Create a Fun Play Space in Your Home

Creating a fun, safe environment in your home, specifically for your kids to play is something every parent would like to do, but it's always easier said than done. Many of us do not have a large free space available in our homes we can dedicate to one specific purpose. Most of us have bedrooms for each member of the family, kitchen and dining rooms and the family living room. Others may have space available such as a loft, game room, formal dining room, extra bedroom or home office space. Here are a few ideas you can be inspired by that will help you create a fun play area in your home no matter how much space you have available. Creating a designated play area will help you to keep your home clutter free by dedicating storage space for toys and even help you keep your home clean by having a dedicated arts & crafts area. Another great advantage of a dedicated play space is safety. By covering unused outlets, keeping items that are not safe for kids such as scissors and breakables out of reach and creating an environment just for your kids, you will also find that you are able to relax a little more while your kids play. Check out the great ideas below.
(Images courtesy of Pinterest.com - for links to original poster please visit our Pinterest page, link avail. at www.HCLradio.com)


Ideas for Organizing Small Spaces:

 

Wooden Spice Racks from IKEA painted and repurposed into easy to access book storage. Wooden letters can be found at most craft stores including Hobby Lobby.

 

 

 

Display your child's works for art by attaching clips to pieces of painted wood.

 

 

Another great way to display works of art, painted clipboards hung on the wall in a delightful pattern.

 

 

Fun magnetic play board. This can be accomplished on a smaller scale using cookie sheets, or on a larger scale by checking your local hardware or home improvement store for items like drain pans.

 

 

Some really fun storage ideas from FancyFrugalLife.com

From the IKEA window coverings department, wire hanging set and clips.

Metal Tins and Hooks can be found at most craft stores, and plastic bins are avail. in many different places. Bookshelves and Toy storage bins can be found at IKEA.

 

 

Short on Space? For older children, transform a loft bed into a fun hideaway play place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great idea if you have a limited amount of space. Create a small loft style play area in an open space in your home. Use shelving to create a wall of storage.

 

 

Do your kids LOVE Arts & Crafts but you are short on storage space? Hang a shoe storage bag from a door to create a great place to store all of their creative tools.

 

 

This is an absolutely wonderful idea! Use an empty corner, a bookshelf and create an awning to make a fun play space with room to store toys! Shelves as shown can be found at Target, Wal-Mart and IKEA as well as many other popular stores.

 

 

Convert an unused or cluttered closet into a fun play space. Paint the interior of the closet, add some lighting, or even remove the door. A few shelves and creative organization can create a great play space any child would love to let their imagination free in.

 

 

Another great way to utilize a free corner of your home. Some curtains, a curved shower rod and a little bit of handyman work to create the stage and you'll have a fun place to pretend.

 

 

Chalkboard Paint on the walls is always a fun option!

 

 

Create separation in a room by using a small shelf to simulate a half wall. All items shown above can be found at IKEA.

 

 

Do you have an old wardrobe? Convert it to a craft cabinet! Check out your local thrift stores and resale shops to find something similar.

 

 

 

Do you have a larger space available? Plastic rain gutters mounted on the wall make great book storage. Make sure to get a nice strong plastic.

 

 

Have some more ideas for us? Please share them with us on our Facebook Page

 

www.facebook.com/HomeCentsLifestyle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring.....Already?!?!

Spring. We are all anxiously waiting for it. Spring is my favorite season in Texas.  But this year something is  a miss. Usually the day after February 28th  I am feverishly planning a weekend to pull the camping trailer out of storage so I can freshen it up for the next round of three day holidays. By this time I am hounding my husband to take the motorcycle in for its annual inspection and possibly get new tires. Messages have not been sent to my grown children to call me so I may inform them to pull the covers off the boats and get them prepped. Our equipment needs to be ready at the first sign of nesting birds in our backyard and blooming pear blossoms across the street so we may hit the road whether it be by truck or motorcycle. It is March Madness for me as I scan the magazines and Internet for motorcycle rallies and new campgrounds. We basically have March, April and May before it starts to get really hot. The heat is tough on us old people and the new baby that my son added to the family so we need to make the most of these three months.  Among all of these endeavors I also have the lawnmower serviced and the weed eater restrung because I cannot wait to get dirt under my fingernails and feel the soft green grass under my bare feet. Each spring and summer I toil long and hard to grow nice healthy green grass and lush vegetation around my home. My love is the big Live Oak tree in the front yard. Do you think it is weird to be in love with a tree? At least I have not  gone as far  as to marry my tree like that guy on the news who married his pillow. Either that guy is nuts or he has a really great sense of humor. Anyway, back to why I am not happy to have spring breathing down my neck. Last fall we had to have our foundation repaired which reeked havoc with my yard. The flowerbeds are destroyed and the grass was trampled. My entry porch needs to  be resurfaced and horrors upon horrors the winter ice storm broke major limbs of my majestic tree. Each beautiful limb laying haphazardly on top of each other like fallen soldiers upon the ground covered in ice. I was so distraught I did not go out for several days. A tree surgeon was summoned and did the best he could to salvage my beloved tree. It is such a sad sight. Days and weeks have passed without my notice. The whole dreary winter was mine to call landscapers to come pour new curbing, structure a sidewalk and repair the porch so we can replant in the spring. My husband and I talked about it and I scoured the net for ideas  and even attended  the spring and garden home show, but did not send a single email or dial a single number. What is the difference between stamped, stained, overlay, stone and cobble? Oh yes and I should not forget aggregate! My head is spinning with foreign information. I thought shrubs and bushes were one in the same. Ignorance really was bliss because I am still having a problem distinguishing the two.  Will the flowerbed be in the shade this year? We don't know if the tree will produce that much shade since the surgery. And of course the problem of the Texas drought and the foundation and plants that suck all the moisture out of the soil and hoard it selfishly among themselves. All this to decide before spring. I feel like the care of my yard somehow is a reflection of me as a person so it has to be just right. How nice it would be to wake up one morning and someone made all the right choices for me and hocus pocus it is done. My children would say " Mom you are making a mountain out of a mole hill." "Just do it!" My own thoughts are to just move into another house that already has a beautiful yard and leave this to someone else. But then I walk out the front door and see my beautiful tree who has bravely survived multiple amputations and I know what I must do. Decisions will be made, landscapers will come, sharpen the shovel and get out the hoe its time to get to work.  Bring it on Spring! I'll be ready for you! Besides that this house is almost paid for. I don't want to walk away now. "Uh, Honey, Kids, the motorcycle and the boats, what's your hold up?"  

"Spring is almost here, get a move on!"