A Blue Playroom Designed by Olive & Tate for the One Room Challenge
Having a toddler, I understand the importance of play time. Although we don't have a playroom of our own (we try to make every room workable for our little guy), if we did—I'd surely be taking a cue from this adorable room that would spark the imagination of any tiny brain. From the statement wall to the pops of blue throughout, Olive & Tate designed this sweet space in just six weeks for the One Room Challenge. Tour the full room here in the gallery from Laura Sumrak!
From Olive & Tate... Even though it's been declared a kids only space, our new playroom is the first room you see when you walk in our front door, so it was important to me to create a vibe that was welcoming, fun, playful and bright, while still being stylish and organized. I took on the space for the Spring One Room Challenge, which meant I had six weeks to turn what was a bland living room into a play space fit for both my three year old son and my almost one year old daughter. Add in that we had just moved into our house and the six week timeline seemed like it might be biting off a bit more than I could chew!
I knew I wanted to add pattern and color without the hassle of painting the entire room, so I decided to work with wallpaper for the very first time. The fireplace wall in the new playroom is long and visually takes quite a bit to break up, so I relied on the wallpaper pattern to give it some life. The fireplace itself was also a challenge as it had a brass and glass accordion door fireplace screen that was just begging for a babe to open and then pinch their fingers in. As it turns out, it's really simple to remove those outdated fireplace covers, so with a couple of twists of screwdriver, we removed the heavy doors and I set to work making a DIY cover. To cover the fireplace opening, I spray painted a piece of plywood with chalk board spray paint in a bold blue and used heavy duty velcro strips to mount it to the fireplace tile surround. It serves as the perfect pop of color and artistic backdrop for our IKEA doll house.
Of course, the most important element of any playroom is the toys. My absolute favorite way to store toys is an open bin system that my son can easily access and then use for clean up. The little bins are all from Petit Pehr (in natural pom pom) and I used every single size I could get my hands on. I've noticed that instead of pulling out a thousand toys from the shelves, my big boy will just pull out one basket, dump it out and play with the contents. We keep an empty, larger basket on hand and call it the "clean up basket" for quick clean ups. He runs around and fills the empty basket with whatever is on the floor and we call it a win.
I created little play zones like a reading nook with a book shelf very low to the floor and tons of poufs to snuggle into, an art zone with an easel, tons of supplies and an art display area and each kiddo has a storage shelf just for themselves. Because the room is so large, we used a full size sofa (that has lived a long and happy life in our living room before being sacrificed to the playroom chaos) and used a children's play table and chairs in place of a coffee table and ottoman. The acrylic ghost chairs add adult seating for playdates and can withstand the hurricane force of my babes.
This space is absolutely one that we live in, so it really has to go to work for us, and ultimately I am so pleased that I managed to create a room that I visually love and that my kids can rough house, host play dates and relax in.
Photography: Laura Sumrak | Blogging Event: One Room Challenge | Design Sources: Stephanie, Olive And Tate | Interior Design: Stephanie, Olive And Tate
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