our playroom

now that we are unpacked and settled in at our new (rental) home, i'm excited to show you around our new organized spaces. and what better place to start the home tour than in the playroom!

this was one of the first spaces to be completely unpacked and organized...for 3 obvious little reasons. but, truth be told, i had great organizing ideas for this room. which was made super easy thanks to the organization that took place in our previous home (here) and all of these beautiful built-in shelves and cabinets. 

here is the view into the playroom as you enter the space...

their couch and love seat fit perfectly in the center of the room. this set was the first real home purchase my husband and i made together as a couple....more than 12 years ago (i think?!) and the couches have held up beautifully. the slipcovers are removable, which makes for easy cleaning and a good set to have around for the kids...

they are pretty comfy too! and many an extended family member has chosen to sleep on the long couch because of its comfort.

as far as what's filling the perimeter of the room, let's start with those awesome built-ins! these are off to the left as you enter the room....

i believe when the owner built this room, this space was intended as either a formal living room or a library/sitting room. but it sure makes a great play space for us!

the mesh bins i organized and labeled in our previous home fit perfectly on the shelves flanking both sides of the fireplace/tv nook...

as we were choosing what would move to the rental and what would be packed away for storage, i made some heavy-handed decisions in order to keep this space open and clean...and keep the toys focused on what i knew the kids would actually play with for 6 months while living here. so what you see on the shelves is what they are actually playing with these days...

and it's more than enough! i narrowed down the bins from 18 to 10 and then placed some of their larger toys on the shelves as a great way to stow them away...and for decorative purposes. when they walked into the space for the first time they loved seeing the toys because in our previous home i had them all stored away in a closet. when the toys are displayed this way it encourages them to play and the room just feels fun!

these mesh bins are so awesome for containing groups of toys and the labels help during clean-up time...

here's a view from the back corner. you can see the entry door in this image, as well...

because we have a 2 year old, i opted to keep most of those bottom cabinets empty. this keeps her from pinching fingers or dumping toys all over the floor. just 2 of the 6 cabinets have toys stored away. one for the boys Disney Cars...

and the other holds a few bins of pirate toys, magnetic letters and wooden blocks...

now that you have seen the main interest wall, i'll show you around the rest of the space.

off to the right of the entry, we have an indoor/outdoor slide, our daughter's array of shopping carts and strollers, a toy piano, and a thomas train table...

off in the back corner is an adjustable basketball hoop...

along the same back wall is our daughter's cinderella castle...

and one canvas bag full of stuffed animals...

 along the back wall is where the train table sits...

the boys occasionally set up the trains, but more often than not there is something else sitting on this tabletop. the trains and pieces are stored away in 2 bins under the table.

right now they are in pirate mode, so that is what sits on top at the moment...

when their interests change, it's easy enough to swap out the toys that sit here and store them away.

although this playroom isn't the same as our over the top playroom from our previous home, i love how open and bright and airy this space feels. and most importantly, the kids love it!

hope you've enjoyed my little tour!

(i linked up with a bowl full of lemons, new years organizing revolution, my uncommon slice of suburbia, serenity now, liz marie blog, the 36th avenue, house of hepworths, it's overflowing, tatertots & jello, org junkie)