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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:
Original poster
Wowsostormy · 21/02/2022 14:00

I am slowly realising that we do have a playroom, our living room is the playroom! What we are missing are this fabulous adult evening room, I definitely want one of those Grin

OP posts:
DillyDilly · 21/02/2022 14:00

Even if toys migrate to your living room during the day, simply ask your children to bring them back to playroom before bedtime. With guidance,even young children can do this.

If you have the space for a playroom, it’s much nicer to sit in toy free room in the evenings.

Our playroom opens into our living room which opens into the kitchen which means we could all be doing our own thing in the different areas.

In our home, bedrooms are for sleeping and relaxing in - there would be very few toys in their bedrooms, lots of books and some drawing materials and cuddlies really.

BigPlanes · 21/02/2022 14:04

I love you playroom. Downstairs and has doors to the other main rooms. I can see inside the playroom from other rooms but can also shut the doors in the evening and ignore the mess. I wouldn’t bother with one upstairs as my child hates being away from us.

Inertia · 21/02/2022 14:05

We turned what was supposed to be the dining room into a playroom when we moved in. The living room wasn't big enough to store all the toys as well as normal living room furniture (and it's not that they had millions, but some toys are bulky, especially when the children are young).

It was downstairs, so close to where the adults were, and meant that bedrooms could be kept calm for sleeping/ reading/ cuddly toys. Also meant that any visiting friends/ neighbouring children would have no reason to go into bedrooms, so easy to keep an eye. It's only really the baby/ toddler years when they need to be with you all the time- a downstairs playroom is a good step for increasing independence.

Our children never trashed toys, but a dedicated room meant that they could leave out train sets/ Lego under construction/ craft projects, and go back to them over a period of days, rather than having to tidy them off the dining table/ bedroom floor each night.

As the children outgrew toys it became more of a second sitting room where they could have friends round/play games consoles/ have sleepovers/ do their art coursework.

HairyToity · 21/02/2022 14:07

DH is a farmer. Although we don't have much money, we do have a big house, and have a playroom. It's not used that much, but we've never got around to doing it up (I think the wallpaper, carpet, curtains are from the 1950s), and playroom suits when children are young. It has a second hand sofa in, a large bookcase, and all the kids toys. It's always used when kids have friends over, and occasionally they will play together in the playroom. It means we don't need the big toys in living area. My plan is once children are older, to redecorate and have it as a grown up reading room. For now, it helps keep the living room tidy, by taking some of the clutter!

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 21/02/2022 14:07

We have a playroom so the sitting room remains a relaxing grown up room which can be safely navigated in the dark without standing on dinosaurs, lego or playmobil.

They have some toys in their bedrooms. Ds has his lego and some of his dinosaurs plus a castle. Dd has her barbies and a dolls house. Everything else lives in the playroom. At nearly 4 and 7, they can play independently there if they want or we have a big sofa (bed) in there so I'll sit with them. It's great with they bring friends home because they've got somewhere to play that's not under my feet/in their bedrooms.

Tubs11 · 21/02/2022 14:13

we have a play room and an adult only room, I am hard pressed to tell the difference tbh and the kids tend to want to play where you are anyway. That is until they become teenagers and then you only catch glimpses of them when the come down from their rooms or look up from their phones Grin

MooseBreath · 21/02/2022 14:28

We turned our loft room (designated Master bedroom) into a guest room/playroom. The vast majority of DS's toys live there and we have a futon and a crap tv. It means that we don't need to live in toddler paradise in the evenings and can think about something other than being parents. When family comes to stay (they are from overseas or the other side of the country, so come for weeks at a time), some toys rotate into the living room and the playroom is a decent guest space.

hollyivysaurus · 21/02/2022 14:28

We have a playroom, it’s a a conservatory off the sitting room. We’re actually turning it into a proper extension as it’s so useful (but weather dependent at the moment as the conservatory isn’t the warmest in winter and is baking hot in summer). We do have toys in the sitting room but it’s less cluttered than it would otherwise be. I try to keep toys out of bedrooms except for cuddles and books and DH now WFH full time and is upstairs so it makes sense to try and keep the chaos downstairs! We’re expecting it to be useful in the long term, it will probably have a big screen TV and gaming area when the kids are bigger (DH is a gamer) and I have high hopes for a reading corner and desk for my laptop!

It’s not a necessity but it definitely makes our lives much easier, and we’ve been able to hang onto old toys that they’ve grown out of for a little longer, and sometimes they find a second lease of life being played with a different way. There is also an argument that my kids have too many toys though!!

PinaColadaNeeded · 21/02/2022 14:32

@CaptainMerica

I don't have a playroom, but do envy it in friend's houses. It's just a second, kid focused, living room you can close the door on when the kids go to sleep, and have a nice, tidy, grownup living room for the evening.
This is exactly how ours is. Due to twins we had 3 aged 2 and under! It's more like a really child friendly living room, full of craft stuff and toys etc. 8 years later they have their game consoles in there. It's nice to be able to shut the door on it still! It avoids communal stuff like the switch being in the living room, do if they want to rock out on Just Dance, we can still watch what we want.
EgSk · 21/02/2022 14:38

We turned our front sitting room into a playroom . It’s more of a storage space for toys though . We have a kitchen/ dining/ living room space that we use for everything else and the front room wasn’t being used . We keep all the toys there ( we have a lot) and it’s nice to have a space to keep everything organised and easily accessible. I still keep toys in our kitchen living area too but we swap them out daily to keep it interesting. It means our main living space is clutter free from lots of toys .

iRun2eatCake · 21/02/2022 15:03

We had a playroom. It's evolved over the years to become the Gaming Room.... and now my dumping ground gym/laundry room

It meant that the toys had a "home" and l could close that door at the end of the day and pretend the mess wasn't there.

My lounge and dining room are not overly big so it was a blessing when we had visitors as the DC had somewhere else to go within watching distance

Thewindwhispers · 21/02/2022 15:08

Living room: sofas, tv, nice art and no toys.

Playroom: colourful rubber mats on floor, climbing frame, lego table, drawings and scribbles all over wall, chalk paint area, all toys accessible on shelves so dd can get them on her own… Yes I am in there a lot during the day but it is wonderful to be able to shut the door on it all during the evening.

And no I don’t want it all in her bedroom, it’s hard enough getting her to bed as it is!!

lifesnotaspectatorsport · 21/02/2022 15:08

We had a playroom in our last house with DS aged 1-3. He used it more and more after he turned 2, as it held all his toys especially the bigger ones like kitchen, tent, table & chairs, big box of Duplo etc. It was off the kitchen/ dining area so he was still close to us and would wander in and out.

Now we have 3 kids and a play area in a completely open plan lounge/kitchen/diner - still very useful to keep the toys in but I do wish I could close the door on it!

CrimbleCrumble1 · 21/02/2022 15:30

It sounds as if lots of DC don’t have many toys in their bedrooms, is this just when they are at a young age? I used to love playing in my bedroom and so did my DC.

RockstarDotCom · 21/02/2022 15:39

It sounds as if lots of DC don’t have many toys in their bedrooms, is this just when they are at a young age? I used to love playing in my bedroom and so did my DC.

My kids had toys in their bedroom as well as the playroom, but didn’t really spend much time in there. They both only started to spend more time on their room when they got their own pc for gaming as that was in their bedroom due to needing a desk and having multiple screens. They were about 11/12. They just didn’t really like playing in their bedrooms before this, not sure why.

user9764577436 · 21/02/2022 16:23

I just think people want the instagrammable living rooms… 🤨

RedCandyApple · 21/02/2022 16:27

@CrimbleCrumble1

It sounds as if lots of DC don’t have many toys in their bedrooms, is this just when they are at a young age? I used to love playing in my bedroom and so did my DC.
Mine don’t have toys in their bedroom as they stay downstairs during the day
ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 21/02/2022 16:33

@user9764577436

I just think people want the instagrammable living rooms… 🤨
Nope, I just want to relax in the evenings without having to look at a load of toys.
Enzbear · 21/02/2022 16:39

We had a play room. It meant that huge Lego/connect/models could be left out and returned to later for days on end. Same with jigsaw puzzles. Also all the messy stuff went on in there- plastercine, Play-Doh, paint, glue, glitter etc. Junk models could dry. Farms, train tracks, doll's house, Playmobil etc can be set up and played with over and over without having to pack away. When my dc were very young we had snacks in there, no crushed half chewed slobbery biscuits on the sofa. As they got older it morphed into a homework room/tv/games room that was also useful for sleepovers.

OrganisedChaos22 · 21/02/2022 16:47

Our conservatory is our playroom. For the bulky toys that don't go in the toy boxes.
The dcs are old enough to play alone. Youngest has done since 12m while I goober or whatever. The door is open and the sofa is 2ft from the door if I was sat down with a cuppa or something.
I wouldn't if they were upstairs in a playroom at their ages.

BoredZelda · 21/02/2022 17:03

I just think people want the instagrammable living rooms… 🤨

More nonsense.

I’m not on instagram (and if I were, I wouldn’t put pictures of my living room there) But I do want a living room I can walk into and sit and relax in without having to sidestep clutter on the floor or having to spend ages tidying up when all I want to to is sit and relax.

Chely · 21/02/2022 17:13

I'd love to have 1.

SoupDragon · 21/02/2022 17:29

@user9764577436

I just think people want the instagrammable living rooms… 🤨
So why did we have a playroom before Instagram existed?

In fact, my childhood friends had one before home computers/digital photography/the Internet were invented 😂😂

Myadhdusername · 21/02/2022 17:43

If I had had one when my children were younger I imagine we'd just have used it as a day time living room and to help keep toys out of the living room.

I have pondered this myself. Perhaps it's easier to childproof a playroom than a living room and when children are at the stage where they don't need constant supervision but can't have the run of the house they could be helpful.

The space is probably more useful as a second living room for older children I imagine.

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