Do playrooms actually work?

[Cakeisafoodgroup]

Just that, really! Does anyone who has a playroom find that their children actually use/play in it? Youngest two dc are 8 and 18 months.
We’re fortunate enough to have an extra room downstairs that DH uses as a study to WFH 2 days a week, but it’s right next to the living room and kitchen and the noise of children and dog is often bothering him. We could reconfigure things so he works upstairs which would be quieter, and turn the current study space into a playroom.
I don’t know anyone with a playroom, however, and I have no idea if it actually works or if it just becomes another dumping room for toys!

I had one when the older ones were little. It was amazing, definitely worked well for us. It was easier to keep the house tidy and it felt more relaxing in the evening to sit in my lounge with no children's things in sight. They had a little craft area in there with a table and different play mats. Toys were organised in boxes and a couple of boxes would be out at a time, it kept them entertained.

We have two reception rooms and one is a playroom. The kids use all over the house really, but I find it really useful to keep all their toys in, also have a piano and a sofa and armchair. It’s just a nice relaxed space whereas out living room (sometimes) is more formal and orderly.

We had a playroom that worked well but we had 3 kids. Not as effective with 1 unless you're in there too. Over the years we added a TV for kids films cbeebies etc. Moved on further when teenagers to a wii and then xbox. Eventually they retreated to their own rooms. Now it is a bedroom for the eldest who unexpectedly returned to the nest.

We have a conservatory off the living room which we use as a play room. It’s brilliant for keeping all the toys out of the lounge! DC are 3 and 1 and play in there all the time. I wouldn’t be without one now!

We have one off our kitchen/diner that was converted from half of the double garage before we bought our house. Our GC, who are under 10 have it as their playroom when they’re here. As well as their toys, it has a tv and sofa bed in it so it can also be used as an extra bedroom if needed. Should we need to and when our GC don’t use it anymore, it could wholly become a downstairs bedroom.

it worked for me and it worked for my friend. But I think it only works if you can see the position from the kitchen or main room living room. It meant I had no toys in the living room or in the bedrooms at all so was easy to keep the rest of the house tidy and when friends came over their kids bundled into the play room. However I'm a grandma now in different house and I keep all the toys in another room but I think because they can't see me (or maybe it's a long narrow shaped room), they tend to drag them into the main room where I am to play....

I had one when my DDs were little. I loved it. It was just a great space to contain all their toys, we had a table for arts and crafts. We home educated too so it was a great place to have organised resources.

We have one but it's an upstairs bedroom, my two girls currently prefer to share but it will eventually be a bedroom for one of them. It's useful for storing toys but it tends to get very messy and then not used until I tidy it again.

Ours gets used daily. When they were little I'd sit in there with them. They did of course drag toys out to other rooms, but I didn't ever mind, they are full time residents of the house! It was great to just shut the door on it and never worry about it being tidy.
I'm presently turning it in to more of a snug, I'll put a sofa and TV in there and they can have their friends there rather than in bedrooms.

We've had an upstairs and downstairs playroom over the years. Until my DC were 5, we had a downstairs playroom that was next to the open plan living-dining kitchen. It could be closed off when not in use or to hide the mess, but also had double doors that when open enabled me to watch over them whilst I was in the kitchen or living area. Perfect for the toddler and younger years. When we moved house, we changed to a first floor playroom that was next to their shared bedroom (they're twins and actively wanted to share for much longer than I expected). It was a larger Georgian house, with a traditional layout, but we don't have an open plan ground floor layout. Me and DH half jokingly called the DC's rooms on the first floor the 'day nursery' and 'night nursery' - but actually, that's exactly what they were. They didn't use their bedroom except at night, and all play was either outside, in the playroom or kitchen when doing crafts or messy play. I found that an upstairs room gave them independence. I'd send them off upstairs to play and they would happily disappear for a while, and I'd just call them for meals or occasionally nip up to check on them. Never had any issues, but also we didn't ever put a TV or electronics in the playroom to ensure that we didn't need to supervise screen time. Now, the two rooms have become their individual bedrooms (they asked to have their own rooms when they were 9), both with enough space for desks. We have 2 reception rooms (one had been an office for me and DH) but we've changed one to the DC's lounge so that they have a chill out area where they can invite their friends over. Now that they're nearly 12, having a space they can be in with friends, but is still in the living area of the house, feels like the best solution.

All basically just a long-winded way to say, as DC grow, their needs for a space to play and hang out changes. Just be prepared to adapt what you have, the toy playing period is relatively short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you can adapt the spaces for the family as they grow.