project overview

We decided it was time to reimagine our playroom — a space that had essentially become a toy storage room, with very little actual playing happening 𝘪𝘯 the space. It needed a serious refresh. And by refresh, I mean a complete and total overhaul.

I had gone back and forth for quite some time about what to do with this room. It was always difficult to keep clean as a playroom, and since it’s also the room we pass through to get upstairs to our primary suite, the constant clutter was driving me a little mad. With our house being small and only having one cozy living room to relax in, I started thinking… 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦? A cozy bed that could function like a sofa, paired with a TV on the opposite wall — it felt like the perfect solution.

So that’s exactly what we did — and now we lovingly refer to the space as “the den.” My kids absolutely love it. I often find them curled up in there relaxing, building forts, or playing with their toys and using their imaginations. And as a bonus, we’ve now been able to host friends and family overnight since it also serves as a guest room!

I took a bit of a design risk by color-blocking the top half of the room and the ceiling, but I think it really paid off. The color (Evergreen Fog by Sherwin-Williams) adds so much warmth and visual interest to the space. My husband and I also built the floating shelves, which provide both function and character, giving us a bit of extra storage in this small room. But my absolute favorite feature has to be the old schoolhouse door we thrifted and turned into a sliding door leading to our primary suite. We sanded it down and left it natural, and it adds the perfect touch of charm.

We truly love spending time in this space now. It’s cozy, functional, and has brought so much peace of mind — definitely a 10/10 for me!