Whether you choose to cast your home’s playroom as a pop-up play space, a homework hideout, or a place for the kids to decamp when their energy threatens to quiver over and wreak havoc on the rest of the home, the playroom is arguably one of the most important rooms in the house. True, you can round up all of your kids’ less than aesthetically-pleasing gear, drop it in a room labeled the “playroom” and call it a day, but carefully considering a playroom’s design can result in a space that fosters creativity and bolsters your kiddos’ imaginations—parents moonlighting as stay-at-home teachers, take note! If you’re looking to assign some design integrity to your home’s playroom, we’ve compiled a list of key design elements to consider factoring in to create a space that will enchant you and your offspring alike.
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Chalk It Up
Given that nothing tempts crayon-wielding toddlers like a barren stretch of wall, outfitting a playroom in an erasable slick of slate beats them at their own game. Installing a chalkboard is also an easy way to solve the nagging question of playroom art. Save your budget for art that will be better appreciated in the more communal parts of the home and let a chalkboard stand in as a makeshift gallery in the playroom. Chances are your brood’s artistic musings will cue up a mood as cheerful as any store-bought masterpiece.
Rug Yearn
Whether you have a tumble-prone toddler or gymnastics-happy tween, playrooms make a strong case for going full-coverage with carpet. Still, covering up beautiful floors—especially if you’re transforming a non-traditional room like a sunroom or family room into a playroom—can be a tough pill to swallow. In these cases, rolling out a rug can be a smart way to outwit the need for wall-to-wall pile. When shopping for playroom rugs, look for carpets made of materials that will either repel or mask stains. Likewise, graphic blocks of color will distract from the general wear-and-tear created by everything from Hot Wheel treads to Olympics-inspired floor routines.
Work a Window Seat
Because there are few things that drive design-discerning parents as batty as kid toys, window seating with built-in storage underneath is among designers’ favorite ways to outfit a playroom. Banquette-style seating is perfect for kids looking to post up with a book or steal away for a nap, while incognito storage is ideal for stowing everything from art supplies to winter sweaters on hiatus from bedroom drawers. As for the window seat cushions, keep them lightweight and suit them up in a durable, dirt-camouflaging fabric, as chances are high they’ll be cast as everything from makeshift rafts to hot lava-surrounded islands in no time flat.
Carve Out a Hideout
Think back to your own days when you were a child—habitually underfoot adults—and you’re likely to recall craving a space to curl up and call your own. With that in mind, a playroom doesn’t have to be much more than a dedicated dormer (see the ultra-cozy cocoon above). Similarly, an open floor plan playroom can benefit from some thoughtful partitioning: think laddered lofts, bunk beds, or, for the more architecturally inclined: cave-like crawl holes. Key to making a nook feel functional? Pillows and throws. Layer the lair, so to speak, with ploppable pillows and plenty of places to perch such as bean bag chairs or even meditation chairs fashioned from kid-friendly materials like wicker.
Book Order
Being that kids are never too young to reap the rewards of reading, there’s definite merit to putting books on display in a playroom. Since kids are more prone to engaging with items that are visible to them, skip the spine-out display and install shallow shelving that allows books to lead with their covers. When layered with intention, a book wall becomes a powerful design element that can function similarly to art. For the most dramatic effect, carry shelving almost to the ceiling and overlap books rather than space them out. Since children’s books vary in size, omitting gaps will create a more polished look.
Background Joys
In addition to corralling kids’ playthings, most parents harbor some aspirational intentions for their kids’ playrooms. Designers in turn are often challenged to create spaces that double as an imaginative springboard. Designers’ trick for going from blank slate to enchanted space? Murals. The ultimate mood-setters, murals have the power to transform any space. Although it may sound counterintuitive, a mural doesn’t have to equate to a theme-laden playroom, either. In fact, murals tend to make the most impact when they’re counterbalanced by furniture and textiles that contradict their style. For instance: a scenic scene featuring a leafy forest canopy pops when accented by primary Pendleton hues.
Sizable Sectionals
If the idea of orbiting a playroom around a table with pee-wee-sized seats doesn’t feel in sync with your super active kiddos, consider making a sectional the centerpiece of your playroom. When selected with care, a sectional can merge rest and play and grow with your children. Ideally, you’ll want something padded to the point of pillowy, with robust proportions to blur the lines between seating and play equipment. As your children age, a sectional can transition effortlessly from imaginative play to movie marathons and late-night chat sessions, making it the kind of piece you can feel guilt-free about splurging on.
Charge Zone
In 2020 hindsight, every playroom designed post-new millennia should have included a dedicated desk space, as the rise of virtual schooling has made at-home workspaces for even the most junior members of the family a necessity. That said, playroom workspaces should be cheerful not priggish. Opt for functional yet fun decor that winks at the scholastic. For instance: roman shades fashioned of tartan or plaid in attention-grabbing hues, or Eames shell chairs—which are redolent of standard-issue classroom seats—in kid-pleasing shades. If you’re building your playroom from scratch, consider working in a high density of electrical outlets to accommodate laptops, monitors, tablets, phones, and the like.
Wonder Study
Chances are your playroom’s design will require at least one revisit in the course of your child’s life. When the time comes, sizing up your playroom doesn’t need to be arduous—or costly. To keep things simple, try leveraging a full-sized dining table in a playroom once your kids have outgrown their diminutive-sized one. Keep in mind that round pedestal dining tables will work best for cultivating a covetable club headquarters feel, and paint goes a long way to making a dining table feel intentional in a playroom and not like a cast-off. If you’re not married to a specific style, consider riffing off stately collegiate style, and tailor your filters to include terms like “Federal,” “Neoclassical,” and “Edwardian.”
Stack Time
With kids, permanence is all but obsolete. Playroom design should embrace that especially as your kids enter their tween and teen years. For designers and parents, this means honing in on transitional furniture (i.e. pieces that can be moved easily, physically—to make way for slumber parties and dance-offs—but also move easily in time, evolving with your kids from childhood to adulthood). Philippe Starck’s apparitional and aspirational Ghost Chair for Kartell is a prolific example of such a piece. Lightweight and stackable, it can easily be schlepped aside as extra floor space is needed, and it’s also the kind of timeless, ultra-versatile piece that can easily transition from college dorm to first apartment to forever home.
Shelf Help
As your child ages, chances are the playroom will mature into a more personalized space. Parents often eye kids’ treasures with a measured sense of cool and unspoken anecdotes like wouldn’t that look just as good tucked away in a drawer? Popping up shelves encourages all those treasures to take up residence in one place, which in turn coaxes your child’s ephemera into displaying more like an international collection than random junk. To make those shelves look even more aesthetically pleasing, apply a bit of editing. Group like-items such as photo frames, trophies, or plastic figurines together. Break books into small vignettes and pepper those throughout. The same goes for stuffed animals. Use them to break up any areas that may be feeling too linear. Lastly, don’t pack your shelves too tight. Allow a bit of breathing room so the eye is encouraged to naturally meander.
Amenities that Appreciate
Try as you may to discourage it, one day your fledglings are going to grow into fully-functioning adults and fly the coop. Sobering as that thought may be, it reminds designers and parents the value of creating a playroom that’s easy to convert into an adult space once the kids have bid adieu. Consider baking in amenities that do double-duty. Built-in fridges, dishwashers, and indoor-outdoor access can function as kid-friendly perks in the present and adult-minded luxuries in the future. Or, consider the mother of all love it now-love it later furniture investments: an Eero Saarinen Tulip Table and Chairs.
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Lead image by Shade Degges / Design by Sherwood Kypreos
