Slightly OT: Playroom Location?

MaPetiteFamille

We're moving in late August to our first single family home, and I'm so excited to have some extra space. In our condo, DD's toys occupy half of our dining room. I'm a total parenting cliche, stumbling to get my coffee and practically breaking my foot tripping on Thomas the Tank Engine.

In any case, I thought I'd solicit some opinions from those of you (second time moms+) lucky enough to have a playroom. Is it a separate space from the "adult" living area (like, in the basement)? Or is it in the area of the house you use the most (like in the living room or great room), even though that makes the toys more visible?

I know that practically, it makes sense to have the kids play where you can see them even as you do chores in the kitchen, etc. (rather than having to carry them around the house if you need to run to get something). But it'd also be nice to be able to close the door on all the toys at the end of the day and relax in a clutter free zone. And yes, I know the toys will travel throughout the day to the rest of the house. Just want some ideas of pros and cons from people who have BTDT.

Edited for clarification

KJsbabe

Originally we were going to make our sun room DD's play room, which is right off of our living room. But since we spend most of our time in the living room, that's where most of her toys end up. We have a bunch of those fabric cubes that fit on the shelves to store her toys in. Every night before bath time she has to help pick up and put away all of her toys. That way DH and I can enjoy a some what clutter free night.

YaMrWhite

Our playroom is in the back of the basement near the windows. She has a quite a few more toys in the living room though. I'll show a picture. We push our ottoman/coffee table against the chaise so she has more room to play on the rug.

tripletoe

Love your rug @YaMrWhite‌ !

rvandiver0705

We just turned our office into a playroom.  I wish we had doors installed when we built, because it is one of the first rooms you see when you walk through the front door.  It has helped keep most of the kid clutter out of the rest of our living spaces.

YaMrWhite

@tripletoe‌ rugsusa

IHeartScience

Nice rug, @YaMrWhite! We have similar solutions (and rugs...see below) We keep a 3sprouts bin downstairs, but mostly use ds1's room for his toys. That way we rotate a few downstairs but we can keep those "New" to him.

Christina_Diane

We have a 4 bedroom house with a loft. The master, the loft, and two bedrooms are upstairs. We have a fourth bedroom downstairs and that is what we use for the playroom. Dh took the door off, and DS walks freely downstairs. We don't have any toys in his bedroom.

Christina_Diane

We have a 4 bedroom house with a loft. The master, the loft, and two bedrooms are upstairs. We have a fourth bedroom downstairs and that is what we use for the playroom. Dh took the door off, and DS walks freely downstairs. Yes, a lot of his toys end up in our living room, but cleanup is easy because they are all on the same floor. We don't have any toys in his bedroom.

2000cougar

Our playroom is a separate room off of our kitchen. We could of added a 5th bedroom to the second floor, but I didn't want the hassle of needing to do things downstairs while he was upstairs. We're also finishing off the basement for some of the larger things (like the 8 large bins of geotrax). I really like having his stuff on the main floor. It's really easy to check in on him and it's great when friends come over. The playroom is 15' long. The entrance from the kitchen is only about 1' from the edge of the room, so the majority of his stuff is on the other end. If I sit in my family room and look into his playroom, all that I can see is his workbench. The rest of the area might be a complete disaster, but I can't see it from here . A lot of the other houses in my neighborhood added a bonus room to their second floor. It's fine for playdates, but kind of a pain when you have a party. The kids want to play and the parents want to stay downstairs. Plus, some people don't want to be bothered with keeping the bedrooms presentable. 

id012

We have a bed room off of the living room. That we use as a play room. Its huge and looks like toys r us. Its nice because the toys that make it in the living room I just throw in the playroom when I need to clean up quick

MaPetiteFamille

Thanks, everyone! Some helpful ideas here. And now I'm going to spend all my money at rugsusa.com.

YaMrWhite

IHeartScience said:

Nice rug, @YaMrWhite! We have similar solutions (and rugs...see below) We keep a 3sprouts bin downstairs, but mostly use ds1's room for his toys. That way we rotate a few downstairs but we can keep those "New" to him.

Yup looks like a similar setup love it! @MaPetiteFamille‌ rugsusa is where I buy all of our rugs from. 2 of 3 levels in our house is hardwood so we have rugs in every room (minus the kitchen). That place is always having amazing sales and I love the quality!