How to Create a Pinterest-worthy Playroom on a Budget

Building a perfect playroom is about creating an inspiring space for your child to learn and grow. Think of it as the canvas for both you and your child’s imagination. Pinterest is a popular internet site that allows users to organize their artistic visions by posting project ideas, products and visual inspirations on digital boards. Check out the unique ideas below to create afunctional and fun playroom that you would be proud to share with family and friends on Pinterest.

Pick a Theme

Themed playrooms charm adults and kids alike. For children, themed rooms are a way to imagine themselves in a favorite setting; for adults, it is a visual treat. Keep themes broad to encourage kids to use the space in new, creative ways. An animal theme, for example, lets you incorporate stuffed toys and decorations in a playroom that could be a zoo, a circus tent or a veterinarian’s office to an imaginative child. The broader your theme, the easier it is to fit new items into it.

Toddlers and older kids will often give you all the inspiration you need for your theme. An artistic child might appreciate a playroom modeled from an artist’s studio with blackboard walls and colored chalk. Blackboard paint is economical, easy-to-clean and totally Pinterest-worthy when you and your child work together on a masterpiece. Use your own artistic flair to paint a pretty border near the ceiling to keep the room looking cheerful and bright.

If your little one has a flair for the dramatic, turn the playroom into a mini theater with a curtain rod and fabric drapes flanking a space that could become a puppet show or a songbird’s stage. Tie in storage areas with matching curtains that conceal shelving or storage bins. Pinterest has some great suggestions for how to create your own stage in a range of budgets and styles.

Make Room to Grow

Playrooms need plenty of storage. By building more storage than you need, you leave space for future favorite toys and games. Having a place for everything also teaches kids important lessons about picking up after themselves. Toys can only be put away when there’s somewhere for them to be stored.

Finding efficient and attractive ways to use vertical storage space is the key to maximizing space in a playroom. Use walls to display art and hold shelving. This wall of photos from HGTV.com shows how appealing groups of frames can be. Adapt that idea for the playroom with grouped, wall-mounted crates and pegs for everything from dress-up clothes to buckets of building blocks. Wooden and plastic crates can affordably go beyond utilitarian with a simple coat of paint and a few stencils or decals that match the theme.

A banquet-style playtable can also double as a storage area. Instead of using kiddie chairs, use the same boxes mentioned above and turn the open side of the box out. Books, toys and coloring sets can be placed in the open space, making it function for the kids and pretty to look at for the adults.

Leave Open Space

Open space is important for a functional playroom. Aside from a few essentials, kids don’t need much in the way of playroom furniture. Instead, leave plenty of open floor space for creating racetracks, building block towers and practicing pirouettes.

Open space doesn’t have to be bare. Carpet tiles, such as these featured in TLC’s Parentables site, add color, texture and pattern. Set your imagination free and paint your own canvas floor cloth for the playroom. Stencil, stamp or paint freehand with fabric paints or dyes, and then protect the cloth with a waterproof sealant. For pattern inspirations, look at quilts and copy their patterns on your cloth.

A great way to maximize open floor space in a play area is with a Murphy table. It works on the same principle as the Murphy bed, folding against the wall when not in use, but it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to build with a few lengths of wood, a flat surface and two pairs of hinges. Some designs even use the legs of the table as part of a picture frame when it’s fastened to the wall. This is one idea that’s practical for the playroom and pretty enough to borrow for other rooms of the house.

You don’t need a master-bedroom budget to create a fun, creative and practical playroom. Use these tips to let your creativity soar and your child can enjoy a Pinterest-worthy playroom that is personalized just for them.

-Kate Reusink, on behalf of Richmond American Homes, a new home builder in Colorado