Long ago, I wrote a post about converting the dining room into the playroom. We were about to take the plunge but ultimately changed our minds, turning a front room and extra bedroom upstairs into playrooms.
But the idea still intrigues me. Especially when we see a fun and tidy little playroom like the one Emily created for her crew of kids. Emily converted her unused dining room into a fun play area for her little ones. We love the IKEA chalkboards, the hanging artwork, and the table and chairs. Our favorite item? It's got to be the comfortable leather chair in the corner. It's the perfect place for mom or dad to sit and watch.
See more: The Anderson Crew.
(Image: Emily Anderson)
MORE PLAYROOMS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• When Your Living Room Is Your Playroom
• Good Question: How Best To Reclaim the Dining Room
• Have Your Kids Double Up and Create a Playroom


Sheex Bedding
We convert the dining room to a play room just for parties, gathering up all the toys and displaying them like it's a toy store. It makes for a really festive atmosphere - and reminds me that we don't need ANY MORE TOYS! The rest of the time we have a pretty grownup space. Best of both worlds.
we did this. we have a small house with a "keeping room" and open den/dining room in ridiculously close proximity. we moved the dining table into the keeping room (where my desk and some random furniture had been), and turned the dining room into the playroom, with my desk against 1 wall. it has worked out GREAT! the only hitch is the chandalier, which was such a pain to put up that we didn't want to remove it. obviously we couldn't leave it for people to walk into (we have a 50s ranch with low ceilings). so, we built a cute pup tent to put under it. our daughter loves it!
We converted our breakfast nook into our daughter's playroom since we also have a dining room. Though I miss being able to dine in the sunniest room in the house on occasion, it's such a cozy space to spend time in with her.
We dd the same. We don't have two tables but have a dining room and a breakfast room. The breakfast room is right next to the Master bedroom, so we made that our playroom. I would love a much bigger space. But for now, it works well for my 18 month and 4 year-old boys.
Our undersized breakfast nook made a great play area; we ate all our meals in the dining room which was right next door and also open to the kitchen. The breakfast nook would have been a tight fit for a table with more than two chairs anyhow, but had plenty of room for a shelf of toy bins (that had the phone and other grown-up stuff on top as our "landing area"), a small play kitchen and sometimes an easel.
Calderacraft, our new dining space has crappy light compared to the old space too. I was reluctant to do it for that reason... but a few months in, it was a worthwhile sacrifice. I'd rather my daughter play (usually on the floor) in the light-filled space, and she spends more time in there than we spend at the table anyway.
relitiaves did converted there formal dinning room into the play room. It was great. Close the door and no toys visible but with in ear shot of the rest of the house. This design is great in the above. Love the bright colors.