Playroom Organisation.

If you saw my playroom at the moment you wouldn't call it organised but it's something I'm working on, it's a pity my children aren't working on it with me. So what am I going to tell you that you haven't already seen on Pinterest or other blogs. NOTHING. Today I just wanted to share with you what I'm planning on doing in our multi-functional playroom. What I've achieved since I started this project sixteen months ago and how I'm hoping to have it finished before school finishes in December of this year.

Our playroom needs to be multi-functional. At the moment it's nothing more than a dumping ground and an area that the children haven't used since we moved in two years ago. This room needs to work as a play area, homework area, reading area and a chill out zone for all the kids, especially if they want their friends over for a play. Sixteen months ago I had a desk installed to create a homework area that eventually they'll all use once everyone starts school and that's were it I stopped. This year with three children at school the desk isn't being used as it's filled with things from their bedrooms that I uncovered when I decluttered their bedrooms. I've needed to get in there and get the area organised otherwise the kids will be graduating and it'll still look terrible. We're half way through Term 2 and I'd like to have it up and running before Term 3 starts, otherwise it'll be another sixteen months and I'll have four children searching for places to do their homework.

The first thing I decided to work on was creating a storage system and a reading area that would work for our toys and an area for the kids to sit and read. Our playroom is a good size, making it idea for various areas within the zone. The storage system I set up was fairly easy to create, however if I was buying everything new it was have cost us $310.00 and for many families that could be too much money. I was lucky that I already owned two of the Ikea Billy bookcases from our previous house so there were only a few additional items I to buy (minus chalkboard paint) to create our toy storage area.

Our curtains and rug have a heap of different colours in them, the kids love the rug's brightness so I decided to use some of the colours to help make the area fun, playful and timeless. I got rid of the toys that the kids no longer played with, those that were broken and any others that didn't fit within the criteria. I found some MDF coasters and fabric storage boxes at my local hardware store so that I could create labels for each cube.

The labels were a simple process of drilling a hole into each coaster, painting each side of the coaster with my chalk paint. Each coaster got one coat of paint and this took a while as I had to wait for one side to dry completely so that I could paint the other side. Once the paint was completely dry (I let them cure for 2 days) I then used my chalk to write on each label. I then cut lengths of black sheer ribbon and narrow white ribbon and threaded them through the holes I'd drilled earlier. To attach each label to the storage box I just tired the ribbon around the handle a few times and then I tied a bow or knot depending on the ribbons colour.

So the entire make over of this area cost me $130 which wasn't too bad but if I wanted to reduce the cost a bit I could have used less boxes or waited for them to go on sale. I paid $5 for each box but later found out that when the hardware store has too much stock they go on sale for $3.60 each so I could have saved myself a bit of money. 

Overall, for a minimal amount of effort I'm really happy how things came together in this section of the room. The kids can now find toys they want and they we know which books are there for reading which saves Daddy from reading the same story every night. I'm now hoping that within the next 6 months I can find a chair for the kids to sit and read on, some art for the wall and a few cushions to make it comfortable when reading. 

Megan