Extreme Playroom Makeover: Transformed into a "Tween" Hangout!

Ok, this makeover has been a long time coming but I’m thrilled to finally be sharing it with you. This extreme playroom makeover was such a fun project for me, and my kids are absolutely loving the space. I transformed the room into a “tween” hangout space since the boys are getting older (they are 6, 10, and 12), plus the room just didn’t function well as it was. (Not to mention it was just a gigantic mess.) I am going to embarrass myself and show you before pics anyway, of course. You ready? I don’t think you’re ready. (You can see the entire makeover video here.) Ok here goes:

Let’s ease you into this hot mess. Ha! Here’s what it looked like a few years ago when it was actually clean. It served as a second guest bedroom for a while so we used to have a bed in here, but removed that a couple years ago. (P.S. Check out tiny baby Jonah! He’s 6 years old now.)

I actually think the rug is really cute and I hope to find another spot in the house for it. (Click here for rug source.)

Ok now here’s a more accurate depiction of how it actually looked immediately before this makeover started. (This is a no judgment zone, by the way!) I’m keeping it 100% real with you. It really was this messy.

The first thing I did, as I often do when designing a room, was create a mood board. During this phase, I source products and plan DIY projects for the space.

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I assessed our main needs and decided the boys needed a lounge area where they could watch TV and play video games, and a table where they can build LEGO sets, play games, or work on art. I also wanted to keep the reading nook I created last year. We needed more functional storage for toys and books, and we needed to just get organized in general. But most of all, we needed to purge. We went Marie Kondo on this room and got rid of so many toys. Such a first world problem, I totally realize that, but the fact is, no one needs to have so much stuff. I’m working toward a more minimalist lifestyle (or at least minimalist by my own recovering-hoarder standards), so I let the boys choose their absolute favorite toys to keep and we either donated or stored the rest. The majority of what they kept is now stored in baskets in their bedrooms, with the exception of some that are in baskets in this room as well.

We did keep all of the LEGO and army men, and then they moved some of their action figures and other miscellaneous things into baskets in their rooms. We also moved most of the books into Aiden’s room since he has space for a larger bookshelf in there.

Ok so now for the fun part! Here’s what it looks like now (and you can check out my YouTube video of the entire room makeover here.):

I went with a blue and orange theme since I wanted some pops of color (it is a kid’s space after all), and incorporated more of a modern style in general.

Sofa / Rug / Floor Lamp / Window Shades / Chandelier / Pillows on Sofa / Wishbone Chairs

I recovered the seats on those wooden wishbone chairs a few years ago. Details here.

I built the coffee table and am so happy with how it turned out. (YouTube video for that build is here.) The TV stand was a Craigslist find that I made over many years ago. The paint color is “Summer Nights” by Benjamin Moore.

I kept the reading nook but did update the fabric on the mattress and added new pillows. I built the mini daybed last year. (Video here.)

Fabric / Pillows

For the game area, I brought in a new table and chairs and then made some abstract art for the wall. (I have a video for the technique I used here and a blog post here.) I built the canvas and frame out of a drop cloth and 1×2 boards.

Table / Chairs

As for storage, I built the bookshelf (blog post here and video here), and then stacked the toy bins we already had. We spent approximately one million years sorting LEGO pieces by color and they are now in bins inside the toy cubbies. By the way I did write a blog post a few years ago about our 20 Toy Rule which we periodically implement to keep things organized.

Toy Bins

Ultimately I am so happy with how the space turned out, and most of all I’m happy that they’re actually using and enjoying it! It functions so much better for them now and is easier to keep decluttered since everything has a designated spot.