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FINALLY my waldorf playroom pics

157K views 640 replies 181 participants last post by  JudiAU 
#1 ·
New house playspace pics here: http://frontierdreams.blogspot.com/2...ls-corner.html
Can I say how much I don't like our old playspace set up, now that I see it after we moved?
:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------sorry it took me so long to post them. i thought id start a new thread for them. please tell me what i can do to imrove her room to make it more waldrofy.. i know i have to put up some playsilks or something on the back of her playstand to cover the backs of the computer,dvd players etc...

updated pics post 109
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...41#post8441841
updated again post 192
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&postcount=192

old pics:
playsilk on her canopy.the sky and grass

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...I/IMG_4453.jpg
heres the rainbow house i mentioned before:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...I/IMG_4454.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...I/IMG_4462.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...I/IMG_4461.jpg

RECAP OF EVERYONES PLAYRROMS HERE:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&postcount=402
 
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#152 ·
Okay, I just realized this is probably in the wrong forum, but I am slowly changing over my conventional playroom into a waldorf/montessori playroom. Consider these the before pictures. I'm going to a huge craft fair this weekend and home to come home with some handmade wooden toys to re-do the playroom in.
****
ATM, I realize it's not looking too waldorf-y, but it will be more so by years end.
Well, a mix of waldorf and montessori, anyway.

When I get pix of the natural things, I will update with them. But the layout will stay the same.

And yes, that is a TV in the middle of it all. It's just used primarily for PBS kids shows and movies if at all. It was our old one from the family room.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom1.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom2.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom3.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom5.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom4.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t.../playroom6.jpg

And then of course, there's the outside "play" room...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSCN0215.jpg
 
#153 ·
NoCalMom; I saw your post and just suddenly had this image, so I felt I should share. Now that I've thought of it, I'm thinking about doing it in my new apartment in our office room, to be playroom come christmas.

The chinese paper lanterns give off more natural and diffuse lighting, as well, to diffuse and soften the garage flourescents, you could drape sheer cotton fabric from the middle of the room, and form a sort of tent. We used to do this in our garage/playroom, with a huge sheet hung from a left over hook. If you get a large enough piece of fabric, you could actually make the entire garage a tent, which would deal with you shelving busy-ness, as well as making the garage more inviting and calming. Just put hooks in the corners of the room, and stretch the fabric to hang down from them. It's like a permanent fort. Hang the paper lantern in the middle, and voila! Also, you mentioned they avoided the garage, I would think that making it more cozy and novel would let them feel that it was 'their' space. Maybe put some pillows and/or leftover couch cushions in there, too, to facilitate their 'nesting.'

Good luck, and how cool that she set up a whole puppet show!
 
#155 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MidgeMommy View Post
NoCalMom; I saw your post and just suddenly had this image, so I felt I should share. Now that I've thought of it, I'm thinking about doing it in my new apartment in our office room, to be playroom come christmas.

The chinese paper lanterns give off more natural and diffuse lighting, as well, to diffuse and soften the garage flourescents, you could drape sheer cotton fabric from the middle of the room, and form a sort of tent. We used to do this in our garage/playroom, with a huge sheet hung from a left over hook. If you get a large enough piece of fabric, you could actually make the entire garage a tent, which would deal with you shelving busy-ness, as well as making the garage more inviting and calming. Just put hooks in the corners of the room, and stretch the fabric to hang down from them. It's like a permanent fort. Hang the paper lantern in the middle, and voila! Also, you mentioned they avoided the garage, I would think that making it more cozy and novel would let them feel that it was 'their' space. Maybe put some pillows and/or leftover couch cushions in there, too, to facilitate their 'nesting.'

Good luck, and how cool that she set up a whole puppet show!
We must've been sharing a brain! Over labor day weekend we hung curtains all the way around the garage to hide the shelving. There is nothing on the ceiling yet, but I'm thinking of hanging some gauzy fabric and lanterns and mobiles to lower the feel of it. Thanks so much for the ideas! I love the tent concept. That could be really cool in a kids' room too... hmmm. I got the curtains from Ikea and it didn't even cost that much to do it even though it was 6 curtain panels and rods. It makes it easy to access the shelving that way too, because we can just pull back the curtains to get what we need. I don't think I'm imagining that the kids are playing better in that room already. They seem much more able to focus on their play and not get distracted or start arguing. It's amazing.
 
#156 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by counterGOPI View Post
it was a b-day present last year,it's made by selecta though

and good wood has many locations in va.. check out their site: www.goodwood.com
I think you meant to link to www.goodwoodfurniture.com

And now, CounterGOPI, I'm intrigued as to where you live b/c I'm about 25min from one of their locations and I know you've referenced Northern VA. I'm in Fauquier County, close to Warrenton.

Mamas, all these play spaces look so wonderful. I can't wait to go through the kiddos toys and get rid of the cr*p and move to better quality, lesser quantity, more imaginative toys and play space. You've all been inspiring...
 
#158 ·
Lovely rooms and great ideas! Could you guys list some of your sources? SOme of the toys I recognize as Target finds since my DD has them them too (ex: shopping cart, kitchen) but the rest I don't know about.

I'm in the process of making our screened patio her play room and I'm only at the "build benches" stage so room decor ideas are great for me right now.

Thanks!
A.
 
#159 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by astrophe27 View Post
Lovely rooms and great ideas! Could you guys list some of your sources? SOme of the toys I recognize as Target finds since my DD has them them too (ex: shopping cart, kitchen) but the rest I don't know about.

I'm in the process of making our screened patio her play room and I'm only at the "build benches" stage so room decor ideas are great for me right now.

Thanks!
A.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it in this thread yet (i think i did) but we got rid of that Traget kitchen. its made from MDF not wood and the paint chips like crazy exposing everyone in the house to the toxin formeldahyde. BAD STUFF! and who knows, since it was made in china it may have lead paint too!
we have a kitchen from willow toys as well as our play stands. most of our toys are eitehr found items in nature our bought from:
www.visitkinderhaustoys.com
www.novanatural.com
www.threesisterstoys.com

our wall cards are from:
www.eeboo.com

hth!
 
#164 ·
Thank you! It makes me feel good that someone looked at my pictures.
I need to post my updated ones when I can because I think it looks so much nicer now that we have a kitchen. It is everyone's absolute favorite new toy. Even the mainstream, TV-watching neighbor kids are obsessed with it.
 
#165 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by momaste View Post
Gorgeous! Just gorgeous!


Quote:

Originally Posted by VaMountainMomma View Post
that is GORGEOUS! Your little ones are very lucky!

Where did you get the flower ABC cards?

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachelEve14 View Post
Beautiful Room!!!! I love the house. I am giong to try to make my kids one when we go back home & have the space. Thank you SO much for sharing
:

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrfath View Post
Wonderful room. What a lucky kiddo. I love the rainbow room. I would love to a space to set up like that.
i agree it is awesome
 
#167 ·
Ok, I finally had a chance to share some updated pictures.
I went to the store and bought a bunch of gourds and mini indian corn and the kids are just crazy about them! I thought they would enjoy them but I didn't realize this much.
Someone asked if anyone had boys and I do! I have a 4 year old boy and 20 month old boy/girl twins. My 4 year old mainly enjoys dressing up, playing in his teepee, using the kitchen, etc. He spends almost all his time doing make believe and rarely plays with toys like my younger ones. The twins love stacking toys, pull toys, and some dress up, too.

One view of playroom

Their lovely kitchen (you can see gourds and corn)

Shelves of blocks, pinecones, beanbags, wooden animals carved by Daddy, nesting bowls, instruments

Another view of baskets

Shelves of the twins' toys (but everyone shares)

Dress-up clothes

Other view of playroom

Basket of playsilks, swords and streamer

My Waldorf kids

Thanks for looking!
 
#168 ·
Gemelos, that looks awesome!! I think what is nicest about the way you've done things is how uncluttered and peaceful it all looks. You've really done a nice job of putting just the right amount of toys out I think. This is something I really need to work on and I'm making some progress. It's really good to do careful editing. I think the kids play so much better that way when they're not overwhelmed by too much.

Thanks for posting your nice pics! I think I'm going to ready to post soon. I was a little embarrassed of how it looked before (but it was a garage so I try not to be too hard on myself). Anyway, it's looking so much better and this thread has been so great for ideas of how to create a wonderful environment.
 
#170 ·
Gemelos, beautiful playroom! I just got a big bag of fall "decorative" vegetables and my dd is loving them too. I think it's funny how the simplest things are the most played with.
 
#171 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by gemelos View Post
Thanks, Laurie. Sometimes I feel like I have too many toys, but I am also a bit addicted to de-cluttering.
You should post your pictures anyway, because it is always fun to look at before and after pictures.
That sounds like me! ...and I still think ds has too much stuff!

Although if ds would have his own playroom, I do not think it would look cluttered, but he has to share our living room with us.

The room looks very beautiful, love your organizational skills as well as the toys!
Very cute kiddos as well!
 
#172 ·
Quote:
Gemelos, beautiful playroom! I just got a big bag of fall "decorative" vegetables and my dd is loving them too. I think it's funny how the simplest things are the most played with.
Thank you!
I agree, it is funny how the simplest things seem to be the favorites. This morning as soon as everyone woke up the first thing they did was run into the playroom to fight over the indian corn.


Quote:
The room looks very beautiful, love your organizational skills as well as the toys!
Very cute kiddos as well!
Thank you!
Dh thinks I am kind of crazy because I just love organizing the playroom and trying to think how I can make it set up in a more orderly or beautiful way. He is convinced the reason I love it so much is because I wanted a playroom like this when I was little and I think he is right.
 
#173 ·
Phase 2 - moving toward less toys, less plastic (though there is still some). Rather than replace all plastic with wood toys all at once, I'm replacing them with birthdays/holidays and such, so it has to happen in phases.

left side
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...roomleft-1.jpg

right side
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...oomright-1.jpg

new dollhouse for dd2's birthday this month

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ecloseup-1.jpg

magnet board
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...agnetboard.jpg

storage bins - by Xmas, most of this should be fabric/wood toys
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...rls/bins-1.jpg

girls dress up closet/extra storage
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/closet-1.jpg

We don't have a nature table per se, but a nature box that we can move

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...aturebox-1.jpg

Try as I might though, while I love the natural/waldorf rooms, I don't think it goes well with the sweetly pink/pastel theme I have going on in the room. This room used to be a nursery, and I have kept the pastels going, but I do like the deeper, more natural colors going on in the other rooms I see on this thread.

Gamelos - I love the teepee. And you have so much room devoted to your kiddos. My they are blessed. I only have a small 10x9 room to use as a playroom.
 
#174 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by gemelos View Post
Dh thinks I am kind of crazy because I just love organizing the playroom and trying to think how I can make it set up in a more orderly or beautiful way. He is convinced the reason I love it so much is because I wanted a playroom like this when I was little and I think he is right.

My favorite room in the house to clean is totally the play room. I have so much fun. And yes, I do play with some of their toys (the dollhouse is my favorite).
 
#175 ·
Quote:
Try as I might though, while I love the natural/waldorf rooms, I don't think it goes well with the sweetly pink/pastel theme I have going on in the room. This room used to be a nursery, and I have kept the pastels going, but I do like the deeper, more natural colors going on in the other rooms I see on this thread.

Gamelos - I love the teepee. And you have so much room devoted to your kiddos. My they are blessed. I only have a small 10x9 room to use as a playroom.
Kmcmommyto3, your room is lovely! It is very orderly and quaint-very nice. What do you mean about the pastel colors not working with Waldorf rooms? Do you mean it clashes with the toys or did you mean something else? I think all the natural wood blends really nicely with your colors. We are really lucky to have such a huge playroom. It is one of the reason we chose the house because I thought the room would be perfect for a playroom. I do hate the red carpet and pool table light but we are just working on things one step at a time.

Oh, and is that little lambswool duster from the Montessori catalogue? That is where I got mine.
 
#176 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by gemelos View Post
Kmcmommyto3, your room is lovely! It is very orderly and quaint-very nice. What do you mean about the pastel colors not working with Waldorf rooms? Do you mean it clashes with the toys or did you mean something else? I think all the natural wood blends really nicely with your colors. We are really lucky to have such a huge playroom. It is one of the reason we chose the house because I thought the room would be perfect for a playroom. I do hate the red carpet and pool table light but we are just working on things one step at a time.

Oh, and is that little lambswool duster from the Montessori catalogue? That is where I got mine.

Oh, thank you. It's a work constantly in progress. It's the playroom I would have loved to have had as a child.

But, I also think the deeper background colors look more like a nice contrast with the natural colors. Maybe that's why some of those rooms look more soothing to me. The light colors of the natural woods seem to wash out against the pale pastels. Of course, in person, they seem to be okay. Our pale green walls are pretty soothing, but man, I've seen those Lazure walls and they are awesome. And, at least from your photos, I like your red carpet. But maybe it looks different IRL.

I also would have preferred natural (real) wood bookcases, but when I originally was decorating the room, I didn't know about natural playrooms and I going for a cute, very girly, tea-party look.

In the past few months, I've really fallen in love with the Waldorf/natural playrooms, and Montessori for teaching at home (although I don't technically homeschool, I have a homeschooling heart).

I got the lambswool duster from www.MontessoriServices.com Same with the dust broom, though I realize it's kind of silly to have that in a carpeted playroom.

These are my montessori things for my kiddos.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...9&postcount=78
 
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