Does everyone have a playroom for their children?

[Gateau]

Everyone I know seems to have a separate playroom for their children. We don't. Although it is huge we only have one living room and DS plays with his toys here which means our living room is never wholly an adult space, whereas my friends have a room that is always tidy - just for them. And the kids play elsewhere. In fact my friend is having a conservatory built - just so the children have a playroom! It doesn't bother us but am just wondering if we are the odd ones out? At the end of the day we stack DS's toys in boxes near the window to get some space back, and of course to let DS knows this has to be done.
It's no big deal but am just musing.

[juicy12]

I turned our study downstairs into a playroom after my grand architectural plans turned to dust when i left paid employment. For us it's worked really well - my DCs (5 and 2) are pretty keen on playdough, painting and Moon Sand, all of which make so much flippin mess that I can't bear the cleaning up anywhere else. i'm a bit anal about that, though

[Mumsaysno]

HI yes we have a playroom that has toys in and also a tv and freeview box. Most of the toys stay in there but daughters still like to watch tv in living room as it has sky box in and the wii.

When we moved into our house the room that is now the playroom had been a dog grooming parlour and when we looked round the house the owner showed it us and said they would leave the big dog bath in if we wanted it!!!! To which hubby replied no thanks we don't even have a dog. So the room is now a playroom and it is nice to be able to just close a door and hide all the toys and mess.

[IdrisTheDragon]

I would like a playroom. Not because I want to exclude DS and DD but because it would be nice to have somewhere where toys could go and where all of us could ie play with Lego and it could stay out without needing to get tidied away. Or play board games.

[ComeOVeneer]

Becasuse our playroom leads to the garden and being a lower ground floor it is coolest part of the house, I am in their a lot with the childreen, but once they have gone to bed we move up to the adult room with the balcony door open ion the sumer. That way if I can't be bothered to tidy the toys away if the children haven't done it, it doesn't matter.

[roisin]

When the boys were little they had all their toys in the (large) living room/dining area, which also had patio doors onto the garden. It was very much 'our' living space.

Once they were older (and we moved), we had a living room without toys in (though it does have a piano, TV [the only one in the house] and the Wii - so they boys still spend a lot of time in there).

We chose to put them both in bunks in the smallest bedroom, so that they could have the larger (huge) room as a playroom.

Now they are 10 and 12 and sleep in separate rooms, but we still call the big one the playroom.

[Nancy10]

When we moved into a bigger house. I converted our dining room into a playroom. It was the biggest waste of time because my children are either in the garden or bought all the toys they wanted to play with into the living room! Bedrooms are fine!

[kitbit]

We use the dinig room as a playroom as it wouldn't ever get used otherwise since we eat at the kitchen table. We figured that the friends who do come to eat with us are good enough friends not to need a separate dining room with full regalia and are happy to squash a bit in the kitchen and be plied full of wine, and that way we get to use all of our rooms fully all the time instead of having a space that gets aired only once in a while. And because the living room and dining room are only separated by a small arch, we can pull a screen across at night if it isn't as tidy as we'd hope and not see it.

So no, no playroom exactly, but we've rearranged our house to make best use of the space!

[saggyhairyarse]

I don't get playrooms. Yes, it is great to have somewhere to store childrens stuff but my kids want to be in the room that I am in and play there, not in the rooms decorated in primary colours with modular toy storage.

[ComeOVeneer]

saggy we live in the playroom during the day when the children aren't at school/nursery, the living room is used by dh and I in the evening and when we have friends/family over. It is so nice to have a haven away from plastic tat and flashing lights/repetitive electrical noises.

[thehouseofmirth]

Don't you think the crux of the matter is that our children simply have too many toys? In my 1970s childhood (and being an only child, I was relatively spoiled), all my toys fitted under my bed...

[ravenAK]

We do - just moved into a big Victorian semi that was previously 6 bedsits & 2 flats (& is magnolia throughout & reeks of cheap tobacco & Pot Noodles, but will be lovely when we've finished ).

So we've 'allocated' 3 bedrooms to the dc - currently ds has his own, dd1 & dd2 share & they have a playroom. If the dds loathe each other when they're older, they can lose the playroom & have a bedroom each.

It's full of expedit bookcases & Really Useful Boxes with laminated labels. All of which have been emptied out into a huge plastic heap this afternoon as I had a mate round & we parcelled all 5 kids off upstairs so we could have a peaceful chat...

[patcow]

ssd - LOL!!

no playroom for us. my kids play where i am - livingroom...kitchen....bathroom...

[lal123]

We currently have 4 bedrooms and 1 dd - so one of hte spare bedrooms is her playroom and one is the spare bedroom (doesn't stop toys taking over downstairs - just means we have somewhere to shove them out of the way!) Playroom also has a sofabed in.

When DD2 arrives spare room will become her bedroom and we'll try to keep playroom, with sofabed for potential visitors.

Anniemac - my cousins used to have a rumpus room - like you I was always jealous!