changing dinning room into a play room!

[DragonFlyx]

Has anyone ever done this? We have to walk through our dinning room to go upstairs or to the kitchen, and with anotherbbaby on the way and in a two bed house we've decided to swap our dinning table for one of those foldy ones and add some funky colours etc into the room and use it as their play room so their bedroom and the living room isn't full of toys and the adults can finally have an adult living room.

I worry about people's opinions too much, would you think badly if you had to walk through a room of toys to use someone's bathroom or go to their kitchen?

I need ideas on how to make it fun for them and also something were not going to grow to hate lol!

You really do worry too much... I recommend you stop inviting in the kind of idiots would think badly of you for what sounds like a perfectly sensible idea!

I also suggest that you get yourselves organised with some good, kid-friendly storage, so you can tidy it up when you choose to! (Like just after you've tripped over a discarded cargo net, or stood on a piece of Lego in your bare feet).

yup - just get a load of Trofast or Skubb storage from Ikea so everything can be picked up and put out of the way each evening. And every so often have a toy audit, removing the stuff they don't play with and storing it/giving it away/selling it so that the amount of plastic crap stays at a manageable level.

We have done this. Our dining table is now in the corner of the living room instead. It works well and means living room isn't full of toys and kept as more of an 'adult' space. Also helps keep bedrooms tidy (although there are still some toys up there).

We have bought lots of expedit shelf units from ikea to organise toys and craft supplies into. We also have an easel, train table and play kitchen in the playroom. Sometimes toys still get brought into the living room but are easily packed away at the end of the day.

I reckon when dc approach age 6/7/8 we'll reclaim our dining room.

If your kids were a little older I'd suggest considering turning the dining room into a living room and the living room into a playroom. That way the playroom would be self contained. For the next few years they are going to want to be nearer to you so your plan sounds good. All anyone will think is your house looks like a fun place to be a kid. I don't know what type of visitors you might have that would be offended by the sight of toys.