Ikea Art Easel |

When Tim and I were house hunting, one of our many desires was an area or room that we could turn into a playroom for our kids. Growing up, my parents always had a room in our house that was designated as a kid area; a place where our toys lived and we could let our imaginations run wild. To this day, my Mom (aka Tutu) has a room in their house which she has turned into a magical play area for all of the grandchildren. Apartment Therapy, one of my favorite websites, featured the room on their sister site ohdeedoh!

We created this playroom on a small budget, and it took nearly two years to get it to this point. The previous owners used it as a home office and server room, so we had our work cut out for us! We kept it light & bright, in a gender neutral color scheme, and used similar pieces that can be found around the rest of our house (shell chairs, hide rug, framed photos, etc.). My favorite elements of this room are the wall mounted bookshelves; they are within reach of the kids and fill in an empty wall without taking up too much space. We keep all of their board books on these wall shelves, and leave the standard paper back and hardcover books up high where they can’t be torn. Adella and Nolan love their playroom, as do their friends… who excitedly head for it as soon as they walk in!

Here is how the play room looks to-date… it’s never really this clean, but the kids were napping and I had an opportunity to snap some photos before they destroyed it.