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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be confused about playrooms?

234 replies

Wowsostormy · 21/02/2022 11:19

I just don't get how they work in the home. I get it more if your child is old enough to play unsupervised, but if they're young you surely have to just be in the playroom with them, in which case why not just have toys in the living room? Because you're probably not in the living room much, so isn't the playroom then basically your living room anyway?

And a child old enough to play unattended could surely play in their room instead anyway?

Explain this to me!

YABU - playrooms are great for X reason I haven't grasped

YANBU - pointless room which may as well be the living room

OP posts:
User48751490 · 21/02/2022 13:04

@Bullandbush

Dh's db and sil had a playroom for the dc. It was a small room to keep the toys, don't think they played in their much. Poor kids weren't allowed so much as a book in their bedrooms let alone a toy.
That's a shame, really. Kids should be free to play/read through their books, it's their home too.
ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 21/02/2022 13:04

Oh, ours also has the piano in and where DD2’s guitar is kept so they can practice in there.

onlychildhamster · 21/02/2022 13:05

@SuperSocks I had the same set up when i was a kid- formal sitting room without a telly (that we only used for guests)and big playroom (but without the sofas)- just lots of open space and cupboards for the toys!

In my own flat today, we just have a sofa bench and a dining table. No telly but use a projector.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 21/02/2022 13:05

If you’ve got the space it’s nice to have a sitting room that stays relatively tidy!

linerforlife · 21/02/2022 13:06

Ours is a dream. It's a small room downstairs with a playmat and sofa, plus storage for toys and books. My DD is now 20 months and can certainly play in there for 5 or so minutes without getting into trouble! And I can see her while I'm pottering around downstairs. Also means my living doesn't get snot on the sofas or toys everywhere etc!!!

gingerhills · 21/02/2022 13:06

DH and I were just talking about how when DC were little I used to spend 15 minutes every evening putting away toys and tidying up so we could relax in a living room that didn't look like a bombsite.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 21/02/2022 13:06

Plummeted” is a bit of a strong statement. Research shows there has been a steady decline but this is just as likely to be because many homes have solutions for eating in the kitchen that don’t need a formal dining set.

Also, how often do you need to replace a dining table? Maybe never if it’s decent.

Bunnycat101 · 21/02/2022 13:07

We don’t have a playroom and wish we did. In fact after stepping on lego last weekend my husband decided we were definitely doing an extension we’ve been debating so we can have a playroom. Our living room is basically a playroom with a more civilised end for us.

LightfoldEngines · 21/02/2022 13:08

I’m in a bog standard terrace and sacrificed the dining room to make a play room. By the time I did, I’d had 10 years of baby, toddler, small child clutter and toys around me and I was bloody fed up.

Swapped the 6 seater dining table that was in the middle of the room, got a much smaller 4 seater that’s shoved against the wall. Kallax on one wall, toy kitchen/shop/one of those small IKEA kids tables on the other.

DDs were 10, 7 and 2.5 when I did it, they’re now 13, 11 and 6 and still refer to it as their room that I’m now allowed to trespass in without permission Grin They had bean bags for Christmas, which means they hardly ever come to the main living room now.

DonnyBurrito · 21/02/2022 13:09

Turned our dining room into a playroom with the table and chairs against the wall so there's "so much room for activities!". There's too many hazards in the living room for us to let the baby worm around, even attended, plus it's too easy to end up using the TV as a babysitter. Being able to have the jumperoo, play mats, toys, kids books, dolls, paints, games blah blah blah... in one room, is so much easier. The 6 year old loves it. The 6 month old is safe. The bedrooms are mainly for sleep and getting dressed in. I like order Grin

Original poster
Wowsostormy · 21/02/2022 13:09

Ooh lots of responses, will work my way through once little ones are down for their nap!

First reaction is that I get the benefit of being able to shut the door on the mess, but I strongly suspect that if we had a playroom that would just mean 3 rooms would be a tip (bedroom, playroom and living room) as they'd want to be with us and drag toys through. I guess I could see it more as a 'family room' and a more grown up 'reception room' type thing? Anyway will have a read through shortly so please bear with me!

OP posts:
LightfoldEngines · 21/02/2022 13:09

Plus we have a strangely shaped box bedroom - it’s not a square, one of the walls is at an angle, meaning youngest DD only has space for single bed, wardrobe and drawers and they only fit in one way, can’t move it around and there’s very little floor space. So it made sense to change the dining room to a play room, mostly for her sake.

Rewritethestars1 · 21/02/2022 13:14

I'd give anything for a playroom right now. Used to have one off the lounge and it meant all the toys could be shoved away and I had a peaceful tidy living room. My dds won't play in their rooms as the like to be close to me. Also their rooms end up trashed and at bedtime I end up having to tidy up so they can actually get in their beds.
Now I live in a completely open plan home and while its bigger than my previous one the toys are there all the time, the dc are there all the time.....I need a door Grin

Original poster
Wowsostormy · 21/02/2022 13:16

@RegardingMary

My living room is for drinking gin not for barbie's dream house and sticky fingers.

They generally start playing in there from around 3. It's right off the kitchen which is where I generally am and I pop my head around the open door constantly. I wouldn't be able to do that if they were in their bedrooms.

Occasionally toys sneak out, but they just get slung back in at the end of the day. I also like that thd majority of toys are downstairs, so there's less to prevent them sleeping in their rooms.

Ah that is a good point actually, kids being on the same floor as you and bedroom kept for sleeping.
OP posts:
itwasntaparty · 21/02/2022 13:18

We've got a playroom, but it's on a different floor. The kids have never played in it, they want to be with us so now we have their stuff spread over two floors and still in the living room. I'd love a playroom on the same floor.

Monopolyiscrap · 21/02/2022 13:19

@Rewritethestars1 an open plan house has always struck me as a practical nightmare.

2022HereWeCome · 21/02/2022 13:22

@Peanutbuttercupisyum
Your set up sounds exactly like ours - including the hamster!

HogDogKetchup · 21/02/2022 13:23

I love mine. We sit in there to craft and play together. Sometimes he’ll bring some toys and books out but it’s not like he emptied the whole room and toys go back their after use.

OfstedOffred · 21/02/2022 13:26

Also I don't expect my children to sit in the playroom alone while I sit in my tidy sitting room.of course in that case they would simply follow me through bringing toys thus rendering playroom pointless. I sit in there with them playing with them.

cyantist · 21/02/2022 13:26

My kids bedrooms aren't big enough for toy storage. There also isn't much space to store toys in the living room either. I don't mind the kids bringing some things into the living room to play with, but I don't now what I'd do without a playroom to throw it all into at the end of the day.

Charl881 · 21/02/2022 13:26

I’d love a playroom but the only option here would be to turn the spare room into one or get an extension we can’t afford. I’ll take having toys in the living room and keep the money / spare room. He’s also got a huge bedroom so a playroom would feel like a waste. If we were ever able to move to a bigger house I would look to get one though. I swear playrooms weren’t really a thing with me and my friends when we were little and we all turned out fine.

Letsbekindplease · 21/02/2022 13:31

We loved our play room. When I was younger my sister and I shared the big bedroom and the downstairs room became a play room
We would sit for hours and hours and play with our toys. It had tv and all videos and books in it. We even had our pet hamsters. I’m a swithering whether to do this with our downstairs dining room because the amount of toys we have is insane and I hate having the living room so messy. We have 1 kid and 1 on the way so it will be even more mess.

TabithaTittlemouse · 21/02/2022 13:32

I loved ours. I liked shutting the door on the mess.
They didn’t have toys in their rooms so didn’t have to worry about the mess in more than one room.

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 21/02/2022 13:34

@Charl881

I’d love a playroom but the only option here would be to turn the spare room into one or get an extension we can’t afford. I’ll take having toys in the living room and keep the money / spare room. He’s also got a huge bedroom so a playroom would feel like a waste. If we were ever able to move to a bigger house I would look to get one though. I swear playrooms weren’t really a thing with me and my friends when we were little and we all turned out fine.
I don’t think people have playrooms because they think not having one would hinder their child’s development or anything like that… the playroom is essentially for my convenience!
Charl881 · 21/02/2022 13:35

@ShallWeTalkAboutBruno I get that but not everyone can afford a house that has space for one. I’m genuinely surprised how many people on this thread have them. I’d love one myself but I’m just saying don’t feel bad if like me your house isn’t big enough for one Smile