Decorating and Design - Playroom Decorating

I have no ideas on how to decorate a play room for my son. Here's the problem- it's the formal living room (which we would not use otherwise) and is open to the foyer all along one side and the dining room on an adjacent side. The room is fairly large- 21' x 17' and I want it to be fun for kids and adults to hang out in and to grow with my son (he's one). We currently have a sofa and love seat, end table, and huge toy box in the room. However, the couches are going to my brother soon, so I will basically have no furniture. I don't want to close the room off from the rest of the house, but also don't want clutter and toys to be the first thing you see when you walk in the house. The walls are a warm beige. Any ideas would be appreciated.

It took me a little while to think this one through but I do have some ideas. But before I start spouting off, I would like to know if my ideas are still needed. Let me know.

Yes, I would love to hear your ideas. I have come up with a few of my own- I think I will buy one large sofa, a table to put a small TV/VCR on, as well as several pint sized bean bag chairs, and large pillows. I'm still not convinced this is the best solution.

My ideas center on the kids. I thought you could think of the room as an indoor playhouse. Everything would be scaled down to their size. divide the room into rooms so they have their own house.

Storage can be found in colorful containers that can be hidden by fabric coverings like a table cloth when not in use. If you want chairs for adults set them off into the corner away from the main play area. You can use screens that can hide what ever part you do not want to be seen. To keep the kids off your new sofa put the screen in front of it. When the kids are not playing, you can expose the adult furniture and conceal the kids toys that can not be covered in any other way. Screens are used all the time to conceal parts of rooms or clutter all the time. They add a very decorative touch to any room.

Another thing that you can do is think of the entry into the room as a window. Dress it as one, ie: drapes that can be pulled off to the sides and closed when not in use.

The walls can be painted to create a fantasy like a castle or cottage even a garden or barn. Make it fun and you won't want to hide it. Everyone will be talking about what you did for your kids and it won't be putting it down, far from it.

Let me know what you think of these ideas and how you used them. I like to hear if I was able to help. If these don't work for you tell me why they don't so I can make new suggestions according to your feed back.

I do like the ideas of child-sized furniture and dividing the room into different areas. I think I might go with a barn theme. I am currently refinishing several kid's chairs with bright colors and a table with a chalkboard top. I am going to get a small bookcase and make a little "reading" area with pillows and a child's rocking chair in one corner. I don't think screens or draperies would work very well because the dining room is open with a huge arch and the entry is actually part of the room. And I don't want to lose the open feel of the house. The layout is very difficult to describe. Is there anyway to attach a digital picture to these posts? I'm very excited about this project, but also completely overwhelmed (and obsessed).

Another idea that my wife suggested is to paint characters and scenes on the walls of your children's favorite nursery rhymes. The kids would love this and adults would get a kick out of seeing these images from their own childhood. You could probably buy patterns at a craft store or could draw your own and use an overhead projector to transfer them to your walls. Good luck with your project.

Animal themes seem to be popular right now, and can transition from very formal to casual easily. You could use animal print large pillows and stuffed animals (tigers, zebras, lions, etc) as accents with basically any solid colored furniture (suggest dark, brick red). This would allow your son to feel at home while adults could, too!

Thanks for all your help! I finally have a plan for the room. I'm buying a large, overstuffed denim sofa for adults to supervise locating it with the back against the entry to divide the room. And my plan is to build a playroom inside the playroom- with 4x8 sheets of plywood and putting shelves on side for a small tv/vcr and a small bench on the opposite side with a little door in the center. I'll complete the room with a chalkboard topped table and chairs, toy box, and a little reading area with a bookcase and pillows. The theme is transportation, since several of the items in the room already match. I can't wait to get started!