With the arrival of a new piano, we’re currently making some changes in our playroom. It’s always been a second sitting room, with a big squashy sofa and lots of room for playing. Just lately though, it’s been becoming a bit unloved and unused. And the more unloved it becomes, the messier it gets. We used to spend a lot of time in there together, now it often feels like a dark and dingy Lego-strewn hole.
Now the boys are getting older, it’s time for the room to grow up a bit. We’d like to turn it into more of a doing room – where fun musical things can happen as well playing, watching TV and reading.
Before we start our re-jig, I’d like to share some photos of the room as it was…
The little Ikea table and chairs that nobody ever sits at. The kitchen table is always where they want to be. There’s also an Ikea shelf ledge – I love these and want to have lots more.
Alongside the boys’ books, the bookshelves are full of cookery books – I’d like to move some of these into the kitchen to free up some shelf space. Here, also, is our beloved Ikea Ektorp sofa, which has been with us in all three of our homes. I always remember it having to come up all the stairs into our London flat. But, do we really need three sofas in our house?
The door is a great place to display art – I’m so glad I finally discovered washi tape.
This is my Ercol sideboard, which is definitely staying. It stores most of the Lego and lots of craft things.
This Ikea Expedit has had many different incarnations. It used to have baskets in it with all the boys’ toys. More recently, we bought little drawer and cupboard inserts to go in the gaps. There won’t be space for this once the piano arrives, so it’ll need to find a home somewhere else in the house.
Here’s a bit of our picture wall. The boats were a bargain from an auction and the dogs are David Hockney postcards. I’m also very fond of the vintage Underground leaflets you can see on the right. The wall colour is Ball Green by Farrow and Ball. It was here when we arrived – I quite like it, but I’m not sure if I’d have chosen it. I like the textured wallpaper less, but we haven’t got round to stripping it off yet.
I really like the idea of replacing the sofa with a couple of armchairs. I really like these ones from Ikea:
What do you think? I need some fun ideas to give the room some new energy and purpose.
I love those chairs from Ikea too and wish we had the room for them in our house. I am sure whatever you decide to do will be lovely and the vintage underground leaflets look fab! x
Thanks Lisa, I’m hoping to get one of those chairs soon!
Oh it’s so nice when a piano can become part of the whole house instead of being shoved away in a cold dining room like when I was younger! Is there a table your children can play at? And where do they do their homework? I love having a playroom with a 3 year old, but I imagine the transition between playroom and ‘teenagers lounge’ might be quite tricky.
Hi Naomi! My boys love to sit at the kitchen table to do homework and colouring. I’d love to have a table in the playroom too, but they always gravitate towards the kitchen. I guess as they get older they’ll probably have desks in their bedrooms.
How exciting! I love the Ikea shelves too and they make great places for prints or artwork! You definitely need storage – a must! I am just finishing off our room, I am so happy with it and love shutting the door on it at night!! Thanks for linking up and sharing, much appreciated. Great to have you. Jess xx
#HomeEtc
Thanks Jess – I love Ikea for storage. The expedit has been so useful over the years – it’s now outside our bedroom. x
Those chairs go well with the sideboard – good luck making space – but it’s nice to find things as we sort through isn’t it – the things we’d almost forgotten about. Have fun #homeetc
Aaah IKEA. Clever, clever IKEA. HOW well do those chairs go with your Ercol sideboard???? They were made to be together! Can’t wait to see it all when you’ve done your transformation!! Thanks for linking up — hope to see you next week xx #HomeEtc
Caro | http://www.thetwinklediaries.co.uk
Love that chair. It’s timeless so would be perfect. If it were me, I’d paint the walls. But then painting walls white is my answer to everything so you probably shouldn’t listen to me 🙂