Check Out This Bonus Room & Playroom Design
Hi Friend, thank-you SO much for stopping by today, and I have a fantastically fun project to share with you!
But first….if you’re checking out today’s project my guess is that you are a parent (or grandparent) and you have some sweet kiddos in your life. So I have some big & fun news! Starting Monday June 3rd, I’m introducing the:
Free Week ‘O Kid Designs
Yup, every single day….for 5 days….I’m going to share a FREE Kid Room Design or Round-Up + Shopping List. We are hitting up all of the kid areas: Bedroom Design, Nursery Design, Playroom Design, Desk Area, Artwork, Storage Ideas & so much more
It is totally free, but you do have to sign up for it. Day #1 will be delivered to your inbox on Monday June 3rd.
You can sign up here to join in on the fun:
A Warm & Cozy Bonus Room & Playroom Design in Minnesota
But back to today’s fun Playroom Makeover!
One concern some people have when they want to work with me on their room is…”How will we be able to connect and get to know each other if we never met?” I get it! With Postbox Designs, all I do is Online Interior Design. So unless you happen to live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we probably aren’t going to meet face to face. However, when I “met” this warm and friendly mother of two cutie pie boys, we connected immediately. We traded funny fellow introvert stories and bonded over our kid’s shared love of Legos. And guess what, I finished her project months ago, yet we still continue to text each other and email because we became actual friends during the whole process. I just got done writing her an email telling her the groan-worthy story of how I hit the car next to me in the parking lot while taking my kids out for ice cream. We have never met in person, and we live several states away…and it just happened her Room Design is what brought us together. It is so funny how the universe connects people, but I am so, so, so glad that she started as a client, and ended as a friend.
So I’m especially honored to share the story of this Bonus Room & Playroom Makeover that was created for a family of four (and their pet bunnies) that we affectionately dubbed
“Kids + Bunnies = Epic Design”
My sweet client wanted her room to be warm, cozy, comfortable…and truly a place where their whole family could relax and just be themselves. It had to work with their busy lifestyle (including two busy boys). This is a busy Minnesota family so think equal parts rustic and cozy, but also bright and fun.
And if this is a Bonus Room that can truly hold up to two young boys, it had to also be durable (cough, cough: “bomb proof”), easy to clean, and be really flexible. My client wanted a game/puzzle table, a seating area with TV viewing area, an eat-in space, Playroom, and (possibly most challenging) a spot for their two pet bunnies!
So without further ado, let’s check out this fun Room Makeover!
Bonus Room Seating Area
The heart of any Family Room or Bonus Room is the seating area! And this Mama wanted a spot where her whole family (and all of their friends could hang out!). So I started this room with one of my favorite pieces: an Ikea Ektorp sofa (#6). This sectional sofa is slipcovered so my friend can take it off and wash it as needed. Then we piled on a bunch of bright, fun, and colorful throw pillows! These pillows (#12 & 16-19) are all from Etsy, and are pillow COVERS. We used rustic patterns like buffalo plaid, stripes, and denim. So once again, they can be taken off and washed when spills happen (because with kids it is “when”, not “if”!). To bring in some more of the rustic Minnesota vibe, I found this cozy “camp style” blanket (#8) to help bring in the palette of reds, blues, and yellows.
But to go with a durable sofa, we needed a durable coffee table! This rustic coffee table (#10) will hide a multitude of sins…I can see the boys popping their feet up on this table as they eat their after-school snack!
My client also wanted to keep a set of chairs for sentimental reasons, but was open to recovering them. I suggested this durable, denim fabric (#13) that will hold up well to her boys.
Eat In Area
All families are divided into two groups:
Families who let kids eat in their Family Room and families who don’t.
Okay, maybe its a bit tongue in cheek, but both MY family and THIS family are both in camp #1. So instead of letting the kids munch on their snacks wherever they wanted, this Mom and I wanted to make sure there was a dedicated spot to eat. So I found this rustic wood and metal bar table and stools (#11) that can sit right behind the sectional sofa.
Game & Puzzle Table + Bonus Dining Room
But we also gave this busy family a second place to hang out! This rustic galvanized metal dining room table (#2) works for a secondary Dining Room area, plus will work great for big groups. But this table will also work for family Game Night & for puzzles. To keep working with the vintage, rustic look, I suggested using school house style chairs (#4). And as an ode to their home state, this bright and color Minnesota State Park Map (#5) was the perfect pop of color to add over it.
Introducing the Boy’s Playroom Design
A the most fun part of this room was the Playroom for her two boys! And the most important parts of this Playroom Makeover?
Toy Storage
Homework Desk
Lego Table
Space for their Pet Bunnies
An area to bring in fun, color, and personality
Kid Desk Area & Kid Lego Table
The biggest part of this Playroom Makeover was a long desk that can double up as a kid desk area + Homework Station AND Lego table for her two school aged boys.
We used a long Ikea countertop and three sets of drawers, all from Ikea (#35). This 8′ long table gave a lot of room for both boys to have their own work stations. And these drawers provide loads of storage for their Lego parts. Their Mom also had some fun ideas to storage their Lego pieces like this Mini Fig frame (#32) and a DIY clipboard (#40). We also added a floating Ikea shelf over their desk area (also seen in #35). This shelf allows the perfect space for the boys to display their Lego creations! A set of bulletin boards (#28) allow the boys to have a spot to showcase their artwork and allows them to personalize their own desk space.
To give the boys extra light, these plug in Target accordian sconces (#36) will work over this desk area.
Kid Toy Storage Furniture
I haven’t met a Mom who didn’t want more (or better) storage for kid clutter! I have found it usually works better to use one or two LARGE storage pieces for kid toys, than trying to use dozens of smaller pieces. This large cubby bookcase (#20B) can be filled up with canvas bins. This rustic metal piece (#20) has a myriad of drawers for great, organized storage. Plus, I suggested one of my favorite, unexpected storage solutions: a laundry basket (#33). This work so great for odd-shaped toys and bulky items like stuffed animals.
How to Create a Bright & Fun Playroom Design
This Playroom is full of storage and lots of functional areas, but also layering on lots of fun:
Kid Wall Gallery & Playroom Art Ideas
So we already worked on the FUNCTIONAL part of this Playroom Design, but since this is a kid space, we also have to layer on the F-U-N! There was one large blank wall to we wanted to fill up with fun, colorful items to make this room feel like home for the boys. We used a loose “Adventure” theme for this Gallery Wall and used a mix of fun prints all from Etsy: (#22, 24, 25, and #31)-all that have a fun outdoorsy feel to them. Then we also layered on some 3D elements like this Etsy felt pennant (#26), wood letter (#27), Target Pillowfort bear head (#45). This Target Pillowfort shelf (#21) allows for extra display area for kids’ bits and bobbles.
How to Create a Gallery Wall in a Playroom
But what good is a list of wall decor items….if you don’t know what to do with it? EVERY time I create a Wall Gallery for my client, I also include a to-scale drawing of how to hang everything. My client can be flexible and change things out as she wishes, but now she has a Master Plan of how to create this Gallery Wall:
Creating a Room Layout for A Bonus Room & Playroom Design
When you have a large, open space…what do you do with it? Sometimes figuring out HOW to lay out the room is just as important as what to fill it with. For this Bonus Room, we wanted to fit in a lot of functions, so fitting them all together with like a puzzle. We broke up this big area into different functions:
Seating Area/TV Area
Dining Table & Game Table
Kid Desk & Lego Table
Bunny Area
Toy Storage
I had a BLAST working with this sweet family. I feel so honored to have played a tiny part in creating a room that feels like “home” for them. I hope they make a million sweet memories in this space together, and with friends and family too!
Get 5 Free Kid Room Designs
I custom designed this rustic Bonus Room & Playroom Design for this Minnesota family, but maybe this design gave you some inspiration of ideas you can include in your own home.
But if you need more help with your Kid Room, I have you covered!
Starting on Monday June 3rd I’m hosting the Week ‘O Free Kid Designs. For 5 days, I’m sharing a FREE Kid Room Design! I’m including Kid Bedroom designs, a Gender Neutral Nursery Design, a colorful Playroom Design, plus I’m including the perfect wall art combos for both Boy Bedrooms & Girl Bedrooms, kid storage furniture, and so much more.
You’ll get the first Free Kid Room Design on June 3rd right to your inbox. You’ll get the Room Design & the Shopping List so you can simply click and buy your way to a new space. All for FREE.
You can sign up to join me right here:
Want to Work Together on Your Room?
Have questions on how Postbox Designs works? You can check out How It Works and all of the different options with the Room Packages and Prices. Or you can just send me an email at kristin@postboxdesigns.com and I can answer any questions you may have! I hope we get a chance to work together!
Cheers,
Kristin
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