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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Playroom?

17 replies

curiousgeorgie · 06/03/2012 12:57

Hi everyone,

We have just had an offer accepted on a house that has a conservatory through double doors off of the living room... there is a fairly large kitchen (also at the back) and a seperate dining room at the front of the house across the hallway...

My DD is 16 months (and am hoping for at least one more very soon!) and I am thinking about making her a playroom for her larger toys.. (playhouse, kitchen etc) as she's too young to just play upstairs in her room and I really HATE the situation I'm in right now where my living room looks like toys r us.

Would you use the 'dining room' as a playroom and put a table in the conservatory? Or use the conservatory given that I will be able to be in the living room with the doors open watching her...

Do you think she will actually use it? And if so, what else shall I get to go in there?

Thanks!

OP posts:

BikeRunSki · 06/03/2012 13:00

I have friends with a conservatory playroom through living room and it works brilliantly. Am v envious.

tiredteddy · 06/03/2012 13:00

I think the conservatory. As then when it's warm and shed older I assume she will be able to use the garden too? The closeness to the kitchen and lounge is better ad this is where you will be. Children don't start playing in their rooms upstairs until they are guite a bit older IMO. It sounds lovely to me.

Original poster

curiousgeorgie · 06/03/2012 13:06

Thanks... I've never had a house with a conservatory before... I'm just worried about it getting too cold / too hot for her... but I suppose in that case she'll just play in the living room...

My DH thinks she'll never go in there and it'll just be a glorified toy cupboard

OP posts:

Dotty342kids · 06/03/2012 14:45

I have to say, we converted a room to a playroom and they just used to bring the toys out of there and play iwth them in the kitchen / lounge as that's where we always are. If you're going to use a room as a playroom make sure it's not isolated from where you're likely to be, as that's where your child will inevitably want to be too - or at least to be able to see / chat to you.
Having said that, at least we could have all the toys etc in one place and shut the door on it at night!

SleepyFergus · 06/03/2012 14:50

Check if your conservatory had heating. Ours doesn't and it freezing in winter. We've got an oil filled radiator thong which helps heat it, but not conducive to my DD plating in there in the winter months. In Summer it's roasting but we can at least open the windows or French doors to get a breeze through. Doesn't take much sun to heat it up either!

SleepyFergus · 06/03/2012 14:50

Thong = thing!!

LouMacca · 06/03/2012 15:15

Our conservatory (off our living room) is used as our DCs playroom.

We originally put the dining table in the conservatory and the front room of the house was the toy room. However, it just didnt work as the conservatory was so hot in summer and too cold in the winter - my teeth rattled having Christmas Dinner the year before last.

We have had a small radiator fitted in the conservatory, put a rug down and had thick blinds put up to make it more cosy in the winter and have had a fan fitted for the summer (plus you can open the windows) It works perfectly as the french doors open out onto the garden so the DCs can come and go as they please. We have six large reallly useful see-through boxes and six brightly coloured fabric boxes so all the toys are tidied away at the end of the day.

My DCs love it and so do all their friends

beanandspud · 08/03/2012 21:29

I would try and think a little further ahead and plan for an additional 'family' room rather than just a playroom.

If the conservatory is heated could you use that as a dining room off the lounge and use the front room as what I think the Americans would call a den? Storage space for toys, an extra TV/DVD and a comfy sofa... As DD gets older it then becomes a nice room to have friends round and you get to have a 'grown up' lounge not covered in toys!

Original poster

curiousgeorgie · 08/03/2012 21:45

Do you think it would work now though with her being so young? Does anyone have experience of this?

With the room being quite seperate given her age I mean.

OP posts:

whomovedmychocolate · 08/03/2012 21:49

We have a playroom which used to be a conservatory - well sort of - half walled, timber windows etc. But we took off the glass roof and replaced it with slate (costs about £5k to do with spanish slate or £8K with welsh) as long as your conservatory can take the weight (depends on structure) it turns it into a proper room.

One thing to consider though is that a playroom is only required for quite a short time (under five years) before they want to play in their rooms or indeed outside unsupervised so yes go for it but invest in some decent storage or it will just become a toy dumping yard and every single night put everything away and reclaim the house. :)

beanandspud · 08/03/2012 22:00

DS is four and whilst he is happy to play on his own he still prefers to have someone with him. From that point of view I would create a room where you are also happy to spend time!

How often would you use a formal dining room? Would you end up with a room that is barely used? Can you eat in the kitchen? Do you often have friends round in which case it might be good to have the children playing in the room close by whilst the adults drink tea in the lounge. Will you be at home all day?

Will it bother you being able to see the toys/mess in the conservatory whilst you are sitting in the lounge?

Sorry for so many questions. Once you move in it is sometimes easier to visualise how best to use the space.

ChippingInNeedsCoffee · 08/03/2012 22:08

They will only 'use' it if they are encouraged/told to - but to be honest, I don't really care where they play, just that it all goes back at the end of the day! I'm BIG on kids tidying up their own toys and she's a good age to start that. Whichever room you choose to use, make sure there is good toy storage that makes it easy for her to tidy up and make sure she always does it with you directing & helping - then directing. Do it more than once a day (if you are home?!). They very quickly understand if you are consistent :) Playrooms don't stop being used when they are young if you don't want them to be. If you have the space it's much better to keep the toys in a playroom and keep the bedrooms for sleeping - but you are years away from that being something you need to think about!

I would use the 'dining room' myself, put a comfy settee in there and make it a nice comfy room. Conservatorys are a bit of a PITA for heating/being too hot IMO and also it's nice to have a room that can be closed off from the rest of the house.

tentative123 · 08/03/2012 22:22

We used our playroom until we left home from uni, it became the computer room at some point, agree to think of it as a family room is maybe bettrr. There were 3 of us though so we played with each other..

sairygamp · 08/03/2012 22:29

We had a conservatory built onto our house 2 years ago and it is now used as a playroom. Absolutley the best money we ever spent. In the summer, they mess about in there with the doors open so can run in and out, in the winter, we have a little electric heater if needed and a light which is plugged in in the dining room. It's their main space and is fabulous!

SkiBumMum · 08/03/2012 22:31

We use what would have traditionally been the dining room and have a dining table in the end of the lounge.

We have a sofa (M&S cheap and cheerful, but brilliant - just wish we'd got a sofa bed) and Ikea Expedit storage with fitted canvas baskets so most stuff goes away when not in use and a bookcase with a
Range of the family's books in not just kids.

The girls have a little wooden toy kitchen which is adored by every child who enters the house. It was DD1's Christmas gift just before she was 2 and she's played with it every day since. They also have a little Ikea kids table and chairs which they draw at, have snack time at, use as a shop etc etc. This was DD1's 1st bday present and again invaluable.

I'd like to get an easel but am waiting for DH to build the garden playhouse they had for this cmas!

I agree with making it a den rather than stuffed full if toys. We don't have a tv in there but that's more because we are a 1 tv family and I have a hatred of kids tv being on a lot.

Cushions are good for indoor physical play in winter - treasure islands etc.

welovesausagedogs · 08/03/2012 22:32

Conservatory. Make it a proper kids room, like painting it children's colours, have rugs cushions, beanbags, little play-table. When i was young we had a playroom and it was great me and my sibling played in their all the time, we had a play kitchen, iron board, like a mini house set up in there, what was good about having a play room, was that rather than just being in our rooms playing with our toys we played together and didn't just play with gender stereotyped toys, sometimes we would all play lego, or all play "mummys and daddy's" it was great. Having a playroom is one of the main things we are looking for in the houses we are looking at, at the moment.

welovesausagedogs · 08/03/2012 22:33

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