A playroom can be a challenging space to decorate. Investing
in fancy artwork or sleek pieces of furniture doesn’t make a whole lot of sense
for a room that will a) get trashed and b) need a complete rethink every three
to four years as your children grow.
When my family of four moved into our new home, we were
thrilled to finally have a space that could be a playroom (and guest room). However,
following a major renovation of the house, there wasn’t much left in our budget
for decorating the playroom. So, I set about coming up with some creative,
inexpensive/free ideas for creating a fun, colorful and adaptable room.
My rule going into this project was that any décor had to have
at least two of the following three traits:
1.
It needed to be durable (to survive two
rambunctious children).
2.
It had to be inexpensive/free.
3.
It had to incorporate some form of storage
and/or help me de-clutter.
Here are a few of the ideas I implemented in my playroom makeover:
Experiment with
Stuffed Animal Taxidermy
As I suspect is the case for many families, we have an
extraordinary amount of stuffed animals, many of whom have immense sentimental
value but are rarely, if ever, played with. This combination means that getting
rid of them is not an option, but neither is storing them in the laundry bin (as
had been the case with my family). I decided to turn their cute faces into a
fun wall hanging, using a wall organizer I got as a baby shower gift (see image
above).
Another alternative would be small shelves to display the
furry critters. This
idea from beeskneesbungalow.com, using pretty ribbon to hang simple shelves for
storing the bears on, would be adorable for a girl’s room.
Result: 3 out of 3 - durable, free, clutter container
Show Off Your
Children’s Artwork
There's no need to buy prints or framed artwork to decorate
the playroom. I created an easily interchangeable artwork display for all the
creations my children bring home from school with a piece of string, some nails
and a handful of small clothes pegs. The display takes up an entire wall of the
playroom and it's so easy to swap out pieces, keeping the room's decor fresh
and interesting. I also love this
clipboard idea from CleanandScentisble.com, but it’s a little more permanent,
and because we use this space as a guest room too, I wanted something that
could come down and be put back up easily.
Result: 3 out of 3 - durable, free, clutter container
Get Crafty
As much as I love the artwork my children bring home, I also
love putting them to work at home creating beautiful pictures and crafts to
augment the decor in their playroom. I picked up a couple of canvases and asked
them to draw their favorite creatures, and ended up with two beautiful pieces
of original artwork to frame and hang on the wall. I might use this
fun idea for framing them from catheywithane.com; put a large frame on the wall
and just place the artwork inside it on a nail or
clothes peg, where you can
swap it out as the favorite animals change.
Result: 2 out of 3 - durable, inexpensive
Pick Up Some Colorful Plastic Bins
After a lot of trial and error, I realized that packing away
toys in the toy box (no matter how cute it is)
results in said toys never, ever
being played with. Rather than stick things in drawers or on shelves behind
cupboard doors, I picked up some big colorful plastic bins. These add a great
splash of color to the room and, crucially, contain clutter while still
allowing easy access to the toys.
Result: 2 out of 3 - inexpensive, clutter container
Invest in an Outdoor Rug
The one splurge I think is worth considering for the
playroom is a good quality rug. Whether you have carpet or hardwood floors,
having a big spacious surface that can be played on without fear of
recriminations is essential. Plus, with so many great, colorful patterns
available now, a rug provides an instant solution to your decorating challenge.
Bearing all this in mind, an outdoor rug is a great choice,
especially on a budget. Outdoor rugs are substantially less expensive than
their indoor counterparts, but that’s not the best part—most outdoor rugs are stain
and mildew resistant, and built to dry quickly. So when the inevitable happens
and the juice box goes “splat” or the marker inexplicably draws itself all over
the rug, you can just take it outside and hose it off—sort of like we wish we
could do with our children sometimes!
Result: 2 out of 3 - durable, inexpensive
Do you have fun ideas for decorating the playroom on a
budget? Please share pictures and ideas in the comments!
Jennifer Tuohy is a proud mom who resides with her family in Charleston,
South Carolina, and writes about her home décor and
renovation projects for The Home Depot. To view a selection of
area rugs from Home Depot's Home Decorators collection that
might be a good match for your own family's playroom, you can visit here.
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