Building a Kid’s Play Room in the Basement

Your first consideration of course, must be safety. If your basement contains a work room or utility space that can pose a danger to children, it should be made inaccessible. The stairway, banister and railings must be safe and up to code and any chemicals, solvents, fertilizers or other potentially dangerous substances must be locked away.

Now think about the fun stuff - the play zones. It's a good idea to include zones for different kinds of activities: A quiet play to paint-by-number and an area to ride scooters or push toy trains and cars. Make it fun and paint a track on the floor or build a platform to permanently set up an electric train set and village. You can even build an indoor fort or playhouse. An open area is a good idea for sports that can be played indoors like waffle ball or nerf basketball.

For today's kids, a TV and gaming station is a 'must have' element of any play space. A small entertainment console to house the TV, game components and software and movie DVD's can be arranged even in a compact space and will provide a place to store electronic media and accessories. Hand-me-down furniture or bean bags and inflatable furniture provide a comfortable place to sit and an area rug or carpet remnant on the floor will keep things snug and comfy. Kids like to play on the floor, so a low table for doing puzzles or coloring is also a good idea; throw lots of floor cushions all around for comfort and warmth.

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This is a kid's space, so make it bright and colorful. Kid themed wall art in bright colors will enliven walls, whether they are finished or concrete. A big bulletin or cork board on the wall invites the kids to display their own wall art and paper mache handcrafted wall sculptures. You can paint concrete walls first to make the space lighter and brighter then add bold metal wall artwork and framed works of their original art. Gummy poster adhesive makes it easy to add new works of art to the wall as soon as they are dry or add cork board to the walls. You can even get the kids to help you paint a fun mural on the wall full of sunshine, rainbows, bunnies or whatever images they love.

Keep the space from becoming chaotic with easy storage. Canvas totes, milk crates, baskets and even ice cream tubs are inexpensive options to corral small toys, game pieces and craft supplies that go from the storage area to the play area with kid-friendly ease.