Play spaces in small houses- inspire me!

[freestylemama]

Hi Ladies,
We have a very small house (less than 1k sf). As our LO grows, I feel like the entire thing is turning into a playroom. Our daughter has her own (9x8) room where some of her toys are, but many of her playthings are now in their own corner of the living room. She has a gorgeous dollhouse and a play kitchen that we made her for Christmas. She also has two toy baskets, random huge plastic toys she's taken in from the yard or basement, a couple of shelves for puzzles, random block baskets and vehicles. . . ugh! I know that if we had a larger house, she would probably have a normal amount of toys- the space makes it seem like we have so many toys.

How do other small house parents deal with keeping their houses? Should we just embrace it and turn the entire house into a play land?

If anyone has pictures to share of how they've dealt with this, I would really appreciate it.

We already rotate toys out. I'm not really open to getting rid of her toys, but storage solutions and other tips are very appreciated.

I always feel so inspired when I see other people's spaces and solutions, especially in small spaces. We're going to move next year, but in the mean time, I'm interested in any help I can get.

Thanks!

[chely7425]

No pics but I have found multipurpose furniture is key! For example, books get stored on the shelf below our TV and puzzles go on one side of the tv stand(our tv stand is a middle table like bit for the TV with 2 side towers) and we have baskets on the other tower that hold baby toys like soft rattles. We have a toy box that doubles as a coffee tables... that sort of thing. Our main living area definitely becomes playland throughout the day but it all has a place so it can be cleaned up and de-toyed when we need it to

[freestylemama]

Thanks for your response! I like the idea of multi-purpose furniture. I think I could rearrange some books and make more toy space.

I'm also going to send some of the big stuff outside when it stops raining.

[zoebird]

yeah, i would just make sure it integrates with the furniture.

it might also be helpful to spread it out. EG, play kitchen in or near the kitchen; "house" stuff in the living room; whatever like that.

other than that, i would recommend a declutter--but you aren't interested in that. we have very few toys for our DS, so it keeps it simple.

[OkiMom]

Our apartment seems huge to me but its about the same size. It has a TON of closet space though and I like to utilize the closet space for toys. My daughters' entire closet is actually her toy set up. Heres a link to my blog when I cleaned it up recently . Its taken a while to get a set up that works but this works ok. It needs to be redone though since the girls are really hard on the cloth baskets I got and are ripping them up (they are REALLY hard on things). I do keep toys to a minimum, I go for quality over quantity.
I just redid part of her room though so it looks different now. I find that you really need to play with it until you find a workable solution. Oh and both have small baskets in the living room where they can keep some toys but nothing over what fits in those baskets. If its anything more it either has to be oked by me/DH or it goes back into the bedroom.
My girls are 3 and 1, they are pretty good at following these rules. Its harder on my 3 year old since they are newer to her, my 1 year old has only known it this way so its pretty much every day business to her.

[CowsRock]

Our house is about 675 square feet so I can totally relate to feeling like the whole place is a play area, but at the same time it feels pretty manageable to us. Our main room is the living room and people have commented that it looks like a play room, it is the room we do our main hanging out in though so I guess we can't figure out why it shouldn't look like a play room. My husband built this kind of bridge thing that fits in front of our picture window and there is some storage under that, and our main storage is a piece of furniture from IKEA that has four compartments for stuff and the top is mostly reserved as a play surface. Then we have two small bookcases. I'll try to take pictures. But really there is a play space in pretty much every room. His play kitchen is in our dining room. I'm desperately trying (and by trying I mean I think about it a lot ) to clean out our office so that I can organize his things in here, stuff like his art supplies and easel will end up in the office and a small table for him to sit at.

Our house has two "closets", one tiny one in the "foyer" and an open one in the bathroom, they are barely big enough to handle the storage they are meant for...coats and bathroom stuff. Our house also doesn't really have rooms...we have two interior doors, the one that goes down to the cellar (only good for storage, not living) and the one for the bathroom. So while our main level does have door frame type openings between rooms, there are no doors...so I guess you could say we have play stuff in each area that kind of mimics what we adults are doing in each area. Our upstairs is just one "big" space with super slanted ceilings (lots of head banging until we got used to it), we put up a gate so it is kind of divided into two spaces, our sleeping space (for the whole family) and then another space. The other space used to be where our dog slept and ate, but she passed away not too long ago. We have another piece of IKEA furniture that used to be our tv stand that we are converting into a train table and it will be moved up there...unfortunately that area is another place I'm desperately trying to clean up. The sleeping area only has some of his books, he does bring a few toys up each night but we are always sure to take them back down in the morning.

I will say that living in a small space has so far taught my son that it is a good idea to put something away before moving on to the next thing. It has also helped me to keep our toys at a really reasonable level. I agree with the posted who said you kind of have to just live with it and then try something new...I'm often rearranging and am always on the look out for the "even more perfect" container or basket. And sometimes I have that moment of, ahhhh it all has a home and then my husband comes home with one more car he found in his stash in the garage. But seriously, I do find it is a fluid thing, I just keep trying new things and find new uses for whatever containers I have around, and sometimes watching where my son thinks something should go will give me an organizational idea. The hardest thing for me is we have a Waldorf type play stand and for one thing it just doesn't fit anywhere, but even worse is looking at it empty, all I can think about is things like all the containers I could put on the shelves, or all the books that would fit there, etc...but when I watch him play with it and decide how to use it all of that melts away.

I think how our kids play really makes a difference too...for us a play surface is really important for my son's play, so our organizational choices have made that our top priority. Our living room certainly won't win us any interior decorating awards, but it works for our son. And all I need from my living room is a comfy couch to read a book or take a nap, so I'm good!

[freestylemama]

Thanks everyone! OkiMom, I really like those shelves. We have one shelf in DD's room that's similar to that. I never thought to do a tower type thing- do they connect? If so, where did you get them?

We really don't have that many toys- the issue really is that the space is so small. I think perhaps like CowsRock I should just embrace the idea that it's okay- we have a child and she has toys. I want her to have toys and fun spaces. Most of her toys are really nice- it's not like the place is swimming with massive plastic light up toys or anything. Almost all of her toys are open-ended and stimulating. The issue really is just space- our house is also very old so the closets are tiny and few.

I'm really interested in the bridge that was built- that sounds really neat.

[OkiMom]

They actually don't connect. They are small bookcases stacked on top of each other. Im ok with them not connecting since DH can climb on them without them falling over. Once we move to a more permenant location (we leave here soon, within 6-8 months) Ill probably bolt them to the wall.
I got them at a local home improvement store, Mackmens, but since I live in Japan Im not sure how much help that can be.

[MamaFern]

i feel like this in my current house.. everywhere is kid space and we have no adult space to speak of..

my plan, because we are currently fixing up our new house, which we move into in june..is this:

*toy rotation (we have done this in the past with great success.. in my home it mean that things actually get played with more and there is a lot less clutter)

*toys stay in bedrooms and when brought into the main house and left around they each have a basket (in the kitchen/dining room) with their name on it which is where i/ they will clean things up into and they can take back and empty into their rooms.

* we take to our new house only what we really love and need and nothing more (most of what we have is pretty nice, i keep things going out of the house on a regular basis..but still it accumulates fast it seems)

*storage & organization is key. in my current house we never really got there. its a rental and i knew it would be short term and i never really felt the draw to get it all fixed up just to leave it IYKWIM. but now that we are moving into our own home! it makes me want everything to be just so.

*specific kid space in living room rather than whole space being their playroom. Our new house has a closet that was turned into a little sitting nook with a platform/foam mattress. I have painted it and plan to hang long curtains, put up fairy lights and some rain gutter bookshelves and other shelves / artwork to make their own special magical spot. There is room under the platform for baskets of baby toys that i like to keep in the communal space for when friends with little ones come to play (plus we are expecting in the fall) we already love this place and its not even done up yet. it has the best view in the house of the wood stove as well, so it will make a super cozy spot for us to snuggle in the winter and its even long enough for an adult to sleep in if necessary. i have a feeling my kids are going to want to sleep in there most nights

I am also building a simple kitchen island kind of thing that the kids can sit at but not be in the kitchen when im cooking because its one thing that drives me crazy in my current house. the kitchen is tiny and they are always underfoot or pulling up chairs to see what im doing. this way they can see and be involved but be safe and not underfoot. I plan to make shelves with baskets/boxes under the counter top part for some homeschooling supplies/art supplies because this i think will be where we do most of our homeschooling since we dont have a separate room for that. I find the kitchen/dining room the best spot anyways, if you can keep it well organized and tidy.

i gues sim just rambling but i hope maybe some of my suggestions help you.
its a journey trying to have a home that is kid friendly & adult friendly as well.

ETA: my house, no mater what, is completely child centered. we have a nature table in almost every room and waldorfy artwork on the walls, and there is a low table in the living room for the kids to play/use. The need for having the house be less of a complete playground comes from my DP more than me, though i do enjoy a tidy space to sit and relax once in a while. I think that you can make any space functional for multi-ages as well as fun and colorful and comfy.

[[e-mail]]

We have a small place too (650 sq ft), no closests, and not much wall space (our living room has a large window on one wall, doors on two walls, and wood heater and stairs on the other "wall").

I second the multipurpose furniture suggestion. We use an old wooden truck for our coffee table/extra toys or blankets in the winter. I keep the big toys outside and have small and medium toys stored in wood boxes or baskets (we have a two year old boy so lots 'o trucks!!!) We have a tall book shelf against one wall with a little end table tucked in the corner. I store toys under the end table. We found a tall cabnent that DH took the doors off of and we use the bottom shelf for storing the wood toy boxes (2) and then the upper part for movies, stereo, and t.v. (on top). We have an old waist high stand that stores our records and I put a small book shelf on top of that. We keep kids books there, puzzles, and extra movies.

I guess my other helpful advice would be to maximize your wall space and don't forget above the windows (we have tons of books so to clear room on the tall book shelf for DS I took an old board and two book shelf wall mounts and made a shelf for books above the window).

Small spaces are great opportunities to teach kids to put things away before pulling out something new. With the box/basket system he can empty a box and then easily fill it back up again before emptying out another one. Filling it back up becomes part of the game too

Our small living room is secondary to the small 10x10 space that houses our bathroom (toliet, tub/shower)...washer and dryer...dressers...desk/office space (we have a home office)...shelves for towels, "medicine cabinent", extra tools.... we jokely tell people that we really have an 9 room house packed into 4 rooms!

[minta]

We have (almost) 4 kids. They share a huge bedroom that has a lot of their toys in it. Then we have a family room that is dedicated to craft / study / play. There's no coffee table in there and it's amazing how much space that frees up as the kids just do what they like on the floor in the middle of the room and then it all gets packed up into baskets and put on shelves at the end of the day.

In saying that, I like to have a play "station" in each room, rather than a playroom as such. I like my kids to feel like this is their home, and it brings me pleasure to see things they love in amongst our "adult" things. The key for me is to minimize crap and just have nice toys that are good quality and aesthetically pleasing. We are Waldorf-inspired at home, so my children's toys blend well with the rest of our belongings and I don't mind seeing them around.

[caiesmommy]

Ds's room is WAY to small to hold much toys. Right now he has a table and chair set that FIL made him for xmas in there, and its not getting much use sadly.
Dd's room is bigger(was our old room) but still doesn't hold toys right now.

Our diningroom has a small(I MEAN SMALL) alcove with a large window(the only window in the diningroom) and a radiator. There's a wall of built in cupboards. The bottom shelves are toys, the middle upper shelves are craft supplies, the open shelves are baskets of yarn. The top closed shelves are stored presents for upcoming holidays.

I don't know what I would do w/out it. I'm guessing I'd have to buy a toy box..but I dont really want to think about how I would store the craft supplies...though they are nicely stored in those plastic veggie trays frm the grocery store that I stole frm MIL

BUT that doesnt mean the floor is clear, I still have a melissa and doug kitchen, little people house/farm. A large toy piano and BIG trucks ect on the floor. And a smaller tupperwear container of toys.

If I had a choice I would LOVE a trunk coffee table for the family area to store some toys in. And when ds grows out of his toddler bed Im wanting a loft bed with storage as well.

[ikesmom]

I think that it is hard to be organized if the child is still in the grab everything off the shelf stage or the lets try on every garment in the house stage I don't limit my kids too much on space because we don't have a good yard to play in yet.

I keep envisioning a nicely organized house , but my kids like to hang out in the living room and would not stay in a separate play room. My kids have a craft table in the kitchen with toys underneath in bins. They have totes that they drag out with legos and cars ect. They can be put away when they are done.

If you like to see your child's things out on display then you can designate a bookcase shelf or table for those items in each room.

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/h...?click=main_sr

That is a tour , but the surfaces are low and I can see a little girl playing with her little treasure collections on the cabinet by the lamp. Easy to put some dress up clothes under in drawers or bins. Maybe lower the mirrors to child level. Instead of fancy pictures..child framed art. If you let little ones pick out items to help decorate the home they feel like it is more their space too. White would never make it at my house..but kid pillows on our couch..a sleeping bag on the baby mattress in the corner by the window with some books on the sill. A shelf on our bookcase in the family room with their little favorites is enough without a room full of toys. You can also buy some fabric and sew little book bags out of fabric with handles. Each bag can have something like blocks, dolls, art supplies, ect. Hang the bags on hooks in hallway or closet.

Before we moved into our current house we lived in a house with a large outdoor patio. We had an old dresser full of toys and a rug on the patio. I had to sweep and vacum it daily , but it kept the clutter away from the inside view.

[PenelopeJune]

I'll probably delete my links in a couple days, but here's my kids' room. We live in a 600 sq foot house, and my kids (boy, 4 and girl, 2) share a room. Their only toys are in their room. We also live on 3 acres so they are outside a lot. I do keep all their books in the living room, in an enclosed cabinet.


My daughter is in front of her play kitchen that my husband made. The primary-colored cart holds Mr. Potato Head parts, legos/blocks, and matchbox-type cars.



Another view of the room. The little shelf between the beds is usually either completely empty because the kids pulled every toy off, or totally full with tea party fixings.


The rest of their toys are in the laundry basket beside the dresser.

In short, my kids have very few toys. There are a few things out in the garage that we rotate in on occassion. My son has a ton of car track stuff in a box that we bring in the house every few weeks, then when he's bored we take it back out.

[RollerCoasterMama]

I keep meaning to do pics...maybe tomorrow after I get it cleaned again. But I moved from a home with a nice big light family room to a much smaller home. I put DS's playstand with the kitchen in one corner of the living room. I have 2 short book-shelves side by side and my tv on top of it. (It's pretty small.) I already had several lined baskets so I use those for DS's blocks and things. The items on the shelves are neat and sort of "on display". When it looks cluttered, I thin them. That's how I've been dealing with all of his toys. So in the living room, he's got the playstand/kitchen corner with some toys in baskets but not too busy. Then the shelf has a basket of blocks, a basket of animals, a bucket of side-walk chalk (we use it on the deck), and another few misc toys. Everything has a place so it looks nice.

Up in his room, the dollhouse I made him (and is RARELY used except for visiting dinosaurs *sigh*), his books, and his stuffed animals. I have to thin the stuffed animals pretty regularly. I avoid the ones he LOVES and the new ones, but I'm trying to avoid them taking over his room.

Believe me...I know what it's like to have the whole house a playroom! That was a biiiiiiiig perk of converting away from plastic. At least they're pretty! :-D

p.s. It sounds like we're all neat and organized doesn't it? Don't let the description fool you. DS can trash the living room in 30 seconds flat. When he comes home from visiting his dad and discovers that I've *gasp* CLEANED...he's horrified: "MOM! What did you DO with my toys???" But now that there is a place for everything, he is capable of putting them away again, so that helps.

[freestylemama]

I would love to see pics Roller Coaster Mama. It's been nicer here and we've been slowly cleaning our yard so I got some of the big stuff back outside/downstairs in storage and that helped a lot.

I agree that it's nice when their toys are pretty. I'm also trying hard to make sure that when new stuff comes in, old stuff goes. We've always been really deliberate with what we bring into our home, but as she gets older, it seems like there's more plastic and more small bits. She's loving the Playmobil toys now, and I like that they have a lot of active girls (so many little people are guys), but they definitely present a storage issue.

She's also really into playing with this big basket of beans. I put it on a tray with some scoops and cups and asked her to play with it on the tray. She keeps making us food and serving it all over the house, so it's definitely a new clean challenge. It's great though. She's totally delighted and I don't feel right about telling her how to play so right now we're just having nightly bean clean time . I think she's more into the $4 worth of dried beans than anything else we have.

[Juvysen]

[RollerCoasterMama]

Pics!
The living room play area. This is where we hang out the most. Yes, the living room is child-centric, but it's just him and I. And I took as much pleasure in making/selecting his toys as he gets in playing with them. So I enjoy seeing them!

On the shelves, the little basket is musical instruments. Then on the bottom, one is animals and another is blocks. Under the playstands, there is a basket of felt food, one of balls, and one of random little things that need a home.

Here is his room.
Another view
And another.

There is one bin of puzzles in a closet and a handful of things I haven't unpacked from a trip to Grandma's. But otherwise, this is it. Honestly, it's still too many, but like I said...I enjoy his toys as much as he does. (p.s. The castle and kitchen stay with me when he's done with them! Oh, and the dollhouse!)

[freestylemama]

That's really lovely! I think we might be good candidates for some play stands someday. I'm trying to use what I have, but storage furniture really makes a difference.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by freestylemama

That's really lovely! I think we might be good candidates for some play stands someday. I'm trying to use what I have, but storage furniture really makes a difference.

One thing I've found with the playstands...when the shelves are full, they don't work as well. In the photos, they're as full as I'm comfortable with. More than that and things are getting knocked off and it just feels super busy. And it seems like my son doesn't like to play in that are as much. He'll just dig in things and throw them around as opposed to really playing. BUT...the great thing is that they make a clearly defined activity zone. There is no question whose space that is! Sometimes we make fabric walls to turn it into a private little nook. But usually, it's just like this. The fact that the space is so well defined is really great. You could use any shelves to carve out a space like that. Or just a rug next to some shelves with baskets of toys.