THE PLAYROOM
BEFORE
- The space was crowded with too many toys and the deep baskets on the Kallax shelves meant that things were thrown in and lost in the ether.
- The foam mat on the floor was working primarily as a dust/dirt collector.
- The room also doubled as the kids’ clothing storage space, but the large dresser took up too much valuable play room.
- The same went for the large armchair, which didn’t serve much purpose in the space except to house a watchful adult.
- The artwork on the walls was years old and there were other things to mount that no one had had time to get up.
AFTER
- I removed some of the unneeded furniture and then shifted around the furniture that was left to create more floor and counter space.
- I sorted through all the toys and removed ones that were broken, gimmicky (think McDonalds toys), or not age appropriate (i.e. baby toys).
- The newly sorted toys went back into baskets and were organized in the room by type to help create play areas and inspire play arcs.
- Art supplies were placed out in the open near the newly introduced easel + work table to encourage art to happen.
- An area on top of the shelves was created for Eddie’s STEM toys + Legos, out of the reach of baby brother Walter.
- The foam tiles were removed and small rugs I sourced around the house were added.
- Old artwork was taken down and new organizational pieces put up – hooks for ukuleles, a hat rack, and a height chart (all things that were waiting to be mounted).
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THE LIVING ROOM (unplanned but I couldn’t help myself)
Although not technically a play space, this is an area the boys use and I wanted to help this family reclaim their home. Because it was unplanned there are no before photos, but in a nutshell:
- I rearranged furniture to make space for a chair from the playroom and to give the room a better flow.
- I moved a Kallax shelf from the upstairs bedroom down and reclaimed four baskets from the playroom to make a “mudroom” of sorts for the family. Every member of the house had their own basket for shoes and hats etc, and a hook on the wall for their bag.
- I added a rug under the coffee table.
- I sorted and organized games into one place.
- I cleaned.
AFTER
THE BASEMENT
The kids have one corner of the room, but the area is shared with a desk that the parents used + part of an open plan space that is primarily for adults. This was a similar organizational situation to the playroom…
- Lots of sorting and weeding out unwanted toys + toys that needed to move up to the playroom.
- Reworking the play furniture to create more space + better flow.
- Hanging a large wall map that needed to find a home.
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OUTSIDE
The boys’ mum wanted a mud kitchen for the boys after seeing one from a previous space we worked on. 🙂 There was a fun little patch of garden surrounded by trees right by their patio area. I suggested we turn this into a little hideout zone for the kids.
- I spent most of my allotted time inside, so to help get them started reworking this space I created a small mud kitchen using cinderblocks and some repurposed wood.
- I gathered unused pots and crates from the backyard and set them up as storage and a cooking pot for the kitchen.
- From the basement play kitchen I pulled some materials that would work for outside.
- I then left them with a list of how to continue to improve the space. I may go back in to build a sandbox for them at some point too.
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AFTER
