A Quick Playroom and Office Revamp

Believe it or not, I have found the Playroom/Office the most difficult room to decorate.

We moved around a lot before we bought this house and the one thing I knew I wanted when we finally bought (apart from an open plan kitchen) was a room to throw all the kid’s plastic tat into and shut the door every night so I wasn’t cursing Mr. Christiansen every time I stepped on another bit of Lego.

our old playroom in our rented property — Our first discovery after moving into a new house when my daughter was 1, was that having a spare room to throw kids “stuff” was an absolute game changer.

The room that is now our playroom was just an added bonus really when we looked at the house. It used to be a reflexology room with a separate entrance for patients around the side of the house and a door leading through to the utility and downstairs bathroom.

Before that, it was a garage and I think that is the reason I find it so difficult to envisage as it still retains that long and thin garage shape.

In fact, I think it’s become my son’s own personal garage which houses all his latest Lego creations and has literally become an under-6-year-old dumping ground of discarded crisp packets, Play-Doh in the rug, and moldy apple cores thrown behind the sofa bed.

The “media” area of the play room. It’s become a dumping ground with really bad Ikea furniture that doesn’t shut and sometimes doesn’t open for that matter!

It’s quite a long and narrow room (doesn’t my new sofa* already look fab in here!)

From the other angle. This room also has 3 doors, a large window, and a small window so it’s difficult to place things.

As the Playroom is only used by the kids in out of school hours, it has also become the perfect room to set up a small office space. I wanted to create different “zones” in the room which included a sofa bed if we needed extra space for people to stay over, an area for all the kid’s toys, a computer games area, and an office space.

What I’ve ended up with is a playroom with everything thrown in, a hand-drawn mural because I couldn’t afford the wallpaper, Ikea furniture that is falling apart (probably down to the person who put it together… me! ), and a sofa bed that struggles to fit two over excited 6-year-old girls on for a sleepover. Time for a change!

The sofa bed and office space. How I would like this room to look all the time! Probably best I don’t let the kids in here :)

I do like this little corner of this room, I hand painted this mural so it would be a shame to paint over it, but I find it quite dark during the day

It’s all in the detail. Really enjoyed working on this little project with Command Brand

I’m being increasingly drawn to biophilic design recently and I want to create a little nature haven with lots of color in this room.

I’m thinking natural colors, brick or floral wallpaper (that won’t come as a shock to anyone who follows me on Instagram!), lots of plants, shelving, and sustainable furniture made from FSC wood, bamboo, or rattan.

WEST ELM – Mid-Century Media Console – Acorn
WOODCHIP & MAGNOLIA – Real Red Brick Effect Wallpaper
LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS – Watford Vintage Table
LA REDOUTE INTERIEURS – Afaw Berber Rug
THE BATH WOODWORK CO. – Scaffold Board shelves
SOFA.COM – 2 Seat Bluebell Sofa in Olive
WEST ELM – Faux Fur Stacked Arrow Throw
WEST ELM – Sphere + Stem Table Lamp
WEST ELM – Mid-Century Narrow Bookshelf
WOODCHIP & MAGNOLIA – October Bloom Floral Wallpaper

The Inspiration

This whole room revamp started with a green velvet sofa. Another one? I hear you shout (I have previously collaborated with sofa.com). We did have a more than adequate dark blue sofa bed in the playroom, but it was rather uncomfortable to sit on, so I found the kids sitting on the floor most of the time.

Also, by trying to keep the kids out of the main living room, I wanted somewhere comfortable to sit when I joined them to watch another episode of Paw Patrol.

Sofa.com* recently asked me if I would like another piece of furniture for my house and I immediately knew I wanted to change the sofa bed.

I also knew that I really wanted the Olive fabric I turned down in favor of the Jade fabric we chose for the sofa in the living room, so we ordered an Olive Bluebell sofa bed and the playroom revamp was born.

I love the color and style of the 2 Seater Bluebell Sofa Bed in Olive

Decorating

With the Olive color being the main theme of the playroom, I realized I would have to make changes to the décor. The room is quite sterile at the moment with white walls and a large mural at the end of the room (still harking back to its clinic days).

I like the mural but find it a little dark so I want to brighten up the room with more colour.

I’m looking to wallpaper the back wall with either brick or floral wallpaper and depending on what I pick, either leave the rest of the room white or if I go for a floral wallpaper, pick a shade from the pattern to paint the room in.

I have put a few wallpapers that I love below, which one do you prefer? We also have a pink door in the room which I love, so hopefully this will still tie in with the rest of the décor.

The sofa is already in the Playroom and I like how it looks against the pink door!

Some of the wallpapers I love from Woodchip & Magnolia

From Clockwise (all Woodchip & Magnolia) –

Furniture

With the painting and decorating done in the playroom, I will then be looking at getting some new furniture. I will probably keep the Ikea desk (for now), but we really need to replace the Ikea storage units we have which are falling apart and can’t fit anything inside them.

I’ve always fancied getting some mid-century furniture (I’m forever scouring charity shops for a lucky find, it seems they’re in popular demand!) and I think it is a perfect pairing with the olive color.

We will be looking for a large media unit along one wall to house all the kid’s DVDs, board games, and toys and perhaps a bookshelf to go next to the sofa. We won’t have room for a coffee table, the room is so narrow we’d end up doing the limbo under it every time we wanted to walk through the room.

So, I will be looking for some side tables to fit comfortably next to the sofa. Again, like the pink door, I love my Emma J Shipley chair that is currently in the office space so will try and fit this into the décor.

Soft Furnishings

We currently have a large La Redoute Afaw Berber-style rug in the playroom which we will be keeping as its monochrome tones pretty much go with anything! Plus, I don’t really want to fork out a lot of money for another rug when inevitably it will end up being a food absorber for the children.

I will be looking at changing the curtains which are pink at the moment as I want to try and keep the pink to a minimum in the playroom. I have plenty of cushions I can use in this room, perhaps keep it to a monochrome vibe like the rug.

I really like the abstract face cushions as seen in the photo above, I might even attempt to make my own!

Look how good this La Redoute Quilda Oak Desk goes with the La Redoute Afaw Berber rug . In fact, I might get rid of my Ikea desk after all :)

Lighting

I’d really like to add some modern touches in the form of lighting to the playroom and keep it to a biophilic design. I love beaded or bamboo chandeliers at the moment and again would look great with the natural feel of the playroom.

I will also be looking for a lamp for the bookshelf because I have a real fear of the “big light” at night time! :)

The infamous Ikea Sinnerlig Lamp Shade

Plants

Lots and lots of plants. I have finally got my hands on a large Fiddle Leaf Fig which will look great in this room, along with some hanging plants like the Lipstick Plant and String of Pearls which I will hang from the scaffold boards either above the TV or my office space.

Art

And finally, to finish off the playroom, art! As the back wall will be wallpapered, I will keep the art to a minimum but I am looking to create a small gallery wall of abstract pieces around the TV and media unit.

It was just a change of sofa, to begin with, but now it’s turned into a full-room project! I can’t wait to get started on it and show you the results.

*The sofa was gifted by sofa.com as a collaboration to appear on all my channels

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