Ask the Kids

• Whether you already have a playroom and want to make it more functional or are turning a room into a playroom, start your design by talking to and watching your children. Don't aim toward making the playroom a showcase piece fit for a decorating magazine. Instead, make it work for your children. Do they enjoy puppet shows? Do they yearn for a quiet place to read? Some children need room to throw balls, work with clay or build with blocks. Does your entire family like to do gigantic puzzles together? Once you determine what your children's needs are, you are ready to design their playroom.
  
  

Plan for the Future

• You may love the idea of ducks and bears marching around the room in bright wallpaper, but in a few years, this theme will be too young for your children. Go with solid walls and furniture that you can accent with fabric and age-appropriate items, and you can easily change the look. If the room can transition to a hang-out area for teens, your children and their friends will gravitate to this area.
  
  

Centers

• Kindergarten teachers know all about learning centers, which are stations geared toward different activities. You can do the same in the playroom. Have an area for art projects, a cozy nook for reading and napping and a spot for blocks and other building toys. A kitchen table is a piece of furniture your room will never outgrow. It can be used for ongoing projects, such as crafts and puzzles. Later, your kids will use it to eat pizza and work on school projects. The table will get marked with crayons and paints, but you can always refinish it later.
  
  

Organization

• Organizing any room, including a playroom, is not just about putting clutter where it doesn't show. It's about designing spaces to fit the way you live. Things have to be arranged logically so that keeping them that way will be easy instead of being a chore. Build shelves around the walls for storing trucks and cars. Use canvas bins and decorative baskets. Put a large box in one corner to serve as a dress-up box. Hang cork squares on the walls so the kids can display their art.