, as we have no toys in bedrooms or living area. Totally worth it!

mummabubs · 28/07/2023 13:47

I had one as a child and we used it all the time. We've got one now for our kids (2&5). It's fab to have a room dedicated to storing toys, so has a positive impact on the rest of the house. (Our old house was a new build with one room downstairs for everything so we tolerated being surrounded by kids stuff in the evening but didn't love it). @Chasingsquirrels hits the nail on the head though. Our kids don't use the room anywhere near as much as they could as it's on a different floor of the house to our living areas. We're telling ourselves that when the kids reach teenage years it will make a great den for them to have some privacy from us (and vice versa!) so it's all good. 🤣

MissingMoominMamma · 28/07/2023 13:51

I had one as a child. My dad made a stage out of an old tabletop, with a place to nail backdrops to, and a frame for curtains. He also made monkey bars and an indoor climbing frame and slide. I loved it!

ReeseWitherfork · 28/07/2023 13:53

Could you make room for toy storage in the lounge instead, either by removing a sofa like you said or just configuring it differently? Assume there’s a fair bit of space to play with if you can put the dining table in there. Everyone’s different obviously but I’d prefer to have toys in the lounge and have a separate space to eat (and I do… that’s our set up). My kids like to play where I am so toys would never stay in a play room!

ShadowPuppets · 28/07/2023 13:56

We have a playroom and the kids do play in there a lot (1yo and nearly 3yo). It means there’s no toys in our living room which means when they go to sleep in the evening I’m not having to eyeball a load of colourful plastic, which I love.

ThreeLeggedCat · 28/07/2023 14:03

Yes and now they are 11 and 14 it has become a teenage den. Large squashy sofa and their own tv.

cocksstrideintheevening · 28/07/2023 14:06

Not when they were small no, they wanted to be wherever I was. Now DTs are 13 and it where they hang out with their mates and my office during the day.

eurochick · 28/07/2023 14:08

Yes, ours is probably the most used room in the house. There is a sofa in there so the adults tend to use it during the day instead of the main living room if they are around. If the adults were elsewhere I think the toys would migrate!

Hoppinggreen · 28/07/2023 14:10

We converted ours to my office as the DC got older but it used to be great.
The kids didn’t use it all the time and it was a bloody tip but it was great to keep all the toys in there and be able to shut the door on it.
I suppose it was sort of just a bit cupboard

YourMommaWasASnowblower · 28/07/2023 14:10

Yes, it makes life much easier. It was the best thing we did. I hated all of the toys in the lounge, it looked so cluttered. Having a whole room keeps it a bit more contained and more room to store them.

mnahmnah · 28/07/2023 14:22

My boys are 6 and 11 now and it’s been brilliant having a separate room for all their stuff. It stored all their toys, bookshelf full of books etc. They now have a sofa in there and a tv, with their Nintendo switch. Our living room is toy and gadget free!

User1367349 · 28/07/2023 14:23

We actively chose to buy a property where there was space to play in the main kitchen / living area. Your choice, but I’d rather have DC in with us, and the clutter that comes with it. We bought this house wanting to enjoy time as a family, and being in the same space even doing different activities is part of that.

Stephisaur · 28/07/2023 14:25

We recently moved and have designated the "snug" as a playroom.

It's fab, somewhere to shove all the toys. Some migrate to the lounge but great to have somewhere to chuck them back in.

Our son enjoys playing in there, usually likes us in there too though so trying to work out some storage/seating combo because I hate having to get all the way down on the floor all the time! (Happy to play on the floor for a bit but then my knees give in)

lopelilo · 28/07/2023 14:28

Yes, every day. I have a 5 and 1 year old and it's one half of a big open plan kitchen/reception area (divided by a big safety gate). The other reception rooms are barely used, and DCs only play in other rooms when we go upstairs with them to do stuff upstairs (eg just before bed or when I'm sorting things out in their room). Almost all their toys are in there. I expect they will use their rooms more when they're older.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 28/07/2023 14:31

We use a 4x2 kallax in our lounge for the TV and then have the 8 storage cubes for toys. It works well for us. Then I rotate the toys with what she has in her bedroom.

TeddyFluff · 28/07/2023 14:32

Yes! All stored in there, none in bedrooms. Playing mostly happens in there, it spills out but only a few bits and then they’re away again.

it’s a mess 99% of the time but I just shut the door.

Begonne · 28/07/2023 14:35

Ours was good for toy storage, play dates and looked impressive to gullible visitors but the dc just wanted to be anywhere I was.

It was brilliant in lockdown when it became our school room, but honestly it’s not the best use of space.

DS is autistic and feels very threatened by any suggestions of changing its purpose so it has to stay as is.

summerlovingvibes · 28/07/2023 14:36

Yes we've got one. All toys and books (except bedtime ones) are in there.
Big things like play kitchen and large activity table etc. Also used to keep out coats and shoes as we don't have a large enough hallway. It's great, and they play in it about 50% of playtime. The rest of the time toys are taken out and scattered about the rest of the downstairs, but come nighttime they all get dumped back in the playroom, living room completely toy free and we can have an adult relax space for the evenings.