Original article featured in Agenda magazine, August 2011. Images: Great Little Trading Company, Angel + Blume, Lazzari.

Setting aside a dedicated area for children to play can make a real difference to family life. Victoria Harrison of Angel + Blume looks at the benefits of play rooms.

When children are young a dedicated playroom is great for housing a plethora of toys and having floor space to build an elaborate train track or an extensive princess castle. As children grow, these rooms can also be invaluable places for computers, playstations and Wiis, TV viewing and visits from friends, and with the proper set-up they can keep children in the main living area of the house, rather than constantly in their bedrooms, without being under your feet.

Key elements in a playroom such as curtains, blinds, flooring and main pieces of furniture should grow with your children, so make sure that they are not designed specifically for a certain age and won’t easily date. Accessories, on the other hand can easily be changed to suit their ages, so have fun with these. With furniture, a small table and chairs are useful for craft activities for young children, a sofa bed for friends is always useful and beanbags are a great seating option. Flooring will need to be hardwearing and largely resistant to paint, crayons, mud and spilled food, but add rugs for comfort and texture.

Children can create a surprising amount of mess in a short time so ensuring your playroom has plenty of storage is essential if you want to try and keep the room neat and tidy. Labelled boxes or baskets are good for keeping toys and games in order and providing a separate box for each child should prevent arguments about which toy belongs to who! Drawers and stationary boxes are useful for keeping desk space clear and making sure homework doesn’t get lost or buried under mounds of paper and general clutter. As children grow the storage will need to be less about toys and more about games, music, books, homework and it is also useful to have a place to house sports equipment, shoes and bags.

If you are using a room for multiple purposes consider the lighting needs for each area; computers and workstations will need target lighting from a desk lamp, TV viewing will require brighter lighting and you will need good overall lighting for playing games with friends.

As children grow, play space will need to become work space in order to deal with homework demands; making a workspace inviting will also hopefully make homework seem like less of a chore. Computers are pretty much an essential part of everyday life and if your children are school age then they will probably need access to one for homework. Setting up a computer for use in a dedicated play / work room is a good idea as it will allow you to keep an eye on your children whilst they are using the internet. You can also use this room to store Playstations, Wiis and other gadgets so they are all in one place and not cluttering up your main living area or children’s bedrooms.

Not everyone has space for a dedicated playroom, so it can also be an option to mark out a dedicated play area within a living room, dining room or even at the end of a kitchen. A small desk area, some storage, seating and possibly a TV will provide somewhere for children to call their own whilst also keeping them in sight rather than hidden away in their rooms. And finally, do make sure to involve your children with the design of the room; if they have some input they will be happier to own the space and, perhaps, even keep it tidy!