https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:25:48 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2600074 Sun, 07 Aug 2016 07:37:43 +0000 ShootingStar 2600074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) Where in the house is it (main living floor, basement, upper floor where the bedrooms are...)<br /> Ours is on our main floor, connected to our living room. </p> <p>(b) Does it have a door?<br /> It doesn't. When DS was really little we used a gate, but I like not having a door, that way it's much much open and I can hear him and he can run in and out. The doorway would lend itself well to french doors, but he's not very gentle with the french doors in our office, so I don't think having them in the play room would be a great idea. </p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room?<br /> On the house listing it's technically called the sunroom.</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?<br /> I love the location. I like that it's close to the living room and the kitchen, and I like that it's on the main floor so DS can be close by. I also really like that it's close to the living room, so he has easy access to his toys, but they can easily be put away too. The only thing I don't love is that since it was meant as a sunroom, it has a giant amount of windows and a sliding door. We never use that slider because dirt would just get tracked in and out, and with a huge amount of windows there's not a ton of wall space for organization. But it is really great room, big and sunny.</p> <p>Here's a floor plan DH made, it's a little off, but gives you an idea of the location. It's the room at the top left.</p> <p>[attach=2504/16/objhs3.600x411.Screen-Shot-2016-08-07-at-8.31.53-AM.png] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2600046 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 23:14:14 +0000 LilSprinkles 2600046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) main floor</p> <p>(b) No, but we added a gate to keep the dog out.</p> <p>(c) 1st house - dining room , current house - formal living room</p> <p>(d) both worked for us </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599944 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 16:53:18 +0000 milano14 2599944@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) Where in the house is it (main living floor, basement, upper floor where the bedrooms are...)<br /> It is on the main floor off of the kitchen abs a hallway. It was originally intended to be the dining room.</p> <p>(b) Does it have a door? No, doesn't have a door</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room?<br /> Dining room. We moved the dining room into our formal living room because we don't need a formal living room and needed a larger space for dining room. Plus the room gets great light and we didn't want to waste it on a room that we never used.</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?<br /> We've only lived in this house for a month, but I love the location! I can be in the kitchen cooking and the boys can be in there playing. I also don't have to worry about the youngest, or any friends/nieces that are here navigating the stairs to get to or from the playroom. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599928 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 15:17:45 +0000 Iced Tea 2599928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) main floor, between the living and kitchen</p> <p>(b) does not have a door. It is open to the living room and has a wide opening to the kitchen. </p> <p>(c) it was intended as a formal dining room, but we chose a playroom instead. </p> <p>(d) I feel like it is the most convenient location to keep her near while I do other things, like cook or use the laptop at the dining room table. I just wish it wasn't completely open on one side; that made it impossible to fence it off for safety (well there is an ugly and expensive option we didn't buy). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599827 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 10:25:35 +0000 Ginabean3 2599827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is on the first floor, we repurposed the dining room. No door but a doorway leading to the kitchen and the entrance from on the other side to the living room is a cased opening so there is definitely distinct separation between the playroom and the rest of the house. We actually used to have gates up across both openings! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599783 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 09:00:20 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2599783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is in the basement.<br /> The door is at the top of the stairs the playroom is open.<br /> It was originally the living room and kitchen to the basement apartment.<br /> I love having the laundry room next to the playroom and having a full bathroom and backyard access. If they get muddy outside I can rush them downstairs and bathe them and throw their muddy clothes straight in the wash. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599775 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 08:26:19 +0000 KayKay 2599775@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>a) ours is on the main floor. which is great because both girls (4 and almost 2) can and will use it no matter where i am at. we've also had a basement playroom and while it was nice in terms of keeping things out of the way, they wouldn't (or couldn't, depending on age) go down there without me being there too!</p> <p>b) yes</p> <p>c) it is technically a main floor bedroom. we have the master and girls' rooms upstairs, and a guest room in the basement, so we didn't need it as a bedroom at the moment.</p> <p>d) like i said, the basement playroom was good in theory, but my kids would never go down there by themselves. at least at these ages! we're also preg with #3, so eventually we'll turn the playroom into a bedroom for one or two kids (it's the biggest bedroom that isn't the master). because it's a bedroom, it's flexible for us to use however we need it (kids' room, playroom, office, guest room, whatever). also, even though it's on the main floor, it's not directly connected to our main living areas, so it's easy to hide it from guests if needed! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599764 Sat, 06 Aug 2016 07:38:04 +0000 ElbieKay 2599764@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We live in a 2-bdrm apartment with an L-shaped livingroom. We repurposed the L to be a play area. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599615 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:26:49 +0000 MrsRoo 2599615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a)similar to the floor plan posted above, it's an open loft/playroom area on the second floor with our girls rooms and guest bedroom.</p> <p>(b) no door </p> <p>(c) it was intended as a playroom/second living space </p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?</p> <p>I love that it's upstairs out of our main living area. I don't care if it's a disaster! We set it up with our sectional/tv/coffee table from our old house in addition to toys, so adults can relax upstairs while the kids play since they are still young. We can also watch movies as a family up there before bed/ or put on a show for dd1.</p> <p>To try and cut down on toy clutter, we keep a basket of downstairs toys that we rotate out and the rest of the toys stay upstairs.</p> <p>That space was actually one of the biggest selling points when we chose to put an offer on our house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599589 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:34:36 +0000 kodybear 2599589@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we have a loft upstairs that has no door that we setup as the playroom. the intent was to avoid having toys in the main living area/kitchen downstairs. that didn't work out so well as we spend most of our time downstairs :-) but at least its only half the toys downstairs while the rest of the toys are upstairs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599586 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:30:37 +0000 Eko 2599586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In our new house it is in the basement. It has it's own doors too. It's meant to be a bonus room and we use it as a second living area and a playroom. LO is still young so I don't feel comfortable with leaving him there on his own to play yet, so that could be a negative, but only for so long. I love that he has his own play area and there are not toys all over the entire house. We had a tiny apartment before so our living room doubled as a playroom and it was really annoying. I'm happy to have designated space. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599574 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:59:51 +0000 Foodnerd81 2599574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In our new house we are using an extra bedroom as a playroom- it's the biggest bedroom (besides the master) so plenty of room for their toys. On the second floor with the other bedrooms, has a door. I can't say what I will really love or hate about it yet though. I'm excited to not have tons of toys everywhere but realistic enough to know there will still be a fair amount downstairs near the kitchen. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599523 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:43:48 +0000 Pancakes 2599523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if I can find a floor plan, but our playroom is a bonus room over the garage. It's right off the kitchen, and it has its own staircase so it's separate from the rest of the upstairs bedrooms. There is no door. It was intended as a multipurpose room I think, because there are desks and cabinets built into 3 sides of the room, but we have another office so we may get rid of those eventually. I love it because it's separate and out of sight from the rest of the house but I can easily check on the kids when I'm working in the kitchen. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599522 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:43:15 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 2599522@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) Where in the house is it: main floor (we have a one-story), off dining room and living room (living room is right off of kitchen)</p> <p>(b) Does it have a door? No, but we could pretty easily install french doors or a sliding barn door (we've talked about this if we want to turn it into an office later on)</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room? It was a screened in porch that was enclosed by the previous owner and was a den/library prior to us using it as a play room.</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up? Love that he can get up in the morning and go play by himself while I get ready/make breakfast. Wish the AC was a little more powerful in there bc it gets hot in the afternoon. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599521 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:42:40 +0000 Modern Daisy 2599521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>And to your point all the houses I've seen that don't have a play room are always super messy with toys strewn about the whole house. So it's really nice to have it in a separate space! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599520 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:40:56 +0000 Modern Daisy 2599520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We live in a ranch and have a huge finished basement as our playroom. The advantage of this is that all the toys are kept down there, so there is never mess to clean up on the main floor. But it's also challenging right now with a 3 year old and infant with it being on a separate floor. My son doesn't really play by himself quite yet so we always have to be down there with him which is a pain. But we put couches and a tv so it's more fun for adults. And in a few years it will be great when they can play/watch tv down there all day while we kind of do our own thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599511 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:28:54 +0000 Tanjowen 2599511@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is upstairs, above the garage. </p> <p>Yes, it has a door. </p> <p>It was intended for either a large den or playroom area.</p> <p>I love it. No complaints. It's so big we put a trampoline in there and have space! And I like that as LO grows he can have a space for a "den" area for friends and large sleepovers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599509 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:27:02 +0000 wheres_c 2599509@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: actually, we have the optional bonus room, so the playroom is not visible from downstairs really at all.<br /> We do have lots of toy "containers" so if we have guests in bedroom 3 we can pick up.<br /> But yeah, the part I love the most is that all of the toy mess is mostly contained upstairs. Usually if people come over sans kids, they hang out downstairs which is toy free!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599500 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:19:14 +0000 travellingbee 2599500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Main floor (it's a one story anyway), yes it has a door (glass French doors, actually) it was originally an office or parlor near the front door across from the dining room. I don't love that it's right up front where you see it when you come in the front door but I like having a room dedicated for toys. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599488 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:03:40 +0000 chopsuey 2599488@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) main living floor</p> <p>(b) no door</p> <p>(c) yep, it was intended as a playroom</p> <p>(d) I love that the playroom is at the back of the house. All of the kids' stuff stays in the playroom, so the rest of our house stays clean and tidy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599486 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:01:10 +0000 PinkElephant 2599486@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: sigh....dragging things out is my biggest concern about a first floor playroom. Can I put some kind of emectronic sensor on the toys that beeps annoyingly if the kids bring them across the threshold of the room?!?! 😜 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599483 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:59:51 +0000 PinkElephant 2599483@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: thanks so much! I was hoping people might share floor plans. In an open space like that, is it hard to keep toys out of view (particularly from the downstairs area the playroom overlooks)? </p> <p>@jape14: I live that there's a bathroom - I was thinking this would be super convenient!</p> <p>@Charm54: @looch: @LBee: thanks! I hadn't initially though about basement as a top choice - I figured most people used a first floor dining room or study! I really like the idea that you don't have to show visitors the basement, but still can hear your kids from the kitchen. And the camera is a good idea; my girls can get a bit feisty with each other so it'd be nice to see what's going on. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599482 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:59:12 +0000 Smurfette 2599482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right off the living room<br /> Yes french doors<br /> Technically it is a bedroom, but since the previous owners moved the door and put in the french doors, more like an office space.<br /> I love it. I do wish LO would play in it more instead she drags everything into the living room. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599480 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:55:47 +0000 rattles 2599480@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use an office as the playroom currently, but there is a game room upstairs we'll use when they're older. </p> <p>a) Where in the house is it (main living floor, basement, upper floor where the bedrooms are...)<br /> Currently, main floor, right off the kitchen/eat-in with sight lines to be family room. The game room is upstairs outside their bedrooms. There aren't basements where we live. </p> <p>(b) Does it have a door? French doors; no</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room? No, office; yes</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up? He layout is one thing that sold us on the house. We have a wall of built in shelves with their toys/books on the bottom two shelves and ours above. It's right off the kitchen which is perfect for this stage, and it will transition to a computer and homework space down the road. We have a game room upstairs that will become their play space when they're older. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599467 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:45:31 +0000 wheres_c 2599467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is upstairs, basically a large upstairs living area even though we have another living area downstairs.<br /> There is no door. It was intended as a playroom/gameroom. </p> [attach=2346/16/obg9fw.464x600.Roma-24-21-15.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599463 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:42:02 +0000 jape14 2599463@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) It's on our first floor.<br /> (b) It has a door.<br /> (c) it's technically a first-floor bedroom, but we previously used it as an office. Our desk/printer are still in there for now (will be moved to an attic bonus room when we finish our attic this winter).<br /> (d) because it's intended as a bedroom, there's a door to our powder room that goes into the playroom. (Our powder room is huge and has a door leading to the playroom and another door leading to the mud room/hallway.) it's super convenient for diaper changes or for us/the nanny to sneak away to use the bathroom while he plays. And having a door that we can shut! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599441 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:25:37 +0000 Charm54 2599441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's in our basement. It was originally designed as an office but we repurposed it. It has French doors so I can close them but still see in. </p> <p>I love having it down there. My DD is 3 and is just at the age where she can go down by herself, destroy the place, and I dont care. It keeps our main floor semi- nice looking. I'm toying with the idea of putting a video camera in there to hook up to our monitor but I can hear her easily from upstairs without it so not sure if I need it or not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599440 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:25:35 +0000 looch 2599440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) Where in the house is it : lower level, house is a raised ranch, so all living spaces are above it. You can enter via the front door and go down 5 stairs, or direct from the garage.</p> <p>(b) Does it have a door? No</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room? Yes, it was. Or an office</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?</p> <p>The fact that we also use it as an office. When we're snowed in, it's tough to work and play at the same time. Oh, and i have my spin bike down there too. I really should move my workstation upstairs.</p> <p>My son is 5, he plays down there alone. We have a camera so I can watch him and also talk to him if needed. But he's fine down there at this point without me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599437 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:20:54 +0000 LBee 2599437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>(a) Where in the house is it (main living floor, basement, upper floor where the bedrooms are...)<br /> Basement</p> <p>(b) Does it have a door?<br /> Yes</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room?<br /> Intended as playroom.</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?<br /> I love that the door down to it is off the kitchen. He can play in there and I can hear him while cooking dinner. The only thing I don't love is the guest room is down there too and so it makes the playroom off limits early in the morning (assuming our guests don't hold the hours of roosters / my toddler) when we have guests due to noise.<br /> The thing I love the most is that all of his stuff is downstairs in the basement. When we have people over we can show them the whole upstairs of the house and just skip that room. It's nice feeling like the decor of my house isn't 100% "a toddler lives here" and that we have a separate adult living space. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-you-have-a-dedicated-playroomwhere-is-it#post-2599436 Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:18:38 +0000 PinkElephant 2599436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you have a dedicated playroom:</p> <p>(a) Where in the house is it (main living floor, basement, upper floor where the bedrooms are...)</p> <p>(b) Does it have a door?</p> <p>(c) Was it intended as a playroom, or did you repurpose a living/dining room?</p> <p>(d) Anything you particularly love/hate about your specific playroom location or set up?</p> <p>We are starting to look at "forever homes" after many years of moving around and renting in everything from modern highrises to 120 year old row homes - so the amount of space/luxury of choice in layout we're look at is a new thing for us. One of the things I'm most excited about is having a dedicated playroom; most homes we are seeing have them (or have a room we could use for this purpose), but some of them seem to be in weird or impractical places - like you'd have to go through the kids' bedrooms to access it, or there's no way to shut it off from they foyer. I'm curious to hear about other playrooms to get a heads up on what works and what doesn't! Thanks for sharing! :)</p> <p>ETA: My girls are 2 and 4 with a baby on the way; so for now of course it's better if they're in my sight, but we hope to live in this home for at least 5-10 years, if not more, so they'll most likely hit the age where they'll want some separation/privacy and the playroom will become more of a study/hangout space as well. </p>