Playrooms?

[samkeddy]

hi again
People with playrooms, are they worth it, a good idea etc?
Me and hubby have been discussing this and debating for ages, we are in a postion where if we now save for a while we will be able to afford a conservatory but i cant decide if this is what i want.

A conservatory wouldnt lead onto garden, it would be another room to tidy, and it would still mean walking through the living room to get to kitchen and toilet.

My living room is large and i can fit plenty in, (2 toy cuboards, rose petal cottage, kids table and chairs, book case and and toy box plus many other loose toys) there all at one side with sofa's and tv to other side, so when iv tidied at night its kinda like 2 seperate area's. I will also soon have a large toy storage room when the hubby has converted out outbuilding.

so what does everyone recon? save for the playroom, or spend the cash

[fiona]

hello, i converted my garage into my play room, it leads off from my living room, i think its great, if the children are mid game when its home time i can close the door and it is all still the same in the morning, also i have my house back for my family, my parents love it all the children have their own little world it was designed and built with them in mind and has been well worth the money!!

all i would say is... if you can keep going the way you are and your happy, why change...??

good luck
xx

[Tink]

A play room sound like a lovely idea, I don't unfortunately have one, i've contemplated buying next door and using it for my business and having my house back, but I don't think it will happen

[sarah707]

I put a conservatory on the back a few years ago and it's the best investment ever!

I have floor to ceiling shelves and everything is really simple to organise.

I have a wooden floor which is easy to keep clean... yes they have to go through the house to get to the loo but that's nothing because I have my home back

[muffins]

We're just submitting planning for an extention which includes a large kitchen/ dinner (current kitchen will be downstairs loo & utility, dinning is in front room) & a play room Also a loft conversion for 2 extra 10m sq bedrooms

Currently use front room for minding but its small as I have the dinning area in there at the mo, so moving that out will make that larger too

Cant wait

[samkeddy]

We're just submitting planning for an extention which includes a large kitchen/ dinner (current kitchen will be downstairs loo & utility, dinning is in front room) & a play room Also a loft conversion for 2 extra 10m sq bedrooms

Currently use front room for minding but its small as I have the dinning area in there at the mo, so moving that out will make that larger too

Cant wait

Sounds amazin lol! New house when uv done, I had my loft converted a few years ago, which is all i hear from hubby, "you could of had a conservatory but you wanted a loft conversion" MEN! I didnt know i was going to be a childminder needing a playroom then did i!! lol

its a tough decision this, its 1st time we've had money in over 3yrs since having kids so dont want to just be saving it but i do want a playroom soooo bad!

[AliceK]

We have a seperate playroom but it's now called the Toy room. All the toys are in there and there is still plenty of room for the children to play in there but for some reason they usually bring the toys into the other rooms usually the kitchen / breakfast room. So in answer to your question I would say I love it because I can shut the door on it all in the evening and have a grown up house (even though I have my own 2 LO's) but the amount of actual "playing" that goes on in there is minimal. Still a god send though

xxxxxxx

[babs]

i have small play room its my old utility room so about 10ft by 8 ft but considering knocking it down having extentsion all way across back of house as conservatory added on to it will be just as expensive and we will get a bigger bathroom upstairs..

[Mickey Mouse Clubhouse]

I have a conservatory had it now nearly 3 years and it is the best thing I have ever had done it did help we had it given to us for nothing.

It is great and yes they do have to walk through to go upstairs to the loo but that really doesn't bother me.

At the end of the day if I cannot be bothered to tidy up I can just draw the blinds and leave it.

[kel1983]

We currently have my brother lodging in our downstairs office room. I have only been minding for about 6 months now and have so many ideas for the room once he has moved out. Its not that big but will come in handy for downstairs storage and or a quiet room. Getting a bit fed up with running up and down the stairs in the mornings with toys.

[miffy]

I don't have a playroom although I'd like one.

Trouble is, if I did have one I'd just buy even more toys/crafts etc so perhaps it's best I haven't got one

Miffy xx

[blue bear]

My play room is the conservatory that is the width of the house, it's great in that areas can be set up permanently and it gets closed at the end of the day and work has gone, only trouble is with so much space I keep filling it and now have more toys than the childrens centre!!!! Lol

[acorns]

I did have a playroom in my old house, which i decorated and had it all permenantely set up. However I did have to sacrifice my dining room to get the playroom and in the end got fed up that i didn't have a dining room. In my new house I use our family room and set up pictures/posters on the walls, get toys out etc just before minding and return it back to home at the end of the day(or at least for the weekend )I much prefer it this way as I don't feel my home is taken over by work!

[Joda]

We had a conservatory built last year which we now use as a dining room - the old dining room is now the play room which is great as everything is confined in there (iyswim!) and my family have a toy free lounge which pleases dh!

[angeldelight]

I don't have a playroom although I'd like one.

Trouble is, if I did have one I'd just buy even more toys/crafts etc so perhaps it's best I haven't got one

Miffy xx

Yes thats what I do too

I love my playroom but only because I had no room anywhere else for everything

More often than not we take the toys into the other room anyway - I hate my playroom getting messy

Take the toys back later and then I get my house back

If you are happy with how things are not sure I would bother to be honest

Spend the money on something else

Angel xx

[mushpea]

we built a conservatory the end part of last year and I am so pleased we did,, at one end we have cane furniture that they can sit on with books and the other end we have a toy kitchen , toy storage draws and I bring in a box of somthing different each week like happy street or puppets etc,, they still bring stuff in to our lounge and they use the lounge to watch tv or play the wii but at the end of the day it all goes out in the conservatory and i shut the living room curtains at night and my house is my own. And we really noticed the differnce in the winter as it gave them so much more room to play,,

[angiemog]

I don't know what to do.......
I have been minding for 2 years. I have got to the stage where I want my home back.... I don't have any children of my own and my house does look like a nursery. I have a huge dining room which I use for minding plus my lounge and a very small conservatory. I love minding but want to be able to 'shut the door' at the end of the day. We have seen a house that is bigger... I think for it to make a huge difference we would use 2 of the bigger bedrooms as play rooms (and still be left with 4 ) but am concerned about being upstairs. Obviously I will make sure the stairs are safe but what about drop offs and collections..... I will have to bring the mindees downstairs to answer the door. Does any one else do this? There is also a small conservatory so I could use this as a 'spare room' during this time. In the long term there is also a double garage which could be converted into a separate area. We only moved 3 years ago and at the time I said I would never move again.......
Advice anyone???
Thanks
Angie x

[Katiekoo]

hello, i converted my garage into my play room, it leads off from my living room, i think its great, if the children are mid game when its home time i can close the door and it is all still the same in the morning, also i have my house back for my family, my parents love it all the children have their own little world it was designed and built with them in mind and has been well worth the money!!

all i would say is... if you can keep going the way you are and your happy, why change...??

good luck
xx

That sounds great - few questions;
I've thought about converting our garage but it is entirely seperate from the house, a short toddle from our garden. I don't know what it would take and the cost of converting it, I guess it would need sky lights and a new garage door with windows in it. Would Ofsted go for this? Would I need planning permission to change usage?

[buildingblocks]

i would say yes as it is more space for ht children but if I had the chance again I would have had a brick built extension rather than the conservatory. For the lady who is thinking about the garage not attached to the house I am sure there used to be guidelines that said it had to be attached to the house but I do know one of the childminders who used to be on here had hers converted and it was a good way from t he house so don't think that ruling exists any more.