A room for play
No more pencils, no more books, summer is a great time to give kids’ bedrooms a new look. Enlist your children in the design, and find projects they can do themselves. Here are some ideas, tips and simple decorating projects to get you started.
ABOVE: This funky playroom was inspired by the homeowners love for everything disco. Large, colourful built-in storage cabinets frame the entire room and give Mom a great place to store toys and books. A custom built dance floor with blue rope lighting sits on top of sustainable cork flooring. A wall of mirrors and a spinning disco ball complete this retro playroom.
LEFT: This 3 x 3.5 metre sunroom had endless possibilities, but for a family this small space makes the perfect playroom.
To make the most of the small but sunny room a simple wall grid keeps the room nice and tidy. With toys off the floor there's plenty of room for fun. Boxes attached to the wall between the wall grid crossbars create an instant bookcase.
Most of the furniture in the room is easily done as DIY projects, using plywood and basic power tools.
If you don't know how, sign up for DIY-Divas.
Choose sensible flooring
A playroom will quickly get dirty, so choose a sensible flooring option that is easy to keep clean. Ceramic tiles, vinyl and laminated flooring are ideal for craft areas, but do have carpeted areas or rugs in areas where kids will be sitting to play or read.
For older kids the extra space can easily be put to use as a 'chill' space where they can hang out with their friends without intruding on the rest of the house.
With most second or third bedrooms being so small, kids will appreciate having a room of their own to relax, study and take time out.
Painting tip:
To recreate the playroom walls with vibrant shades of aqua, green, and pink, use masking tape a spirit level and lots of patience - you must wait for each row to dry before you move on to the next.
Beanbags and slipcovered sofas provide plenty of comfortable seating and can easily be popped in the washing machine when required. A workstation or desk will offer a dual-purpose to the room and allow students to have a place to study in peace and quiet.
Furniture needs to be able to take more than a few knocks. Think plastic, foam and padded. If you have pine furniture, this is great for painting and bringing some colour into the room.
ABOVE: Key lime and apple red in Rust-Oleum 2X spray paint adds colourful fun to a playroom. Striped Roman blinds in matching colours finish off the windows, while cubed storage shelves provide ample space for storage boxes, books and toys.
DIY Tip
You can paint almost any surface with Rust-Oleum spray paints. All that is required is a light sanding over previously varnished or enamel painted surfaces and a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum for wonderful new colour.
When decorating a playroom, murals, wallpaper and removable stickers are just some of the innovative ways to decorate play rooms. Decorate in bright, fresh colours for a space that is welcoming and fun.
DIY Tip
Make your own wall stickers with overhead transparencies a PC and printer to design and create your own images. Use Bostik self-adhesive spray to apply the stickers to the wall.
Chalkboard paint is another good idea when it comes to decorating a playroom. This type of paint is ideal for covering a section of wall or cupboard doors and allows children the opportunity to really express themselves with easy clean up. You can even paint a small table with chalkboard paint. Kids LOVE chalk. They can draw to their hearts content and also use the table for other activities.
DIY Tip
Paint playroom walls with a sheen paint that offers good scrubbability for regular cleaning. Prominent Paints Sheen can be tinted to thousands of colours, and all you need to do is select your swatch colour and have it mixed. Pop into a Decorating Centre of your local Prominent Paints.
LEFT: 3mm supawood is cut out to various shapes and animals, and painted, to create a wonderful jungle theme.
You can quite easily use a jigsaw or scrollsaw to create cut outs for any theme. The joy of using cut outs is that they can be temporary mounted onto walls using Prestik or double-sided tape.
If you aren't very good at drawing or painting, many printers will print out self-adhesive stickers in any size that you want.
Allowing a child to use his or her imagination at play, whether role-playing, drawing, building, or make-believe, increases a child's language and social skills, eye-hand coordination and creativity.
little crown interiors - bhg - southern living - southern girls nest - hgtv - janice anderssen