Remember last week when I talked about how it usually takes us a hot minute (a.k.a. a couple of years) to figure out how to best use our space? This post is a picture perfect example of that!
When we moved into our home 2.5 years ago, our sunroom looked like this.
About four months later our sunroom was the happy place I envisioned it all along to be. Sadly it’s never quite functioned like we always imagined it would, as the place we’d sip our morning drinks and read our bibles and gather with friends, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve always loved this room so much, but it was time to use the space a bit more practically.
A slew of new Christmas toys for the girls put us over the edge, so the day after Christmas, while my in-laws were still around to give us a hand, we transitioned the sunroom in a new playroom. This room is right off of our kitchen, so it’s really the perfect spot for something like this.
We always thought our basement living area would be the most ideal playroom for the girls, but we’ve never enjoyed spending our time down there. The door that leads to the basement is tucked away on the side of the house where we never go, so the basement feels a little out of sight, out of mind at times. So many of Hadley’s bigger toys were down there, and she’d end up only playing with them a couple times a week, which seemed like an obvious big waste. We had to make a change, and this cute little blondie is thrilled!
Even though Sadie’s infant toys are still kept in the living room (where we can watch her close and keep the toys separated), Sadie still LOVES to sneak into the playroom and tear through Hadley’s “big girl” toys. It’s funny! She’s loving her new mobility.
Hadley loves to throw on her apron and whip us up something to eat. (So crazy – as I was typing that sentence, Hadley came walking over to me with a piece of fake corn so that I could have a snack.) 🙂
If you’re looking for a play kitchen, this one is so great, especially at the reasonable price point! It took Jamie four hours to put it together (he came out searching for a beer after the first two), but he’ll do anything for his girl.
Hadley got this art easel for her second birthday, and she’s used it so much more now that it’s upstairs.
About a year ago, I purchased one of these three-drawer plastic organizers to store a good chunk of her art materials and play dough. It’s worked out well!
We’re all loving this adorable new tent! It’s fun to see her and her friends use it to play Hide and Go Seek. 🙂 The bean bag is also a comfy new addition.
Hadley has a couple big storage containers of dress-up clothes in her room, but I kind of hate when she dumps them because it’s a total mess that I don’t want Sadie digging through. A temporary solution to this was to let Hadley pick out her three favorite outfits and to hang them in the playroom. She wears them constantly; super cute!
If you’d like to read more about our new toy storage solutions, I blogged all about it here! One month later, and it’s still working like an absolute dream.
Hadley has always used this table for eating, but now she’s able to use it to color and play as well. It’s in a such a bright, sunny spot that she really enjoys eating and working at.
Sadie’s door-frame jumper is still hanging in the entrance, which is perfect because she loves (loves loves) watching her big sister play.
Here’s a view of the room if you’re walking in from the side door.
And another view. We still have her bedroom semi-full of things like her big dollhouse, books, etc., but we like that she has a couple different options for places to play. Her bedroom still looks and functions how it did when we did a refresh back in October, and we just adore it.
The final question: We’re not sure how to stage this room when we list it for sale this time next year. I figured we’d rearranged it to look like a sunroom again, but my neighbor made a great point that people may like to see how well this functions as more than a “traditional” sunroom. So we’ll either leave it as a playroom and include a picture of how it used to look as a sunroom with the online listing, or vice versa. Thoughts?
Playroom Resources
*affiliate links are present
(don’t forget to go with it!)
Toy bins (I purchased these for $1 at Dollar Tree but that are likely much more durable.)
5’x7′ rug from RugsUSA.com (mine is not currently available)
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Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo