Chickie’s Fun and Functional Playroom

We moved into #CasaRice in November of 2015 when I was pregnant with Chickie. I normally HATE moving but this time around- thanks to  the best excuse to not lift a finger- it wasn’t so bad. We moved from a two bed to a three bed so our Panama family could still stay with us once baby arrived and thus would visit more often! ☺️

In typical South Boston fashion, our apartment tall and skinny. We have three floors of living space, which sounds MUCH larger than it really is. The third floor is just this little sun-room (above) and a deck. It took me a while to figure out what to do with this space. For months and months after we moved in, the third floor was the yoga room- completely empty with the #handsomehubbs yoga mat smack in the middle- nooot the best look 😂😂 BUT keep in mind we moved in November- right before winter time- so we hardly ever went up there. Who wants a roof deck in 30 degree weather? Not this hot blooded Panamanian..

Fast forward to when Soph was around 6 months old and I KNEW we needed a playroom because well, I reaaally like my living room. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably noticed that in 90% of my #instastories at home I’m hanging in the living room. As soon as Chickie became mobile her little toys and gadgets were everywhere! I knew I wanted her to have a space in the house where that’s OK- I just didn’t’ want to hang out IN that mess every night, ya know?

I wanted Chickie’s playroom to be BRIGHT and FUN but I also wanted it to be FUNCTIONAL. Striking that balance was my biggest challenge when setting up this space. That and staying on budget but what’s new!?

It was important for me for Chickie’s playroom to grow with her without needing big revamps. For example, I used this activity table from Land of Nod because it’s the perfect height for painting and activities (especially with this attachment for a roll of paper!) now AND it can be used as a desk when she’s taller using just these legs. Cool, right? Also these white strips are magnetic- I’m picturing them covered Chickie’s drawings one day! 😍

Another biggie for me was storage! I wanted big bins that we could just quickly throw toys into, these (pictured above) from Land of Nod come in a ton of colors and work awesome. Also this IKEA couch not only doubles as a bed but has storage under the lounger 😱 This might be the best playroom couch of all time..

For fun and bright elements, my go to stores are Land of Nod, Target and Etsy. ESPECIALLY Etsy! How cute is this explore sign? And ‘Run Wild My Child’? Both Etsy purchases from stores that do custom pieces- in case you want to change it up a bit..  The PLAY letters pictured above and the rainbow mobile in the right hang corner of the photo below are from Etsy as well!  The (TWENTY DOLLAR!!) bear head, the Hip Hip Hooray sign, the Future is Bright frame and the felt tassel garland are all from target. The licence plate is from the #handsomehubbs’ first car EVER- which he still had when we met! The good ol’ Tahoe..  We just had to put it up!

One of my go to ways to personalize/update a room is with throw pillows. The Land of Nod has the BEST throw pillows for kids- so fun and colorful but also really soft, which is a MUST in my book. The good morning pillow above is double sided, on the back it says good night! That and the rainbow pillow are my FAVORITES! I normally buy two or three good quality more expensive throw pillows and add some less expensive ones as filler. For this room, I went to Homegoods and target for the fillers. Can you spot them? The mermaid, big fluffy yellow pillows and “this is my happy place” are all from target.

That’s it! Sophia’s fun and functional playroom. What do you think? Let me know with a comment below! As always, I’ll link to some of my playroom faves below! What room of the house do you want to see next? I’m thinking maybe nursery then living room? I owe you a gallery wall tutorial too.. It’s all coming soon I promise! Until then..