Have you ever wanted to create a special playroom for your kids, but you don’t have an extra room in your house to convert? This very problem was recently overcome by one of our employees, who had a brilliant thought: Why not convert the garage into a place where the kids could get a little loud and messy? With a toddler son and another on the way, she definitely needed a space where her kids would be able to hang out and play safely for years to come.
She shared with us how she and her husband went about transforming a standard garage into an ultimate playroom. If you want to tackle the same project, you’ll only need a few days and some clever tricks to create a place your kids will love!
Why the Garage?
The first question that many of us were wondering, besides the obvious lack of other space, is why choose the garage for a playroom? Our employee said, “Why not?” Her home had two places to park vehicles, and having a place that was shielded from extreme heat or cold was an important feature of a playroom. They also didn’t want to damage anything inside the house itself, and a garage is an easy place to find that compromise.
Painting Concrete Walls
If you’ve never painted concrete walls before, you’ll be amazed at how simple it is. Our employee used Behr Premium Concrete & Garage Floor Paint, in fun lime green to create a jungle scene on the playroom walls. There are many other major brands that offer a similar concrete product, and any can be used to create the right look for your garage playroom.
Does It Stay Warm?
In her own words: “I have never had any issues with cold temperatures. My garage door is a Cambridge with a thermal resistance of R-16, which is very great! It has a high insulation level and it keeps my garage warm all winter. But if for some reason the garage starts to get a little bit colder, we have a heating system activate manually.”
Choosing the right garage door will do wonders for how warm the garage playroom will stay during the winter.
What About the Garage Door Opener?
Instead of trying to find a way to integrate the garage door opener with the design of the playroom, our employee opted to disconnect the opener altogether, and to place the garage door opener buttons high on the wall where they couldn’t be reached. They treat the garage door like another wall, and this works well for their needs.
Decorating the Garage Playroom
A playroom in the garage isn’t quite the same as a playroom in the house. You’ll need to consider the lack of comfortable flooring, the lack of nearby closet space, and more. In order to make a great and comfortable playroom in the garage, our employee covered the floor in puzzle floor mats that can be found at many department stores. She got hers at Walmart, but these types of mats can be found at Home Depot, Toys R Us, Amazon, Canadian Tires, or many other stores.
For storage, it’s all about Ikea. IKEA has brilliant storage solutions that work for children of all sizes. They are easy to put together, affordable, and can be customized as the children get older. The rest of the décor included wall stickers that were bought at DeSerres, a Canadian Arts and Crafts store. If you live in the US, you can check at a Michaels or order online from Amazon or other crafts stores.
You’ll find so many beautiful stickers, all of which can brighten your playroom and give it the right feel. For this room, a jungle theme with monkeys and trees was used; but we’ve also seen some beautiful underwater themes, alphabet themes, safari themes, and more. If your kids are older, let them help you choose the stickers to give them a playroom they love being in.
By choosing the right concrete paint, a well-insulated garage door to keep the area comfortable, and using a few smart decorating tips, you can turn any garage into a perfect playroom.
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