Before and After: Adding Pops of Personality to My Kids’ Playroom

When we moved into our home nearly two years ago, it was easy for us to designate each room and space’s purpose, and we made a conscious effort not to fill up a space with furniture and stuff just for the sake of filling it up.

During move-ins I always remind my clients that it can be helpful to live in the space a bit before settling on a plan. In some cases you’ll need to wait to identify how you are using the space rather than forcing a purpose on it. In our home, we had an extra area in our basement that sat purpose-less for a year and a half before it became clear how we should transform it.

My daughters love to create and craft and are always trying to improve their skills, so they started to use this extra basement space as their workshop. They spend hours every week in that area having play dates and painting, coloring, and creating slime. The only issue with this was that the area was not set up in a way for these type of activities. Knowing how much of a mess these types of projects can become, we put down drop cloths from wall to wall so that we didn’t have to worry about messing up the carpet.

One day when I stepped in a pile of baking soda and something sticky (thanks, slime) and tripped over tons of supplies, I knew that enough was enough. I spend my days designing and organizing spaces for families and it was time to become my own client.

I wanted to create a space that would continue to inspire my girls to create, learn, and play, but I was also really focused on making sure that it could grow with them over the years as their interests changed. Since our play area is part of our main basement space, I needed to make sure that the design flowed with the rest of our home’s aesthetic while still feeling like a kid’s play space. It was a tall order, but I found that using traditional elements as the base and then mixing in playful pieces on the walls and with the artwork I could achieve the look I was aiming for.

HOW TO CREATE A PERSONALITY-FILLED KIDS PLAYROOM 

I worked with the incredibly talented Meredith from Frame Avenue Design for the focal points of the room: the large art pieces on the wall that anchor the room’s design. Having an expert weigh-in and give their expert eye on how to display the prints and what would work best in this space was key for me, and one of the big reasons why I love working with Frame Avenue Design. Since Meredith is local to the DMV area, she was able to come by my home and get a feel for the space and the design elements that I had already selected (I am kind of obsessed with the llama). Meredith is a pro at deciding where frames should be hung, how many pieces work best on the wall, and overall just helping to achieve the design that you are going for. I’ve yet to find a framing company that compares to Meredith’s quality and impressive service, and I’m grateful to have had her by my side during the process because my girls literally squealed with excitement once they saw the completed room with “the beautiful big white frames.”

What was once an empty room covered in drop cloths turned into a room that encourages play, which is key for me as a parent. I love that my girls have a space in our home dedicated specifically to their interests, and having a place for them to create and store their craft projects and materials is a dream come true for them! They love having dedicated spots for each of their craft categories so that they can find what they need when they need it, and I love that everything is super accessible to them so that they know exactly where to put everything away at the end of the day.

I’ll be sharing more about this space next week where I dive into the organizing products that we used and how to get kids involved in the process, so be sure to check back in for those tips!

Source list:

• Framing: Frame Avenue Design ℅

• Llama & Giraffe art print: Society6

• Wall decals: Urbanwalls

• Flooring: Skip Hop

• Desk: Ikea

• Chairs: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home

• Storage unit: Ikea

• Storage drawers: Ikea

• Storage cart: Ikea

• Pen cups: Ikea

• Aprons: Rue La La

• Shelving: West Elm

• Storage bins: The Container Store

• “Hello” & “The World is Your Oyster” print: Rifle Paper Co.

• Lamp: cb2 (old, but here is a similar one!)

More About Our Sponsor: Frame Avenue Design:
Established in 2001, Frame Avenue has been serving the metro dc area with top of the line picture framing services.  Once located on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda, Frame Avenue has recently gone mobile.  Instead of coming to them, Frame Avenue now comes to you!  Give them a call, and they will schedule a day and time to come meet with you to assess your picture framing and design needs.  They frame the artwork in their studio, and in a couple weeks, they’ll deliver it to your home and even hang it for you!

Need some design direction?  Frame Avenue does that too!  For an hourly fee, Frame Avenue will help you figure out a creative solution to that empty wall space.  They can use the artwork you already have or help you find the perfect piece.