To be confused about playrooms?

[Wowsostormy]

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

I have a playroom and I don’t have an Instagram account… fancy that!
But even if people do have a playroom in order to keep their living room looking nice… well so what? It’s their house. If we didn’t use it as a playroom it would just be an unused dining room (we have a large kitchen diner and eat in there so no need for a separate dining room). What’s wrong with using it as a playroom?!

We had such a tiny living room that it was just not being suitable and there was nothing we could do to make it safe for DD to play. We had a cold conservatory where she played in Summer.

So, the spare bedroom was the playroom, then she had her toys in her bedroom and I was in earshot to oversee.

When we moved it just stayed I. The same way, living room just was kept toy free,. Only Lego lived in the dining room corner for years but it was fairly out of the way,

Saying that, I grew up with a playroom so the concept of toys in the living room was totally alien to me and I didn’t even consider it.

I love my playroom. DS is 3 and it's next to the kitchen so I can leave him playing nicely while I cook tea and pop my head round every couple of minutes.

When he was smaller I'd sit in there and we'd play together but it was still useful and felt nice once he was in bed to just walk into the nice tidy adult living room. Obviously DS spent some time in living room too but usually to watch tv for some quiet time or books on sofa.

I imagine when he's a teenager it'll be more a hangout for him and his friends with a tv (no tv in there at moment) and consoles etc. As a teen my house was always the one where my friends congregated and I want DS to have that same feeling at home as he gets older

God I wouldn’t be without mine. Twins here.
When they were babies it had a cot i it so I could put them down for a nap and still potter about downstairs easily
When they were toddler it was child proofed enough that I could close the door if I needed to pop To the front door or start running a bath or something.
Then there’s that phase when all their toys are massive plastic things, and play tents and tunnels and you can close the door in it all.
When they have friends over to play it —theoretically— means there’s less rough play in my sitting room and my nice things don’t get trashed.
Lego.
Now they’re off a nice preteen age where they are in the sitting room with us a lot more and I’m almost tempted to knock it through BUT I know in a few years they’re likely to want to be on their own/with mates more so I might move tv/console in there (has glass interior doors so I’m more relaxed about it there than in their rooms) and they’ll also need a study space so we’ll put a big deal in too
But mostly, because it’s a room I can just Close the doors and forget about

Big desk. Not deal !

We have a playroom and it's worth it's weight in gold purely for being somewhere to shove kids toys where I don't have to look at them! My oldest DS is 5 and happily plays in there on his own with the door open - the playroom leads onto our kitchen/family room so it's not like he's totally away from us.

Our lounge is kept mainly as a kid free zone. It's where me and DH chill at night and watch tv. I don't want to stare at the kids plastic tat when I'm relaxing and we're lucky enough to have enough room to have the lounge as our adult space and then the family room and playroom for daily life with the kids!

@Wowsostormy

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

After ~10 years of having a playroom instead of a living room we now have our living room back.

We are though gaining a computer/console/tv room but that can be one of the bedrooms upstairs.

It'such better for children too. Bedroom is only for sleeping. No toys or TV so they know that is their down time and sleep space. Playroom is for playing and teaches them to have their downstairs domain to look after. Sitting room is the only space where there is a TV and place for family to be together. Snug is for reading and quiet time. It really helps with self regulation

If you don't have a playroom how do you persuade children that the three day event Schleich horse show must end prematurely no matter how neatly the horses are lined up or how fiddly the water jump was to put together because the visiting grown-ups would be sure to step on them? Obviously this cannot happen in the bedroom because it would turn into a nocturnal event.

I'm confused.

I much prefer a playroom as it means my boys see their bedrooms as a place to sleep and at night do that straight away. No secretly getting up to play with toys like lots of friends children.

@Choppingonions

If you don't have a playroom how do you persuade children that the three day event Schleich horse show must end prematurely no matter how neatly the horses are lined up or how fiddly the water jump was to put together because the visiting grown-ups would be sure to step on them? Obviously this cannot happen in the bedroom because it would turn into a nocturnal event.

I'm confused.

If they're brought up with tidying toys away every day, then it's no problem.

Or occasion you allow them to keep it out overnight, and just don't step on it.

It's not rocket science.

Some people missing the humour here. 😬

@Brieandcamembert

It'such better for children too. Bedroom is only for sleeping. No toys or TV so they know that is their down time and sleep space. Playroom is for playing and teaches them to have their downstairs domain to look after. Sitting room is the only space where there is a TV and place for family to be together. Snug is for reading and quiet time. It really helps with self regulation

I never had that issue with DS.

He had books and a desk and some toys in his room, never struggled with regulation, didn't sneak to play with his toys etc.

My DS has a huge double bedroom. No way am I keeping it toy free and trying to squeeze them all into our living room when he’s older.

I shared with my sister and our toys. The only time I can remember is getting up to play is on Christmas Eve.

A playroom is definitely a privilege and a nice to have rather than a necessity.

My DS has a huge double bedroom. No way am I keeping it toy free and trying to squeeze them all into our living room when he’s older.

And there's nothing wrong with that, because clearly you allocated your DS such a large room on the proviso of it being his bedroom and playroom. But if you had extra space to be a playroom then it might be a different story.

My DD also has the bigger bedroom because we don't have a separate room available to be a playroom (not that she really needs it now at 12) so all her toys had to be in her room and it is both bedroom and playroom.

My siblings and I had a playroom because no single bedroom was big enough to be the main toy storage and it was easier to keep all toys in one place. This meant that our parents got the biggest bedroom and we all got the smaller ones because we didn't need play space too.

A playroom is definitely a privilege and a nice to have rather than a necessity

In the same way that a huge double bedroom is a privilege and a nice to have for a child.
My children all have single bedrooms with no room for toys, so we have a playroom.

Honestly, you manage with what you have. Our accommodation provided by DHs employer has varied from 4 bedroom, massive rooms to compact 3 bed terraced house and once a 3 bed apartment. You manage with what you have. With less space you need more organisation.

When our BG twins were born, we turned over the conservatory to all their plastic tat, but they are 5 now, and it's pretty much taken over the entire downstairs! For some reason, we thought buying them a football table (the little men on the poles) as a joint present would be a good idea, but it's taken up even more space!

We very recently decided it was time to reclaim at least SOME of the downstairs as an adult space, and are just starting to purge the conservatory...

It gets me down sometimes, gotta say... I used to be really house-proud. Everything was nicely decorated, everything had a place, in it's place. But now it looks like a trash heap. We also made the mistake of replacing the carpets with wood laminate, thinking it would be easier with messy toddlers. But it just makes the whole downstairs echo and feel really cold and unfinished.

We don't have one. My daughters presence is felt in every room of the house 🤣 two bookshelves full of her books/colouring/Lego in the living room. Plus her dolls house. A couple of baskets with toys. She then has all her other bits in kallax in her room.

We're all different - I appreciate that - but something makes me feel sad when I walk into a house and you'd never know young children live there. I love the colour and the chaos - everything still has its place once she's in bed but I love to see her pictures dotted around, doll scenes she's created, books she's been reading etc.

I know a day will come when she's gone and I'll miss sitting on the living room floor in a den with her, I'll have a nice, tasteful, quiet house. For now she's just as much a part of the place as we are - I would never expect her to go off to a room and play.

The concept never worked in our house - DCs always end up bringing all their crap Lego creations, books, car/train tracks into the kitchen diner because they want to be near me 😒.

@shallwetalkaboutbruno completely agree, I feel very lucky that he’s got a big bedroom. But also don’t want to feel that he won’t regulate properly or whatever someone said on here because he’s got toys in there.

If you’re able to have a playroom then great but I equally don’t think people should feel bad if they don’t have one, if their DCs share bedrooms, if their living room looks like a playroom etc.

Our playroom is attached to the kitchen, so the kids (2 and 5) can play there while I am cooking, cleaning etc. It means the living room is tidy and not full of toys, more comfortable for DH and I to use in the evening or when we have people round.