Playroom

[Movinghouse2121]

Hi,

I’m moving to a house with a large garden and a log cabin in the garden (17x14) do you think this would be good as a playroom? it’s had planning permission etc, has heating and electric

I think it depends how old your children are. I wouldn’t want mine somewhere where I couldn’t see or hear them while they were playing and I was doing other things (eg. Laundry, cooking) but mine are little.

Goodness I'd use that as a studio/gym for me!
Ternagers would love it as a chill out room though.
Playroom not good for little ones who want to be wherever you are too.

It really depends how old the children are, if young then I’d say no because you want them where you can hear them. So you’d have to constantly supervise them in there. For older children it might work.

Mine are 1 and 4. I’d hang out with them, wouldn’t leave them on their own!

Not at that age, they just want to be with you around the house is have it as an adults den for escape in the evening when they are asleep :) with monitor on of course ☺️

As long as you’re happy to be in there with hem while they’re playing, but it might be tricky dragging them out of there if you have things you need to get on with in the house like getting lunch ready etc. If it’s safe enough and close enough to the house I suppose you could put a monitor in there for if you need to pop into the house and do something.

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I find a playroom to be a glorified and expensive cupboard at that age. They just want to drag their toys to wherever you are and be by your side, so unless you want to spend all your time out there it'd be no use at all I'm afraid.

I wouldn't for such young kids. You want them playing where you can supervise while cooking, or doing some laundry. You'll be really bored sat out there watching them and they won't learn how to amuse themselves if you are constantly involved in their play.

You could use it to store most of their toys, and just rotate a few into the house at a time. I'd also set it up to be a nice quiet space (or gym, or office). Somewhere you can go and read a book in peace at the weekend

At those ages it's more useful to have a playroom somewhere inside so you can get on with other stuff and keep an ear out. Otherwise you'll have to drag them inside whenever you want to put a wash on etc.

We had a separate playroom away from the main living space. The kids just moved all of their toys to the kitchen diner to be with us.

I think it would be amazing for when they’re older and having friends over. My 9 year old would love this. They’re maybe a bit young to need it now. But if you want an extra place to keep toys and take them to, it could work well. That’s great having something like that in your garden!!

I think it'd be lovely in the summer if you could leave the doors open and let them come and go into the garden as they please (with supervision, obviously!) Would probably rather stay in the house in winter though. It'd be fab for teenagers or older children who don't need supervising constantly, in a few years.

When they are older maybe, but I can see times when they want to play in the house, or you need to be in the house and they drag toys and bits from the playroom to the house and stuff gets lost, mislaid, damaged etc.

Save the playhouse for later, or , better suggestion, put in your claim to it now as whatever you fancy, studio, sewing room, craft area, library, yoga retreat, gin palace.

Actually having written that if you really did want it as a space for the kids I would go with craft area, all the bits where you need them, the mess contained in one place, room for a gallery to display their creations.

We have similar, was a teenage hangout for the previous owners. Had thought we would turn it into a play area but in reality it has become two studies for us and a sitting /gym area. We do hang out with the kids in their and we have a mini table and chairs which has been good for home schooling (they are 2,4 and 6. I think the challenge with a playroom in a garden room is as other posters say - they want their toys to be where you are so if they're in the playroom, they'll drag them into the house. It also means that it's harder for you to get on with stuff like meal prep etc when they are playing independently. As they've got older what I have found they really want is a treehouse .

The upside is that you can get the majority of clutter out of the house which is lovely. We have a playroom in the house but the crap spreads everywhere !

Honestly it would be a pain in the arse at that age. Not able to make a coffee, do a bit of food prep or washing, or answer the door whilst the kids are playing, and the kids would be forever dragging toys into the main house or leaving them in the garden. Brilliant when they are older though.