Ideas for nook under the stairs?

[Katielady]

hi all!

So we're settling into our new house, having lived in an apartment before. I'm starting to work on one of the projects I've been so looking forward to: Creating a play space in the nook/storage space under the stairs. It's pretty big, with a little door that you can close. I measured it and it can fit a 3X5 rug. I just vacuumed out all the sawdust and cat hair from previous owners and discovered it has a working outlet- joy! We went to a warehouse home goods sale today and I snagged two round multicolor floor cushions from India, lots of embroidery and sparkles, and I want to use them as my inspiration for the room. I want to create an exotic little play house.

So far I'm thinking I'll remove the door and store it temporarily so that no one can get stuck in there, since my kids are 4 and 2. I'll replace it with a velvet curtain that can be tied back or left closed...that way I feel like they will still have privacy but I can hear them better, and no slammed fingers etc. There are nails from the staircase sticking through into the ceiling of the space. I was thinking to buy some foam batting, and maybe cover that up with some brightly colored sari fabric for a tented look.

Beyond that I'm not sure what to put in there. I have a little cast iron antique stove that was my great-grandma's, I was thinking this might be a good space for pretend play with that. And for lighting maybe some little twinkly lights or lanterns hanging from the ceiling. A shag rug from Target, I've already scoped them out. More cushions as I find them on sale. I'm not sure about the walls...maybe paint one with blackboard paint and have a box of chalk in there? Any other ideas to spark imaginative play and relaxing fun in our new little hideaway?

[LemonPie]

What, you don't want to keep your orphaned wizard nephew in there? Sorry couldn't resist

Honestly, what you've described sounds fabulous! I think I'd maybe try to clip the hanging nails off somehow so they're flush with the ceiling though. I'd be afraid they'd poke through the foam if someone bumped hard enough.

Maybe some play house-ware type things like dishes or a tea set?

[Kim Allen]

lol Ya we are looking at buying a house right now with a nook also. When we viewed the house I said "Look Hunny its harry's room!"

[Katielady]

lol at the harry potter references. I think the same thing! Except that I think I may actually want to sleep in this space myself once I'm done with it.

Play dishes would be great! And maybe we should keep our Harry Potter books in there once the kids are old enough to read them.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by Katielady

There are nails from the staircase sticking through into the ceiling of the space. I was thinking to buy some foam batting, and maybe cover that up with some brightly colored sari fabric for a tented look.

If they banged into the foam hard the nails would poke through. Get a few pieces of plywood cut to size (the bigger hardware stores often offer this service for $0.25 per cut) and put them up as a ceiling.

I have a little cast iron antique stove that was my great-grandma's, I was thinking this might be a good space for pretend play with that.

That is probably an antique salesman sample. They are worth about $1,500-$2,000 (it is hard to sell them ATM though do to the market having been recently flooded with forgeries.) They were never designed to be toys, and were certainly made before modern safety standards about things like lead.

And for lighting maybe some little twinkly lights or lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Make sure they are LCD lights so they stay cool.

[Llyra]

I totally hopped on this thread to post a Harry Potter remark. Too bad you all beat me to it!

[camracrazy]

We have a place like that but it has shelves in it. Maybe I should take all the crap out and fix it up for the kids. Hmmm....

Could you put a half-door on it with a little shelf on top of the door? That would open up a lot of play scenarios!

1) Hang a tension rod up in the top half with two curtains pulled back - puppet theater

2) Grocery store check-out

3) Restaurant order window

4) Post office

5) Drive thru window (fun if they had cars or trikes they could ride in the house!)

Ok, darn, I may just have to clean out ours now!

[Auraji]

I want an under the strairs nook where I can play!

[limabean]

Sounds fun!

Our under-the-stairs closet is our kids' dress-up room. There's a toybox and a row of coathooks in there with all their dress-up clothes in/on them, two beanbags to lounge on, and it's carpeted, lit, and has murals of a farm/outdoors covering all 4 walls. They love it!

The only thing that worries me about your idea is the nails coming through the ceiling. I agree with those who said to either clip those off or cover them with a plywood ceiling -- I wouldn't be comfortable with just foam batting and fabric covering them up.

[pianojazzgirl]

Totally OT...

I had to LOL when I saw the thread title. Dh and I use "nook" as our codename for hmm... shall we say "getting intimate". I guess it's short for "nooky". Made me laugh to see "ideas for nook under the stairs", lol!

[nmcksmith]

We have one of those under the stairs that lead to our basement. The previous owner of our house made it into a cute little play area for the kids. It has a mouse hole type door. There is some shelving to the side and over the mouse hole so it still has some usable storage. Inside, he finished it off with drywall, put in carpeting, and added some shelves to store toys. There is a light and electrical outlet. My kids love climbing in and out of there.

[WindyCityMom]

Originally Posted by pianojazzgirl

Totally OT...

I had to LOL when I saw the thread title. Dh and I use "nook" as our codename for hmm... shall we say "getting intimate". I guess it's short for "nooky". Made me laugh to see "ideas for nook under the stairs", lol!

:

**ahem**

Pictures? I can't really envision it too well. do you have pictures of the cushions?

[BarefootGirl]

Aw this reminds me of my childhood! There was a nook under my best friend's basement stairs. It was walled in cedar board and had a door and a light, but was otherwise empty for years. (Her mom eventually turned it into a closet.) My best friend and I had so much fun decorating the walls with our pictures and drawings and just hanging out in there. It was like our "secret" hideout. We were always building "huts" out of cushions or furniture, but the nook was the best one. Such good times

[limabean]

Originally Posted by pianojazzgirl

Totally OT...

I had to LOL when I saw the thread title. Dh and I use "nook" as our codename for hmm... shall we say "getting intimate". I guess it's short for "nooky". Made me laugh to see "ideas for nook under the stairs", lol!

Ha! Yeah, DH and I don't have any plans for that sort of "nook" in our secret room, but one of the things I said to DH after seeing how tricked-out the closet was when we moved in was, "Uh oh, you know DS will be bringing his girlfriends in here when he's a teenager."

[Linda on the move]

we made ours the ultimate lego room (and referred to it as the Harry Potter room).