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Sweet & Sunny Art Room for Kids

Get ready to be inspired as I take you through the incredible transformation of an underutilized nook on the main floor into the coziest art room for my clients and their kids, ages 5 and 3.
There’s something so inviting about the whole vibe – it’s impossible not to get your creative juices flowing!
Read more about how I designed this space here: https://www.chezshaydesigns.com/blog/sunny-kids-art-room

Siena’s Parisian Playroom

Siena’s Parisian Playroom was inspired by our love for the City of Light. I designed the room around Anewall’s Parisian Street Mural Wallpaper, and then commissioned a local Austin artist, Susie Stokes Gibson, to create a Paris-themed mural. My husband, a woodworker, created a custom cubby design for toy storage. The room has a calming, neutral palette with pops of pink and a French whimsical vibe- We love spending time playing in this room!

Vibrant Jungle Gym Playroom

This basement playroom project started off with a completely blank canvas; the ask was to create a cozy, comfortable, colourful & functional space for a very busy toddler! I wanted this playroom to feel bold and adventurous yet soft enough to work with the rest of the home. So we opted for a wonderful muted jungle wallpaper and an oversized muted geometric area rug to ground the space. These elements inspired a blue, green and yellow colour palette which we layered with interesting shapes, patterns and textures for an elevated feel.
Playrooms always need a solid organizational systems, one that’s easy to stick to! So we made sure to integrate both open and closed storage for this family — the closed cabinetry is perfect for art supplies, puzzles and toy collections divided into clear bins, while the open shelf encourages autonomous play with easy-to-access toys on rotation. Creating designated purposeful areas is probably the single most important aspect of any playroom design.
My clients already had a great dining table, so we used it to create an arts & crafts zone with beautiful soft green chairs. These are my favourite ones to use in kid’s spaces because they are wipeable, have a closed back and are light enough for kids to move around themselves.
To promote imaginative play we added a fun kid’s play couch, a canvas playhouse with the sweetest little windows and a wooden climber. A low coffee table is the perfect spot to play with building blocks, puzzles and trucks! Fun decorative touches bring so much personality to the room, like knotted floor cushions, pom pom bins, a flag bunting and wool wall hangings. The end result is a colourful fun-filled playroom with endless layers of fun to explore!
Photography: Heidi Lau

Own Forest in the Room

For some time now, I really like the interiors with a forest motif. I never thought to arrange such a theme in a child’s room. Until I found a wonderful wallpaper from Coloray.
 
My son’s room has now become such an original and magical place.
We made order with the toys. Now we only left a small bookcase and a table with chairs. The room was bigger. My son is very happy. He walks all the time repeating that he has a forest in his room.
 
Now we are just looking for a lamp with an owl motif and it will be perfect. We wholeheartedly recommend Coloray wallpapers.

Sage Green & Neutral Superhero Playroom

We live in small home and as my little boy got older, we wanted a dedicated space for him to play. I’m a lover of neutrals but also love a single pop of color, so I designed this playroom with that in mind. It’s a small room so I focused on incorporating wall textures that packed a punch to add interest but not clutter the floor of the small room.
My husband is a first responder so I designed the room with a unique superhero theme, ranging from the large marvel prints, to the wood wall cutout “the world needs who you were made to be”, to the floating shelves styled with with classic mystery books and a fairytale canvas. To brighten up the room and give it a touch of sophistication, I incorporated small pops of warm wood texture, neutral grays, and warm whites.
I designed several features throughout the room to make it extra fun for him: 1) We transformed the closet space into a whimsical, fun sitting nook using Livette’s wallpaper and a DIY built in basket space underneath for toy storage. 2) We created a modern asymmetrical feature wall using primed MDF 1×2 board cut at 45 degree angles (paint color is SW 6213). 3) I designed a matching book wall with shelves my husband built. 4) We purchase the IKEA duktig kitchen and I gave it a makeover to coordinate with the room.
Overall, this was one of my favorite design project to date! I kept the large toys neutral so that they’ll work for any future kiddos we might have and I can easily repaint the feature wall or switch out the large prints for a completely new and gender neutral feel. Best of all, our little boy loves his playroom and it’s the highlight of his day everyday right now.

Playroom Reveal

This room grants me a lot of free time to work, be in the kitchen, and gives me lots of mental peace that its able to contain MOST of the toys. Keeping the surrounding rooms from being overrun by toys is definitely a challenge! I am happy that our home and layout allowed us to have a designated play space that is separate from other rooms. The main goal for every playroom is to provide lots of storage, playfulness and fun. Since I wanted the theme to be a mix of adventure, travel and planet Earth I still wanted the look to be somewhat cohesive with the rest of the house.
 
Photos by: elzaphotographie
For more info click HERE !

Surfer Boy Playroom

When a repeat client comes to me and wants help turning a “toy/storage/catch all” room into an actual playroom, the answer of course is always yes!  I always start my projects with a design concept and after a bit of back and forth with the client, we aligned on “surfer boy” as our theme.
The space needed to be practical, comfortable and of course, playful for these sweet three boys.  I instantly new of a few products that would work but before I went into the details, I had to find my design moment.  Meaning, there is typically a point in the process – researching, dreaming, brainstorming – where I have an item, a color, a pattern or something that is the centerpiece for everything else in the room.
In this case, it was the wallpaper.  After a mishap with a previous wallpaper I had sourced, I decided to design my own, specific for this client, these boys and this room.  Waves, my first wallpaper collection, was birthed and will be available in  May!  And the best part is this wallpaper is customizable – it has the ability to be monogramed with 1 letter and here we have it with an “e” as all three boys’ names start with an e.  SWOON!
Once I had the wallpaper as my muse, the other pieces came naturally.  I love the Crate and Kids storage piece.  And FLOR carpet squares are always a hit for kids spaces because of how practical and durable they are (plus their designs are amazing).  The lounge-y cushions that act like a sofa are a perfect place for reading and, ahem, wrestling because come on, it’s a boys playroom.  Add some sharks, art and bookshelves and this room is complete!

Modern Playroom with Rainbow Decals

It seems as though children’s interests change every week, right? Well over the course of the last few months, I was finding that our play time had become less focused and somewhat chaotic. So I decided it was time to take a closer look at the function of our playroom. It all started by rotating some toys out of our repertoire, which we try to do every 6 to 9 months. This allows us to highlight toys that will keep the kids more motivated to learn, explore and play in every stage of their development!
We have a fairly large basement which now functions a million times better for us, thanks to a few space planning tweaks and designated zones; a ‘chef’ nook complete with a pantry shelf for food storage, an activity table for drawing and tea parties, a dreamy camp-out tent and simple storage for books and select toys. We keep puzzles, blocks, art supplies and larger plastic toys neatly put away in a wardrobe the kids can access at any time.
A muted colour palette with some pops of light wood tones is what I envisioned for this space, so am really loving the overall bright yet warm vibe. I worked with most of the pieces we already had and simply added a few unique decor elements to create a more cohesive look. I love the gorgeous lemon, pear and rainbow art prints from Pretty in Print, they are the perfect addition to our little kitchen area! The fun lion head wall hanging brings so much texture to the room. And I just love how these beautiful rainbow wall decals totally transformed the room into an a dreamy space for my little ones! We’re ‘over the rainbow’ about it all…

A Reimagined Playroom

Remember that initial excitement of moving the playhouse into the playroom last year?  We would “cook” and pretend in there for hours.  Sadly, as with most new toys for our children, the novelty wore off.  LOL Surpise Dolls were taking over and the playhouse was all but forgotten.  I don’t know about you, but I can only play with those little plastic dolls for so long before I start to lose my mind.  I started thinking, how can I put the “fun” back into the playroom?  And here’s the real trick, without spending a dime doing it.  It hit me!  When I was a kid I loved to rearrange my furniture, toys…EVERYTHING really.  It’s so silly how something as simple as moving an object to a different location can give it life again and make it seem new.  I put on my “moving” clothes and got to work.  Everything in the room was kept the same or repurposed in some way.  I decided to create a Cafe space and add little menu’s in the frames I already had.  The Playhouse is no longer the focal point in the room, but as Brennan from Stepbrothers said, “It will give us so much extra space to do activities!”

Pretty in Pastels Playhouse

Have you seen those amazingly made over playhouses on your screen lately?  You know, the ones that are nicer than your own home?  So have I, but not in my own backyard.  We purchased the playhouse almost two years ago for our daughters second birthday.  After much love and (A LOT) of labor, the house was put together with no extra frills or details and was placed in our backyard.   We had a great time playing and letting our imaginations take over.  Now almost two years later, the playhouse no longer looked loved.  The elements had gotten the best of it and the house was being overrun by the awful W’s.  Wasps and wolf spiders (eek!).  The house was just begging for a make over, and after all, I do love a good project.
After thoroughly cleaning the house, I was able to persuade my husband to help take it apart and move it inside.  Thankfully, after taking some measurements, it would fit in the playroom and so we moved it in there.   Because of it’s size, I chose to keep the colors light and bright.  I started with a good primer and brushed painted the entire house.  I then went to my go to white paint, Benjamin Moore Simply White, (this is my trim, door, and cabinet color in my house) and gave the house three good coats.  I chose a pretty blush pink for the door and top window shutters and spray painted the phone, phone holder, and planter boxes in black.  The play kitchen and food shelves fit perfectly on the back wall with two additional shelves installed above the kitchen for storage.  Since the playroom can sometimes be a little dark, I opted to keep the window areas bare and not reinstall the plastic windows that came with the house.
To complete the space I moved the art desk and it’s crayons and pencils to the opposite wall and painted the roof on the dollhouse in the blush pink to match the playhouse.  Everything else in the playroom was able to stay the same (sources all listed here).  The project took a full five days to complete and we are all enjoying having it inside.  After a much needed makeover the playhouse is now loved again!

Bright and Bold Modern Playroom

When we moved into our home a few years ago, we had no need for a formal living room.
But you know what we did have?
Toys. A lot of them.
And so I created this bright and fun playroom for my kids, ages 6 and 2.
A lot of the playroom inspo I find on Pinterest and elsewhere online is gorgeous, but so many of these rooms seem to have so many decorative items and not enough room for children to actually, well, play.
So I prioritized storage (for everything from Legos to Barbies), along with plenty of space for the kids to build or run or be crazy (usually the third option mentioned is the most popular).
The geometric rug helped to ground the space — AND it’s made from individual recycled floor tiles, which makes it super easy to clean — and then I added an IKEA Kallax shelving unit with storage bins for all our odds and ends. Both my kids love their cute kitchen set, and my daughter wanted a desk area where she could work on art projects and not be bothered by her little brother.
A book nook on one wall, a Land of Nod play table and chairs, and a dress-up corner round out our space.
And there you have it! There’s a glimpse into the most popular room in our home. :)
Wanna see more? Check out my blog over at Kate Decorates.
 

Whimsical Boho Playroom

This playroom took months to add onto our house, but it’s finally complete. The room was designed around the amazing rug, and I’m so happy with how it all came together. I wanted it all white, with big pops of color everywhere, and a boho feel. This room was designed with my three year old son’s love of orange in mind, and my nearly one year old daughter – hopefully she likes pink! The Ikea chairs were the perfect touch, along with the table and chairs from Target.

Pretty in Pastels Playroom

When I first designed Elena’s Preschool Inspired Playroom, I wanted the room to mimic her days at preschool and it did just that!  She loved playing in the different areas of her playroom, the cafe section being her favorite.  Fast forward one year and her needs are now very different.   She is really starting to play pretend and use her imagination so much more!  This meant weeding through everything to figure out what she still plays with and what could be donated.  Of course, I excitedly accepted the challenge of a playroom update.
I wanted to build off of the idea of the “focus areas” that were already in place, but mature it up a little bit by re-configuring the space and adding new elements.  I kept the Land of Nod bookshelves but added lots of new books (and donated TONS of old ones).  I also kept the IKEA bookshelves but updated the storage bins to a darker color.  I did purchase a new table and chairs from Amazon and a new play kitchen from IKEA simply because my daughter is taller and I wanted her to be able to grow with those pieces.  Moving the art easel downstairs freed up some space in the corner which allowed a great little desk and stool from IKEA to utilize the space.  I love that her artwork is still displayed and she now has her own little calendar to keep track of events.
The IKEA Duktig play kitchen and IKEA Flisat dollhouse are probably my favorite things in her playroom.  I scoured Pinterest for ideas on how to hack out the kitchen and found a great tutorial here.   The cute little dish sets are also from IKEA.  Yes, they are glass (eek!), but they have proven to stand up to some rough play.  The mounted little shelves that hold the adorable play food are IKEA Bekvam spice racks.  Another simple and great hack!  The adorable painted wood shelf was hand made by my husband’s best friend and fits perfectly in the new space.  Elena loves to cook and make cereal (of all things) in her new play kitchen.  She even leaves her dishes in the sink for me to clean up, how nice of her!
The dollhouse has been such a fun thing to do with her.  I painted the exterior and roof so that it would compliment the room.  Once painted and put together I got to work finding the cutest little dollhouse furniture and accessories.  Most of the items in the house came from here, here, and here.  I added my own little original canvas art in the living room.  I also added a little outdoor area with a cute little fence and BBQ area.  Note to self, Gorilla Glue is STRONG!  Her little Calico Critters family moved in and feels right at home!  My daughter sits and plays in her dollhouse for hours.
While I initially wanted everything to be from Pottery Barn Kids, it just simply wasn’t in the budget, and truthfully I’m so happy that I didn’t go that route.  This was my first real DIY project with sanding, painting, and building and I really enjoyed it!  Most everything that was purchased new was from IKEA, Target, and Amazon.  This little pastel playroom was so fun to put together and I’m hoping my daughter will love it for years to come.

Holiday Playroom Spruce Up

As an event designer, I often find myself pulling together my own holiday decor in the eleventh hour. But this year my 2.5 year-old is Santa’s number one fan, and so we have been busy decorating every inch of the house in anticipation of his arrival. And because reindeers loving playing games, we decided to give the playroom a festive spruce up. Pun intended.
We trimmed his mini tree with toddler-proof ornaments, basically all of the Target and Land of Nod plush animals we could find. For the skirt, we went DIY and used his Land of Nod playmat, a much enjoyed gift from last Christmas! To add a little twinkle to his BespOak Interiors tree branch shelf, we used Maker’s Holiday star lights. I also created and hung pink and teal balloon ornaments, some jazzed up with Meri Meri stickers. Lastly, we had to deck the shelf with a bow of holly, balloon holly of course!

Oh the Places You’ll Go Playroom

A one-of-a-kind playroom that inspires creativity where kids can play, read and imagine. I love that every corner of this space has something unexpected and genuinely unique for these two adorable siblings.
My goal was to mix high style with pure fun and the results of this room are definitely stylish with loads of pure fun from the full size telephone booth to the custom book chandelier!

Preschool Inspired Playroom

For the past couple of years there was no real organization or theme to the playroom.  Everything was just kind of thrown in there and it was always a mess and not fun to look at.  It got to a point that we didn’t even know what we had!  My two year old just started preschool recently and I wanted to mimic the structure (and fun!) of her new school in her playroom.
First I scoured Pinterest and of course Project Nursery for ideas.  I knew I wanted an art section and a reading section.  What was the most fun to put together was her little cafe area (cafe idea found here).  Instead of printing and framing the menus, I used chalkboard and a chalk marker to create my own (please excuse my poor handwriting).  I purchased the letters on the wall from Michaels in white and painted them a fun turquoise color.  I wanted to keep the room gender neutral as we would like to have more children.  Most everything in the room was either purchased at Target or Michaels Craft Store.
I love seeing my daughters art hanging on the wall and so does she!  It’s the true focal point of the playroom.  This was such a fun room to put together!