apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Rather than construct a permanent tunnel between rooms, why not leave the doors open?

Me no understand.

umm.... privacy? children should be given boundaries. their parent's room is not one that should be able to be entered through an always-open whole in the wall. this is just awful. plus, when did we start equating children with pets?

vhsdr, that was exactly what I was going to say. I agree totally on both counts.

What a great idea... More fun for kids than pets. I'll recommend something similar to clients who visit us at myhomeus.com

hmmm... may be good for some places in the home, but not for the bedrooms.

Kids learn boundaries in many other ways than through the placement of walls. Besides, to expect children to always conform to an adult world with adult expectations and methods can be counterproductive, and this tunnel is one way in which a child can gain much needed independence, ownership, and creativity. Since when is thinking inside the box such a coveted value?

This will sound bizarre, but I always wanted to have a playroom attached to my bedroom as a child, that was linked with a tunnel like this. If we owned instead of rented, I'd actually consider something like this for our kids. Just not attached to MY bedroom. It's hard enough keeping them out of there at night!

I don't think this tunnel connects to the adults bedroom i think its the kids bedroom to the lounge room...? i think its a fun idea connecting a childs bedroom to a play room, but i agree with the inappropriate feeling of it connecting to an adult's bedroom. talk about a "mood" killer! ;)

I would have LOVED this as a kid, maybe between sibling rooms or a playhouse. Now as a parent (who only has curtains to their room, not a door - yay oddly set up house) I would love to be able to have a door to sometimes keep kids/cats out. Seems like there's got to be some great places for this.

in the frontier days, families slept snugly in one big room. separate beds, but together nonetheless.

as society 'advanced', young kids were separated from their kin in big rooms of their own. a bit too early maybe, psycho-socially speaking. i read somewhere that a hole like this comforts the small child and lets him/her know that if they get scared in the middle of the night, at least they have some quick and fun way to rejoin the rest of their family. if i remember correctly, just knowing the hole was there made for easier adaptation to being on their own - and the holes were hardly ever used.

i think this cutesy post can actually serve to help us analyze how we have followed society's rules regarding child-rearing and that maybe it's done a little more harm than good in certain areas.

judging from the teddy bear on the bed, that goes to the child's room, not the parents', and it is totally sweet. a little secret passage like that would have seemed like the most awesome thing ever when i was a kid - and i'm pretty sure my cat would decide it was the perfect place to sleep.

that is one deep wall.

Ok, what happens when the kids are too old or too large to fit through the hole?

julianna - good call. my thoughts too. that looks like it's pushing over a foot.

i saw a house on a home show once and was in love with it. it had a rock climbing wall, but then also a few small passage ways for the kids to go through. like one was from the rock climbing top area into their rooms. such an awesome idea and would have loved it as a kid.

I think its cool...esp if it connects to the child's bedroom. I fantasized about tunnels and secret passageways as a kid, I would have loved that.

does anyone know where the fabric is from? I saw the same pattern, except in blue, at Sugar Café in SF last weekend, would really love to find it! Thanks!

razel, the fabric is Quatrefoil by Alexander Girard in pink

http://www.maharam.com/scripts/vl.cgi2?script=v2_details&group_cd=&source=search&curSkuNum=459340001#

so cool...this would be very fun for children and pets alike

"Rather than construct a permanent tunnel between rooms, why not leave the doors open? "

Ditto

because leaving doors open isn't as imaginative or playful - this isn't meant to be a utilitarian feature. But I would construct a hole between kids' bedrooms or between one public room or another instead - between the child's bedroom and the living room would be difficult if the parents had friends over after the kids went to bed (no privacy to talk and too loud for the child).

or, i should say, it clearly isn't meant to be only utilitarian. any kid would love this.

when i was little there was a store at our mall called imaginarium that had a tiny door just for kids. i can't tell you how we all loved that door. such a simple thing -- a smaller opening -- but it provided endless entertainment for every kid that went to that store.

maybe this wouldn't be a good idea as far as bedrooms as concerned, but what about from a playroom to a tv room? it could work in the right place.

I wish I had this as a kid. I love it.

For those that think that is a deep wall, I don't think the wall is actually that thick.

There's probably built-in shelving on the other side, and one of the shelves was converted into this.

I think this is fantastic!

I have one just like it in my bedroom that goes to Narnia.

love love LOVE

I wanted this as a child SO much

and someone did it

merci beaucoup twenty twenty-one!

that is great :-D lucky kid(s).

(vhsdr "when did we start equating children with pets?" we didn't. at least i didn't see where anyone did. breathe. )

I still want one. Kids would love it. Cats would love it. Dogs. It's just cute. It's not necessary or anything, but it is so fun and adorable. If you really wanted to block it off for a night or something, for some reason, you could just put a chair in front of it. I think it's adorable.

I think it's really cute. I agree that it'd be better between public spaces, but still very fun. And for sealing it, if you've put the effort into having a big hole cut in your wall and finished to be a little tunnel, you could certainly have a removable door cut to fit.