Anatomy of a Playroom

It took me a while to convince My Sweets to move us upstairs into one of the three other bedrooms, but I knew it would be awesome. We had a bouncy boy and a girl on the way... I didn't want to run up/down the stairs all night long to tend to both babes, and we needed a safe and cozy romper room for us all to build, roll around, and make believe in during the day. So when I was preggers with Bleu we turned our first floor master suite into a playroom for Buby. Hurray for kid spaces!


The room is connected to a master bath and has big closets for neatly storing art supplies, crafts, games and dress-up outfits. Plus, it's the only room in the house with carpet {new super soft Berber at that}. The day we moved our bed out the Bubster went wild.


We hung some of Buby's oversize canvases on the toasty-gray walls and kept the scheme neutral-ish with punches of bright. As the children grow the space evolves--and play things rotate in and out of the mix--but one fact remains: It's where we love to be.


Every few months I spend one of Bleu's nap times photographing the kids' favorite objects du jour. When they are all grown I figure they might appreciate looking back at a collage of their various childhood spaces. I know I would. Our son is a creature of repetition when it comes to play {and he takes great pride in and care of his things}, so I imagine these pictures will someday conjure the greatest memories. Here is our playroom now.













Notes:

• The tractor was part of a make-your-own kit. It's the first toy Buby painted and put together himself. It sees a lot of love.

• The wooden pull train was a Great Aunt Mary gift from Buby's first year. It will never rotate out. I hope to have grandchildren who tinker with it.

• Bean bags and hacky sacks are a playroom staple for us. I picked up a few from Party City for Buby's 2nd birthday and another handful for Bleu's 1st. We toss, juggle, sort, hunt. The games are as boundless as our imaginations.

• These wooden puzzle pieces are called Connectagons. Santa snagged them at HearthSong two Decembers ago. I keep a bin or tray of them in every room. Buby builds amazing things.

• Pink and green IKEA stools pulled up to an old train table, which we use for much more these days.

• Animalz. Have you seen these? Non-toxic and made of organic maple. Super cute, and my kiddos love itty bitty bendy figurines. I like to keep a few in my handbag for unexpected delays.
  
  
  

I buy these heavy solid wood cubbies at Jo-Ann Fabrics whenever I have a 40% off coupon {from either Jo-Anns, Michael's or A.C. Moore}. I lay them sideways around the perimeter of the room as the perfect solution for too-tall books, puzzles, games, etc. Two-, three- and four- shelf versions are available.


The mirror is from Ikea, and we hung it sideways so that Bleu could peak in on herself while she plays.

This giraffe was a sweet gift from Tom's colleague who went to Africa to visit the fam. It's heavy and wooden and much loved around here. Giraffes were the first animal with which Bleu became enamored. The first of many.














Notes:

• Our library book bin. It's made of recycled magazines from Japan. Having a dedicated bin is the only way to keep our 9-12 weekly library books separate from our own collection and from those that Buby borrows from school.

• Russian nesting dolls. Bleu plays with these on and off all day. She used to bring them in the car, to restaurants, etc. Until we lost one.

• Basic alpha/illustration blocks. Someone gave these to me at my first baby shower 5 years ago. We play with them daily, so I'm convinced now that wooden blocks are the best baby shower gift. Ever.

• Spike Jr. I get the biggest kick out of this thing. Bleu dares herself to run up to it, hits the "on" button, and then races away. She leaps onto the playroom sofa and lets out a huge squeal. Then she'll jump down and do it all over again. 20 times again. Spike Sr. {also from Grandma + Grandpa} resides in the middle of the living room. Buby says that one is off limits to Lil' Sis.

Motorized robot built by the boys. Genius, I say.















Notes:

• Buby painted this canvas pillow {and put his picture in it} at school. He wrapped it up and put it under the tree for My Sweets and I. Can't describe how cool it is.
  

• Our hat bin. It's funky. The kids tear through it all day. We're going to start making our own in preparation for the annual hat parade across the river.

• I find these green cases at Michael's. They work for storing/organizing random wooden puzzles, like this giraffe puzzle that's numbers on one side and letters on the other.

• A ton of First Reader books from Grandma DJ. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Bleu's new girlie corner has a kitchen, pantry, high chair, crib and stroller for her beloved Bitty and friends. {Fyi: This is Buby's fave section, too.}














Notes:

• Handmade felt cookies. The chocolate chip are from Aunt Mel. Pretend hot cocoa and dessert parties are a constant here.

• Wooden cutting food we use for everything.

• A smoothie maker. Of course. {Fyi: The kids throw random veggies into their smoothies.}

• Huge pink horse for riding/snuggling.

• Two 60-piece sets of natural standard unit blocks. Best "toy" investment we ever made.

Painted rockers from Uncle B. Both kids wrestle their way into Buby's, amazingly. The sock monkeys were made by Grandma DJ. All of her grandchildren get a sock monkey on their first Christmas. We treasure ours.














Notes:

• Fabric banner I made for one of Buby's birthdays and loved so much I just left it up.

• Lego-like builders from Grace's rainbow party last year. Buby uses them All. The. Time.

• Finger puppets from Great Aunt Pat + Uncle Pete. Very popular here.

• LeapFrog Tag reader. Buby is on his third book. Loves it. So do I.

• A random ball bin. We've always had one. We always will.
  
  

Felt counting board from cousin Debbie. We've used it so much over the past couple of years that it's definitely showing some wear and tear. I heard there's a letters version. Would love to find that.

At the end of the day Buby is a book man. He puts books, people and food at the top of his interest list. Toys, games, crafts, movies all fall somewhere in the middle. Lucky for us he takes extreme good care of his things, so it's easy to buy him quality items and know that we'll have them a very long time.


Above is Buby's library corner. There are a few other bookshelves {not shown} in the room, but this one holds his bestest collection. The top display changes every couple of days, and we read together every chance we get.


In the back corner we have three large clear pull-out bins {not shown} with three drawers each. That's where we categorize/organize/store the playroom's smallest treasures. I just updated the following labels: Dinos, Music, Games, Trains, Food, Mini Cars, Big Cars, People, Animals.


The kids know the saying "a place for everything and everything in its place." And mostly they are excellent picker-uppers for their ages. That helps keep the center of the room open for dancing, dive-rolling and T-ball practice. Oh joy.