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topman_gw

Where is your playroom?

topman
11 years ago

Trying to decide which room or area to use as the designated playroom. Wanna take a poll and see whats everyone's doing? Upstairs? Basement or a room on the main level? Any pros and cons? Thanks!

I have the option to use a room that's right next to my daughter's room (on the second floor) but you pretty much have to pass by the master room before this playroom. Not too much of a concern when it's just my daughter but will be a bigger issue if she will have friends over playing in that room too. I also have a room on main level I can use as a playroom.

Comments (16)

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    "The toys always migrate down" --a builder once told me. I find that to be true. It is harder to get the kids to take toys up to their room, etc.

    So, I'd say basement or main floor (depending on supervision needs).

  • Mom23Es
    11 years ago

    In our new house we will put the "play room" in the bonus room upstairs. The reality is that the kids will play whever I am, so we're also planning on using the sunroom as the main floor "play room"... well, the place in which we will put all the toys away at night even though they will be scattered all over the house. In a few years when I can trust my kids to be unsupervised for more than a few minutes at a time, we'll be finishing our basement and putting the play room, media room, and 5th bedroom down there. I suppose a lot has to do with the age of your kids. Mine are 3, 1, and 3 months. Right now they just want to be close to me, but soon enough they'll want to hide from me. LOL

  • david_cary
    11 years ago

    2 year old here. Ours is in the basement but we also have a built-in cab next to the living room fireplace for toys. Overall - he plays in the basement more but we have to go down there. There is just more room to roam and the more obnoxious (ie noise making) toys are down there.

  • SMPop18
    11 years ago

    We will have a bonus room on the upper level in our new build and plan to use that for the primary play area since the boys'(5 and 6)room is up there as well. The bonus room is very large and we plan to use as extra living space as well so we can all hang out together. But who knows what will happen when we move in!

  • nini804
    11 years ago

    Our children are 9 and 12. In our previous home, which we lived in since before they were born until 2 years ago, we did an addition/reno in which we opened up our kitchen, breakfast, family room AND built a sunken playroom in the space that used to be the back deck. It was the absolute perfect setup for toddlers and preschoolers. I could see them easily from the kitchen...but their "stuff" never felt like it was taking over because of the step down and the large built-in piece that served as fabulous storage on the playroom side, and formed a 1/2 wall of sorts on the den side. Perfection!

    However, sadly, children age. :) That house, with all the BRs up and the playroom down, was not as good for elementary and up aged children. They always wanted to sleep in the downstairs playroom for sleepovers...which was basically right there in earshot of the family room where dh and I might like to have a glass of wine and watch a movie. Plus, we really wanted a master down. So in the new house, we put the master down, and 3 beds plus the large playroom up. It is so much better for older kids this way!

  • Missy Benton
    11 years ago

    My three are 10,7, and 3. We wanted our master upstairs with their rooms because the oldest and youngest still wake up scared and wander into our room many nights. It's awesome ;-) Anyway, I didn't want a play room i.e future teen hangout, that close to the master bedroom

    So, the majority of toys will be in the finished basement and in their rooms.

    We do have a sun room directly off the kitchen that would be a perfect room for toddlers to play in while mom cooks. We won't use it for that purpose, but I did design the house with some future resale in mind, and I know moms like to have a play area on the first floor where they can keep an eye on the kiddos.

  • gaonmymind
    11 years ago

    I have a 1yr old and am 8 months pregnant. They will be near me for awhile since they are babies. So we have a keeping room off the kitchen that they will use as a play space. I will have built in storage to hide the toys.

    However, we also will have a huge playroom in the basement that will connect to the outdoor playground. That way they can go in and out as they please and not trek dirt in my house.

    Originally we had a play room near the bedrooms upstairs, but it was cheaper to have that space in the basement and made better sense logistically.

  • pps7
    11 years ago

    We only have one child, age 9, and his playroom is a spare bedroom upstairs (master on main level). But in reality, his stuff is every where. We have a console in our entry foyer that stores board games. There's some stuff in the basement that's too big to fit in the playroom: airhockey table, trampoline, racetrack. As long as the main floor is tidy (and it is), I don't really care.

    Agree with everyone else when they are in the toddler/preschool age it's nice to have a playroom on the main floor. I would use a flex space that can then be turned into an office, guest bedroom, or living room

    Once they are school aged and have friends over, then it's great to have the room on another floor-either above the garage or basement are great options. These can be finished at a later date if you don't need them right now.

  • ontariomom
    11 years ago

    We have four kids the oldest is a teenager, and the youngest 6. We built a beautiful playroom in the basement when the oldest two kids were 6 and 3. They hardly every played there unless I went down there, and then I got nothing done. They always preferred to bring their toys upstairs to be near us. Now that we are remodelling, I will have a spot for the two youngest kids to play and spread out their toys near to the kitchen. Finally, my teenage sons, talk about using the basement level to hang out with friends, play X-box etc. Sure hoping they will use this basement level games room when we are done this time.

    I also agree, that you will probably want some toys on all levels. An upstairs toy spot will be useful, but when your kids have friends over, you may want them to play on the main level, away from the bedroom level (especially if their friends are the opposite gender)! The basement level will be great for larger toys.

    Carol

  • Mom23Es
    11 years ago

    I wanted to mention one other thing. We will not be finishing our basement when we first move in. I'm excited to have this giant area to let my kids run around in during the winter. Sure it's hard concrete floors, but as long as they wear helmuts riding a tricyle or big wheel down there is no different than out on the sidewalk. I also plan on putting the little tykes climber/slide thing we have down there on top of some foam pads. Maybe the water table on special occasions, the little tykes basketball hoop, some playground balls, etc. I think this will be a great way to run off energy in the cold winter months. We are planning on doing some basic drywall so that the kids are "locked out" from the furnace and water heater.

  • ILoveRed
    11 years ago

    Mom23es--you made me smile because you brought back a memory I'd almost forgotten.

    My children are two boys and two girls--far apart in age. In my old house, the basement was unfinished and wide open. My girls and their buddies actually roller skated down there in a giant circle to the tunes on Debbie Gibson, and Kylie ?.

    An unfinished basement can be a lot of fun!

  • auroraborelis
    11 years ago

    Our playroom will be in the upstairs bonus room above the garage.

    We are building our "forever house" however, I'm currently 4 months pregnant with our first (at most we plan one more, relatively close together in age). When we move in the bonus room will be unfinished (unless we end up needing to finish it for it appraise!) however in the long run we will have a guest bedroom, bath and large play room up there. In the meantime, I�m willing to accept that they will be in the main living space with us, and as the house is designed without a formal dining and living room I�m willing to accept the noise and stuff for a few years until they are old enough to play on their own!

    Given a choice I agree that toys tend to travel down easier than up, but alas basements aren't common in our area!

  • topman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences!

  • babs711
    11 years ago

    We are thrilled with our layout and have had two people want to bring people back over to look at it for their build ideas. I'm so happy!

    Our kids are 7 and almost 11. We don't have any formal spaces. Downstairs we have our kitchen, breakfast/dining and living/wet bar area all open to each other. Our room is downstairs. There is also a guest room with its own small bath. Through one area is the half bath then a set of doors that contains our pocket office and the laundry room. My husband's man cave that has its own exit to the back porch and the wet bar are off the living area toward the back of the house. We have the playroom upstairs, along with the kids' bedrooms. My exercise room is up there too.

    So pretty much all adult spaces are down and all kid spaces are up. LOVE IT! My husband's sister's family's house has the adult-down/kids-up thing going on too. They have six children and are busy busy busy. It works wonderfully. The kids range in age from 5 to 17.

    It's wonderful because when they have people over, they have their own space upstairs and aren't all over us downstairs. And when we have get-togethers, the adults can be down and the kids can be up (or outside)! Yet the space downstairs is very open and family friendly so everyone can be together at once too.

    We can't wait to move into our house. I'm really liking the flow of the space as we walk through the house.

  • worthy
    11 years ago

    My kids, step and birth, range from 11-48. It seems no matter what you planned, they did what they wanted and your best efforts came to naught.

    Still, we never went so far as in a home my youngest sometimes visits. There, all the furniture is removed from the 15'x20' living room and the kids play ball hockey, roller skate and ride bicycles.