Do not give up hope on old built-ins because removal is not always the answer. The homeowner of this vintage home decided to refinish a special feature the home already possessed to create a play nook for her child’s toys. The unique cubbies house books, blocks, stuffed animals, and baskets filled with goodies. You can elevate the wall space above a bench cubby like this with a map of the United States like the one here, or a world map if you’re looking for something that represents a grander view.
28 Small Playroom Ideas for Creativity and Exploration
Written by
July 18, 2023
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Being a child is all about exploring the world around you in a way that is stimulating, creative, and safe. Having a space to do that is of the utmost importance, and these small playroom ideas demonstrate that creating an area where this is possible isn’t as challenging as you may think. Toys can be messy, bulky, and difficult to store, but with the right collection of cubbies, shelves, bins, and baskets, you will never know that the toys are even there!
The designers of the homes below have used their most efficient thinking caps to create play areas in lofts, dens, closets, bedrooms, and bonus rooms that store their child’s most treasured possessions. While organization is key, having an aesthetic that matches your family’s personality is equally important. Don’t let those pesky messes control your thoughts any longer. Let the designs collected here get your ideas flowing to make your child’s special space a magical place to learn and explore.
02 of Cottage Nursery and Playroom
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This old English home has been revitalized by this adorable nursery and playroom, perfect for a set of little girls. A plush patterned rug filled with polka dots, hearts, and stars lays at the foot of a reading teepee that was created to act as a reading den for after-school reading. At the back of the room is an exposed brick wall with curtains, accentuating the cottage goodness of the room beside a traditional rocking chair and crib corner. This room exemplifies how you can easily combine a nursery with an older child’s play area.
03 of Personalized Playroom With Cubbies
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Do you have adorable photographs of your children that are itching to be put on display? A playroom is the perfect place to do that! The photographs above are black in white and surrounded by bright white frames. Sconces were added above to illuminate their cute little faces and spotlight the array of toys below.
04 of Playroom With Painted Mural
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If you’d like to try your hand at painted murals, this rainbow arch is a simple yet modern way to decorate your playroom without painting the entire wall. Above a plastic cubby shelf is a light mint-colored arch painted featuring a playful message. Hanging letters help you personalize your play space, and can be changed out periodically as your children grow.
05 of Neutral Aesthetic Small Playroom Ideas
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A playroom sits front and center in this home, which is why it needed to be a neutral space that could sit on display. The designer selected a combination of tan, brown, and gray to be the color palette for the room. A large shelf with multiple cubbies and storage cabinets stands off to the side of the room on tan and white striped wallpaper. Beside the petite sofa on the back wall is a kid’s art table. This furniture piece has been specifically designed for children’s art with its protective top and bottom shelf for storing art supplies, a perfect addition to your home if you have artsy children.
06 of Twelve Cube Corner Shelf
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In a room that is short on floor space, a tall 12-cube cubby like this one can hold all of your child’s favorite toys. The faces of the collapsable fabric bins are all different, adding a little bit of character and pizazz to the typical neutrally colored baskets. Colors, patterns, and artistic images are good for a child’s brain development, and what better way to incorporate these elements than within your organizational method? We say that there is none.
07 of Play Area in Toddler Bedroom
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The play area in this little boy’s room is confined to a corner featuring another popular teepee and a shelf with books and miscellaneous toys. One of the cutest features of the room is the toy T-Rex skull that rests on top of the shelf next to a decorative gray lamp. The white bins that hold all of the toys give the illusion of organization while embracing the chaos that is little kids. What’s most important in a playroom is that the toys are accessible, and this photograph captures that perfectly.
08 of Loft Space Small Playroom Design
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If you’re fortunate enough to have a loft in your home, they make great areas for playrooms. This neutral space represents all that your loft could be with a petite loveseat bench, an ultra-popular teepee, and a television stand featuring a standard flat-screen TV. A Bohemian-style ottoman beside the couch makes a great seat for mom or dad to play on, and the small high windows ensure the glass stays free of wandering dirty fingerprints.
09 of Small Playroom With Functional Window Seat
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In this little boy’s bedroom, a functional play area was created with the use of a window seat. In the cubbies below are multiple baskets that can keep toys clean, organized, and away from view until they are needed. Bins like these will always be an amazing storage hack, and the fact that the furniture doubles as a seat is equally as impressive. A circular polka-dot rug lays in the center of the floor beside a bright blue dresser that casts a happy glow over the entire room.
10 of Small Multi-purpose Room With Toy Storage
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- thesewildflowerwalls
Playrooms can be anything they want to be, usually because they occupy a bonus room in the home. This space is great for arts and crafts, reading, or playtime. The table in the corner designed for little children creates a quaint sitting area under a wall of personalized artwork. The wicker basket at the forefront of the photo is an ideal way to store toys and books while typically taking up less room than a shelf. They fit perfectly at the foot of a bed, in a corner, or centered on an area rug.
11 of Color-coded Book Shelves
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This playroom branches off of the living room to create a perfect little scene with matching bookshelves, a hanging rope analog clock, and an art table at the forefront of the photograph. If you find yourself with a lot of books on your hands, color-coordinating them on a shelf is a way to create a bright and cheery look while remaining functional. The small animal images on the top of the shelves are a nice touch to the juvenile space but tie in beautifully with living room furniture.
12 of Small Boy’s Playroom Storage
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This gray playroom has been curated to look very clean and organized. The corner hosts a blanket ladder with gray blankets of various tones and textures. On the floor are two oversized straw baskets, great for storing action figures and oversized toys that don’t fit well into square bins. Against the wall is a shelf with collapsable fabric bins in stripes and gingham print.
13 of Exposed Neutral Play Corner
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Sometimes the only place for toys is in your main living area. If that’s the case, make them pretty! An oversized white canvas sign hangs over an aesthetically pleasing play kitchenette beside a kid-sized grocery cart. The top of the toy refrigerator is accompanied by a vase of green branches for a bit of a decorative edge. The neutral space blends in with the remainder of the room, creating a play area that is accessible, functional, and cohesive.
14 of Playroom and Kid’s Office Space
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As your kids grow, they’ll need not only a play space but somewhere to do their homework that is free from distraction. This room was converted into a space that could accommodate both with a long table that extends the length of the window wall. Two shelves stand as the leg supports on both sides to accommodate art supplies, and a floor basket divides the space between two barstools. There is still plenty of room on the floor to play, but the desk setup is meant to accommodate more studious endeavors.
15 of Small Playroom Ideas in Storage Den
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Sometimes the most ingenious designs come from finding all of the unused corners of your home. That is precisely what was done with the storage area in this home’s upstairs den that wasn’t being utilized to its full potential. A soft carpet fills this narrow room and creates the perfect floor for all kinds of toys. A bookshelf, a toy shelf, and a distressed cubby filled with little knick-knacks decorate the walls of the room with an elegant floral touch in the form of hanging wall baskets above.
16 of Little Kid Bohemian Play Corner
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Not every home is built to have an entire room designated for toys. If you’re short on square footage, turn the corner of your child’s room into a play space. The homeowner used the wall space adjacent to a moody moon wallpaper to hang her child’s artwork with twine and clothespins. For toy storage, a collection of stair-stacked bins rests against the moon wall. These are great for storing toys with lots of parts and pieces that are easily lost on the carpet.
17 of Bohemian Teepee Setup
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Teepees make great reading nooks. They are quiet, cute, and the perfect size for little bodies. This nook is equipped with a Southwestern-style rug, striped and patterned pillows, a small shag area rug, and a knitted ottoman. The vibe is very Bohemian, and the foliage coming out of the teepee just adds to that. The light gray wall behind the play area adds to the calming feeling that this corner oasis creates.
18 of Modern Small Playroom Ideas for Girls
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Wallpaper is so popular right now, and what better place for it than in a girl’s playroom? The contrasting pattern of the striped area rug against the polka-dot wall is so cute. Colorful rainbows have been added to the mix to match the ABC poster on the wall. If you’d like to add a dollhouse to your playroom but do not have a lot of extra floor space, consider mounting a frame on the wall that can double as a shelf or playhouse.
19 of Small Playroom Ideas for a Little Girl
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This entire room has been designated for magical girly playtime. Sheer white curtains keep the room light and bright for play any time of day. Painted gray walls are home to sunflowers and bumble bee stickers, and toys both large and small surround the corners of the room, keeping the center space clean. To protect your little ones’ bodies as they play on the floor, a rug and carpet combo will not only protect the carpet but also had extra cushion for moving around.
20 of Playroom at Grandma’s House
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Even Grandma’s house needs a space to play! The walls are painted in two tones, white and mint. On the wall is a DIY house frame made of small planked wood that sets the tone for the entire space. Toys are scattered around the floor, perfect for easy playtime, and on the wall are three floating bookshelves that showcase a library of children’s books for day or nighttime reading.
21 of Neutral Playroom With DIY Alphabet Garland
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The most creative element of this play space is the alphabet garland that hangs on the wall above a kid’s sofa. The letters are decorated by the children, similar to a collage, for them to look at and admire any time of the year. Plus, it’s a great art project that anyone would enjoy. Next to the sofa is a small bookshelf with color-coded books, a darling doll house, and a framed canvas of the children that live in the home.
22 of Living Room Corner Play Area
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The great thing about babies is they don’t take up very much space, so this corner of the living room is the perfect place for a toy setup. A washable cushion play mat with black markings lays pairs beautifully with the black and white artwork that rests on the cubby shelf, a phenomenal hack if you don’t have carpet or a rug to cover your sturdy floors. Eight wicker baskets are filled with toys tucked away from view, and the color was specifically chosen to accentuate the gorgeous hardwoods that lay underneath the play area.
23 of Colorful Game Room
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Game rooms are for everyone, and in a family with older children, they can be a great place to spend time with your teenagers and get to know their friends. This space is equipped with a ping pong table, bar seating for eating and games, and two decorative shelves. Areas like this work great in homes that have basements or large rec rooms that need filling.
24 of Mobile Basket for Toy Storage
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Taupe walls and white drapes surround the windows in this playroom. To make toy storage more functional, consider selecting mobile storage baskets to make cleaning up easier. Wood flooring is topped with a colorful patterned rug. A wooden armchair is wedged between the windows.
25 of Upstairs Loft Girly Playroom
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A white kitchenette against a blush wall sets the scene for a magical playspace perfect for little girls. On the wall are three hanging shelves with a collection of books dedicated to the history of iconic women around the world. Reinvent this in your home by finding a set of floating bookshelves and equipping them with your child’s favorite author or series.
26 of Modern Minimalist Toy Room Design
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This modern minimalist toy room features a white cubby cabinet filled with light wood storage bins and carefully placed books. An alphabet tapestry occupies the wall and modern accents are placed on top of the toy organizer. A wood table with chairs is placed in front of the window. A large textured area rug occupies the floor and tall greenery stands in the corner.
27 of Toy Organization Ideas for Toy Room
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This delightful toddler toy room features a light wood cubby toy organizer filled with various items, a small wooden play oven, and a rose beanbag chair accessorized with plush animals. Framed prints adorn the two-tone painted wall and rose flags are hung near the ceiling, A round braided rug lies on the floor in front of the toy organizer with a small mattress layered on top. A window fitted with blinds bathes the space with bright natural light and light wood flooring runs throughout.
28 of White Playroom Ideas
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A white teepee decorated with a faux fur rug and white and black pillows sit in the corner of this playroom. A white play kitchen is placed against a white shiplap wall with a decorative gold mirror hanging on the wall above. A wicker basket and small white chair and table accessorize the space.
