SOPHIE + MINJI'S PASTEL MODERN BASEMENT PLAYROOM

Our newest and girliest playroom reveal is here!!! I am beyond excited to share Sophie & Minji’s playful, fun and pastel-hued playroom.

This project started before drywall was even up and I have loved seeing it come to life right from the beginning.

modern girls pink and floral playroom

BEAN BAG CHAIR

“I love these bean bag chairs so much as the fabric is beyond practical with kids, the bottom has a water resistant layer of protection and the rope handle makes moving them around a breeze!”

girls playroom with art

When an unused area in a basement becomes designated for a children’s playroom, the sky really is the limit. The girls’ playroom is full of all the things that dreams are made of; loads of art supplies, books and activity kits, toys, games, giant bean bag chairs and a TV lounge area for relax time.

girls pastel playroom

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These white wall shelves are so practical: they store baskets full of toys, act as a display case for treasured pieces and are the ideal set up for rotating toys as children change and grow through development stages.

playful pastel playroom shelving

The high impact wallpaper completely changed the space the moment it was put up. This large scale print works perfectly for this basement playroom and the colours and pattern add SO much fun to the space. These simple white shelves (a favourite from my own girls shared room) work beautifully in many spaces and function as a gallery for art and toys that can easily be rotated. This shorter size is ideal here!

While a large art table was the focal point for one side of the room, the TV lounge area formed the focal point for the other. Working around a large TV in a children’s space can be tricky, so we used the IKEA Besta unit for added storage in this area and an opportunity to pull a few playful elements, like the globe, into this space. The play kitchen is a highly recommended toy in any playroom and this one is a firm fave for these little clients.

modern girls playroom with tv lounge area and bean bag chairs
playroom bean bag chair
kidkraft play kitchen

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art table in kids playroom

The built-in nook is a storage area for arts and crafts supplies and the book shelves provide the perfect spot to rotate books. The large baskets underneath hold blankets for snuggling up!

THE PLAYROOM NOOK AT THE BEGINNING…

playroom nook before

THE PLAYROOM NOOK AFTER!

modern book nook
cozy playroom nook details

And finally, the book wall! A good book wall will forever be one of my favourite ways to display kids books.

playroom bookwall bookshelves

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KASE'S BASEMENT MEDIA ROOM TURNED PLAYROOM REVEAL!

Don’t mind if we take a week off revealing our rental house to reveal a new client media room turned playroom! This playroom was destined to be cool from the start and I am beyond excited to be able to share it with you all now.

My brief was to create a mini-man cave, with enough storage to house toys, crafts, a TV area, a snack bar (gasp!) and a twin bed turned train/play table for a 5 year old boy to live out his days. What a dream! I could see the vision for this one right away and knew it needed to have bold wallpaper and a practical / bold rug to match.

media room turned neutral playroom

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As it is a media room, lighting was a big consideration and a blue led strip light was changed to create a completely different atmosphere. There are also no windows in this space, which meant we had four entire walls to decorate.

Organization and storage were high on the list, so I chose this sturdy and large unit to house lots of toys, legos and a big train set (along with dozens of other toys). I love how spacious this storage system is, and we changed the handles to tie in with the rest of the room. You can see the twin bed turned Lego / train table above and it is one of the best DIY tables I’ve seen!

The bold wallpaper that my client went for is by Rebecca Atwood. Her wallpapers are beyond special and this one makes such a big impact! The giant wall world map is by Gathre.

storage unit in neutral children’s playroom
detail of playroom shelves

On the other side of the room, there’s a TV and lounge area. These beanbag chairs are beyond kid-friendly and perfect for Mom or Dad too! The bold PLAY letters are from Restoration Hardware.

playroom tv wall

One of the most exciting parts of this space is the snack area. A mini fridge for easy-to-grab drinks and a microwave for convenient movie popcorn! Snacks are kept below and are perfect for playdates and family movie nights. In the corner, the play table works double duty as a place to eat and also a place for arts and crafts. We added the pendant light to help define this area and I love how the small gallery wall pulls the whole corner together.

Kids neutral basement playroom with snack table and mini bar
ikea hack playroom play kitchen
media room turned playroom with wet bar

This playroom was an absolute joy to create. Thank you for stopping by!

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CLASSIC BLUE AND WHITE KIDS' MODERN PLAYROOM REVEAL

Our first reveal of 2020 is here and I am incredibly excited to share this amazing children’s playroom with you! This space ticks ALL the boxes for fun, playful and functional too. While we are not massive trend followers over here, I can say that this playroom is sporting ‘Classic Blue’, the Pantone colour of the year. Chance? Absolutely - this room has been in the works for quite some time.

Let’s rewind a little. My client enlisted me to re-imagine her basement into a bright, colourful and fun play space for her two children, aged 2 and 4. At the beginning of this project, this space felt dark, dated and full of potential. Pretty much my favourite kind of project.

Modern Pantone classic blue and white playroom

While there was some storage in the space, it wasn’t functional and the kids weren’t able to access toys in an organized way, so functional storage was a key goal for the room. When we found this Pottery Barn unit, it ticked all the boxes for a lot of storage, including opened and closed storage for ease of access and the ability to hide a lot too. The Pehr bins are perfect little buckets for smaller toy collections, such as mini cars or wood blocks. You’ve seen this play table in our Baker playroom project too, and it is one of the best on the market if you are looking for a play table that can grow with your kiddos. I love the under table carts for Lego storage, and they are on castors so they can easily pull out. Bonus!

kids playroom storage solution

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The library nook is my absolute favourite feature of this room. This family are avid readers and own an incredible collection of hundreds of children’s books that any little one could only dream of. I love knowing that though the collection is already large, these incredible built-in bookshelves gives plenty of room for the kids’ (and adults!) book collection to continue to grow. We specifically designed the slanted book ledge so that seasonal books could be displayed, providing a special spot for regular rotation of favourites. The giant floor pillows from Natti Natti provide the perfect cozy soft spot to curl up and read!

library nook with books for kids

From this angle, you can just see the scale of the library nook and also how impactful the dotted removable wallpaper is! We knew we wanted something that made this huge wall stand out and the gold polka dots do just that. I love how the classic blue and white rug provides so much pattern too.

white and classic blue children’s playroom
petra children’s book on giant floor pillow

The artwork chosen for the entire room is the children’s own. The client was so excited to showcase her own children’s art and I loved this idea too! These two canvases were the same size so we paired them above the Oeuf toy storage, which is the ideal piece if you love having open storage for little ones.

Oeuf toy store for open storage

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Vancouver modern kids playroom
modern playroom with detailed storage

I love seeing all sides of a space and so I thought I’d share these views too. In the shot above, you can see the sweet little fireplace set inside the teepee. You can see that the rug provides an underfoot layer for little feet at both the low play table and the higher one. The custom ottomans you can see a peek of on the left here were made by Tonic Living.

basement children’s playroom in North Vancouver home

Looking the other way, there is a gallery wall of children’s art as well as a giant whiteboard, which has proved to be popular on playdates with friends.

staircase and gallery wall in modern playroom
bench seat with whiteboard in kids playroom

Leaving you with this view of the storage area as it leads into the book nook. What an absolute dream play space!

modern playroom with storage and book nook

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FRIDAY INSPIRATION: UNIQUE PLAY NOOKS

It’s Friday and that means we can all breathe a little easier knowing that the weekend is just around the corner. While it means full on kid mode for most of us, it’s also a time that our little ones play in the environment that they usually feel most comfortable; home.

Sometimes, by creating special little nooks or finding a new area to play helps while away the hours a little more easily. These unique spots to add toys either come about for function (there is no other space in the house!) or just for magical fun…either way, here are some of my favourite unique kids nooks that create the dreamiest environments for children’s play.

A Secret Room:

Yes, really! This dreamy little play nook WITH A SKYLIGHT is located behind a bookcase and houses one of the cutest play kitchens of all time.

Source: Emily Henderson

Playspace Under the Stairs:

It’s really such a great use of space! Add a few of these ice cream decals, and you have a playroom for the littles.

Under stair children’s playhouse

Source: Pinterest

Secret kids playroom under stairs

Source: Von Fitz Design

Attic Playspace

Adding skylights to an attic opens the whole space up to so many possibilities. This play area is the perfect place to whittle away house while the sun shines in.

A light-filled attic children’s playroom

Source: Pinterest

A BRIGHT, FRESH & MODERN BASEMENT PLAYROOM REVEAL

fresh + modern white and blue basement playroom

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Starting 2019 with an exciting new project reveal…a bright, fresh and modern basement playroom and family living space!!! Can you even believe this is a basement? This room truly has EVERYTHING a family with kids could dream of; a place for the kids to play, storage for toys and a casual TV space where family and friends can relax together.

My clients have three little kids; a one year old, three year old and five year old, so wanted the space to have lots of storage for the kids’ toys and also a fun factor (have you seen the slide?)! The wall decals from Urban Walls (Riptide Watercolour in Indigo at half intensity) create SO much fun impact for a room that will transition as the children grow. The decals are perfect for now and can so easily be peeled off and changed when the time comes. They are also amazingly easy to put up!

 

“Adding in extra large covered storage is a lifesaver when it comes to quick clean up of unsightly toys. These baskets can be moved around and will easily store anything from cozy blankets to dump trucks.”

modern playroom with PLAY letters on wall

We looked for extra large scale letters on the market but after searching and falling short, decided to have these PLAY letters custom made for the wall. Since this part of the ceiling is low, the letters give the big impact we were going for. If you’ve followed along for a while, you will know that I LOVE storage baskets (such as in Rafa + Leo’s room), especially pretty ones with lids, and the capacity of these ones is incredible. You can honestly fit large plastic toys in there!

Good storage is key for a playroom and I like using easy-to-pull-out baskets for everyday play toys like blocks, Magnatiles, even puzzles. These storage cubes are at just the right height for toddlers to be able to pull out and put back the baskets themselves, which is always a win! I love that everything in this space is fully accessible for the sweet little kiddos who call this play space home.

playroom with storage and toys

STORAGE BASKET

“Easy to reach storage bins help little ones easily pull out and put away toys independently, which is a win in my books!”

kids playroom with white slide and PLAY letters

The other side of the space is an area where the family can snuggle, read books, watch movies and relax together. The built ins on the left hold more toys and also books and we had fun styling the shelves to look pretty as there wasn’t a need for added toy storage here. I love having the space to do this because we know all parents need a little pretty in their lives at the end of the day, am I right?! ;)

Family friendly basement living room
Shelves and windows
playroom shelves with pom pom storage baskets
coffee table wood stumps
family living room

Photography by Janis Nicolay.

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Playroom design board

01.// Cubebot; 02.// Pillow; 03.// Basket; 04.// Bowl; 05.// Play table; 06.// Bin; 07.// Stool; 08.// Slide; 09.// Play mat; 10.// Storage baskets.