Playful Playroom

I guess I should call this post, "Stuff I got at Ikea." I also used things I got at the Dollar Store, Walmart, and Craigslist. As I said in a previous post, our basement was one big room when we bought the house:

My husband hates when people on HGTV say stuff about "this space." But this room really was just space! It didn't have the feel of a "room." When our baby turned into a toddler, I started wanting him to have a playroom because his toys were getting out of control. Last year, Santa brought our son some foam puzzle piece play pads and my brother bought him a shelving unit from Ikea to hold toys. That shelf was the first thing we hung up in what has now evolved into a playroom. I helped my brother put it together.

 I didn't know it then, but this little Ikea shelf became the jumping off point for the whole play room.












My brother and I went on another road trip to Ikea to pick up some more things to help "define the space." (My husband would be so frustrated with me saying something that cheesey).

I picked up some super cheap whimsical curtains that reminded me of blank coloring pages. I also picked up the rod with the red buckets attached. I found an old window mirror that I had lying around and the buckets reminded me of a window box for flowers. The shelving unit is also from Ikea from the Expedit line. The table and two chairs were also a very inexpensive Ikea find. The floor cushion covers are from Ikea too, but the actual pillows are from Walmart I think.

Our son has an insane amount of toys. We have very generous family and friends and we are so thankful for hand-me-down toys too! All of these buckets and baskets are from the Dollar Store! I love primary colors in a play room because they seem to be a little more gender neutral. Our nieces have lots of fun in this play room when they come to visit! I put my old boom box in here too so we can listen to music and dance! My son loves dancing!

He also loves tools of all kinds and he loves wearing his hard hat. I found this nightstand on craigslist for $15. I took of the bottom legs of it to make it shorter and I plan to add some peg board to the back to be a tool bench. He isn't quite tall enough to use it as one yet, but he loves opening and shutting the cabinet door!

My favorite thing to do as a little girl was to play dress up. I bought a giant bucket at Walmart to hold our dress up clothes. He especially loves his train conductor hat!



You don't have to spend much money on a playroom, or even have a real room to have fun!