Monday, November 12, 2018

Home Style || Creating A Playroom



If you're lucky enough to have the space, you may be planning on turning a spare room, unused dining room or conservatory into a play area where your kids can catch up with friends, play and get entertained instead of filling the shared spaces like the the living room with toys. As with any big project, before you get started there are a couple of things you will need to take into consideration to keep your kids happy and safe. Find out a little more about the things you may need to think of before creating the perfect play space below;

Safety 


One of the things you need to think about first is the safety of your kids. You don’t want them to accidentally lock themselves in the room, so always make sure you can open the door from the outside all the time. If the playroom is upstairs, lock the windows to avoid accidents and add any stair gates if necessary for smaller toddlers and babies. At the same time, if you do have toddlers, you will need to try to eliminate corners or add corner protectors to the furniture and fix all the shelves firmly to walls as they can easily be tipped or tripped on. Check your curtains and blinds to make sure that it's not possible for kids to pull the rails down and injure themselves and make sure any cords are tucked safely away or replaced with safer alternatives. Make sure any switches are safe if in reach and that plug sockets are either not accessible of filled with a protector to stop little fingers exploring.




Easy to Clean Areas


Kids are messy and there is not much you can do about it. Messiness is part and parcel with parenthood and sometimes it's how they do their best learning, so instead of battling it entirely, we need to make it as stress free and easy to clean up as possible for us parents, whilst still being fun and easy to explore for children. You can however design the room in a way that it is easier to clean up the mess with little effort, meaning you can relax more during messy play times knowing the clean up won't leave you with a headache later. You could choose to install laminate or vinyl flooring instead of carpets that can often get stained almost immediately. Check out the best at Flooring Luxury Vinyl and choose the pattern that suits your taste, room purpose and the decor you have in mind. The same goes for furniture. Don't opt for furniture that you will be overly precious with, instead, opt for something wipe clean that won't wear with use, is sturdy enough for little people to be around and provides you with the storage you need too.




Accessibility 


It is also crucial that you make the room accessible for all kids. You don’t want too many steps leading to the room, as this can exclude friends who have disabilities or smaller kids needing easy access. The perfect kids’ room would be a space situated close to the main living area so you can always be present or close by, whilst giving your kids the independence they crave for in a space they can make their own.

Decor 


Of course, you will also have to pay attention to the decor you are using. It needs to be relevant to the children’s age, as well as inspiring and engaging to help keep them learning through play. You know the best what your kids are into at the moment, be it dinosaurs, robots or farm animals. Decorate the room according to their interest and make the walls and decor as interactive and interesting as possible, so they can learn while they play and enjoy a bright vibrant setting. 

Lighting 


If you are planning on having a craft table in the playroom, you will need to ensure that there is adequate lighting in the room too. Standing lights might be too dangerous for little ones, as well as plug sockets and switches located low, close to the floor. Spotlights on the ceiling or the wall will make the room feel brighter as well as clip on lights if placed somewhere safe. Always try to make the most of natural lighting too, which is so much better for children and a lot cheaper and safer than any artificial alternatives.




Feature ideas


If you need a little inspiration to help create the perfect play room, then always check Pinterest first as people have some great ideas for what to include, how to store and organise rooms as well as decor inspiration. In your play room/area, you may want to include something like; arts & craft table, reading nook, tent/hideaway area, sensory area, Lego table, dress up box, art gallery wall with their work, chalk board wall or frame, building area (blocks or soft play cubes), ball pool, soft toy cuddle corner, role play zone, Sylvanian village or similar, song bag, music corner. There are so many things to create depending on what your child enjoys and don't feel bad if you only have a small space, less 'stuff' sometimes gets the imagination flowing much more, so it's never a bad thing to have less! Get creative with the space you do have and anything just for them will be so well received, however big, small or busy it is.




If you would like to improve or create your own play space, designing a creative area to play can be a great idea. Make sure that you take care of the safety precautions and design the space with your kids’ happiness and wellbeing in mind. You don't have to dedicate a whole room if you're lacking on space, but even having their own reading/playing/creative corner can be a brilliant addition to the home and really help with their learning.


*Collaborative post