A Playroom Fit for a Princess

Hello!  If any of you have children, you know how important it is to have one space dedicated to their toys.  During my pre-kids days, I always wondered how on earth kids accumulated so.much.stuff!  Two girls later and I'm still wondering the same thing.  Those cute little purchases add up to a house full of toys right before your eyes.  That's when I took the risk and moved both of the girls into the same bedroom and turned Madelynn's room into the playroom.  I am so glad that I did.  They love sleeping in the same room, plus since there are no toys in their bedroom, I don't have to worry about Madelynn getting up and playing when she's supposed to be sleeping.  And even though we still have a few toys in the family room, the majority of them are in the playroom. Although Madelynn's room has undergone three make overs to date, here is the original nursery photo.

And here is the current playroom:

This is the view from the pink wall:

I kept the original yellow on all of the walls, but one.  The pink is the same color as the opposite wall's circles.  I kept the white cabinet, which we purchased from Ikea, but dressed it up with heart print fabric from Ikea.  You can see that tutorial here.  The cabinet provides tons of storage inside and out.  

On the other side, I added another shelf from Ikea.  

The bins provide the majority of the storage.  The best tip I can give anyone looking to create a playroom for their kids:  put the toys in BINS!  Like most children, my girls empty every single bin on the floor, so clean up is a breeze.  I don't bother with organizing the bins (with the exception of one for puzzles) because it just makes cleaning up more difficult.  At this point, the girls don't care as much about finding one particular toy as much as they care about playing with everything they own.  The art above the shelf is DIY.  I cut round circles out of the heart fabric and placed it in embroidery hoops and the framed art is actually cut from gift bags.  

For Annabella's first birthday, she received some adorable gift bags, so I measured and cut squares to fit the frames.  

I also took advantage of the inside of the closet. 

I turned an old bookshelf into a dress up shelf by taking the inside shelves out and putting up a tension rod to hang the clothes.  Again, the heart fabric was put to use.  Hats stack on top of the shelf and there are also hooks on the outside of the dress up shelf for necklaces and head bands.  I got the idea off of Pinterest some time ago.  

In the corner is a snuggly reading nook.

Madelynn and Annabella love sneaking in and closing the doors behind them.  Both of them are huge bookworms, so this is a perfect place for them to "read" to each other.  And by utilizing the inside of the closet, there is more room for them to play in the room.  I do plan on painting the inside of the closet and putting some baby safe lighting inside.  

Above the closet door, I hung a Princess banner that I made for my best friend's baby shower.  It's made from scrap book paper, as well as the elephant art to the right of the doors.

I am so glad that I created this space for them.  It's completely personalized for their needs.  Madelynn loves hanging her art on the walls and I love that they have a space just for them where they're safe and can have a blast.  And not having toys strewn all over my house is a definite plus!  Have you created a space just for your kids in your home?  Or have you gone the other route and figured out how to integrate their toys into your common spaces?  Thanks for reading!

Leslie