Lockdown is finally easing here in England, and there’s many things I have cherished during this difficult time. Precious time with our son, Ace, as he grows from a baby to a boy. And finally turning our new house into more of a home. With my favourite project being our budget playroom makeover, which we achieved for under £200.
When we first viewed this house, we had a playroom in mind. The area in the open plan kitchen / diner is the perfect space to play, whilst we cook or work. Leaving the separate living room as a ‘toy free’ adult space for us to enjoy in the evenings.
The playroom was always up there as a space I was desperate to decorate. Well, desperate for someone else to decorate actually. I didn’t trust myself or my shoddy rushed skills doing it after work. But this lockdown has proved that I can do rather well myself if I take my time. And I’d actually rather enjoy it and find it therapeutic to boot. Who would of thought!
I hope this post about our playroom, inspires you to give your space a makeover on a budget too!
How we chose the wall colour for our budget playroom makeover
In my mind, our playroom would always be yellow!
From the moment we bought a second hand, mustard Stressless recliner, we knew a yellow wall was crying out to be part of our navy home. The decision was confirmed when I glanced down at my coffee cup to see the inspiration had been there all along!
After much paint chart deliberating, we opted for India Yellow by Farrow and Ball. Luckily, we’d decided to decorate when Europe started to go into lockdown. Thus meaning we could buy our paint before social distancing became the norm.
Why we chose a budget paint brand
Our tight budget didn’t allow for an expensive paint brand. Instead, we opted to match the Farrow and Ball shade with Valspar for our playroom makeover.
I was really happy with the colour match and the ‘Kitchen’ formula was relatively easy to paint with. And I can confirm it is indeed wipeable! A must when it comes to playrooms and sticky toddler fingers!
Why we only painted half of our playroom wall
Being a 1930s-1940s property, most rooms in our home have picture rails. However, the playroom space does not. (Cue tears…)
We felt painting the yellow up to the ceiling would be too overpowering. Instead we picked up some frog tape, a budget white kitchen paint and got to work on sectioning the wall. Top half white, with a splash of bright playroom mustard on the bottom.
Top tip- Paint your first colour (in our case, white) and wait around 5-7 days before applying your frog tape. This ensures the paint has properly dried and reduces the chances of the tape stripping your other paint off!
An affordable fun feature for our playroom
I was determined this room would have a little feature, and something I could do myself on our tight budget. I went between mountain scenes, leopard print panels and chalkboard walls. But it was that coffee mug that gave me a little inspiration yet again.
Two simple triangular shapes, helping to join the blue dining room and playroom together. The dining room was yet another lockdown project and we luckily had some paint left over. This really helped us stick to our budget!
The finishing touches to our budget playroom makeover
Our one splurge on our budget makeover, was a yellow geometric baby playmat from Totter and Tumble. Although it’s an expensive outlay, this stylish mat will take our children through from babies to school age and beyond. It’s a great focal point to the space and is the ultimate place to play with all those baby toys!
How we added artwork to our playroom on a budget
To keep costs low, we framed postcards, wrapping paper and took advantage of free printable’s available from online designers. You could also frame your children’s artwork as a fun way to display their paintings!
Budget playroom toy storage solutions
The previous owners left a cube storage shelf in the house, which we used as toy storage! We added soft storage boxes from H&M Home in a similar shade of yellow to our walls and baby playmat.
These boxes and shelves have been a great way to add toy storage and display our toy rotation. Both of which help to keep playroom tidy, without baby toys everywhere!
How much we spent on our budget playroom makeover
In total we spent a few pence short of £200 on our budget playroom makeover. Doing all the decorating ourselves and using items from our home really helped to keep our costs low.
Our Budget Playroom Makeover
I’m so impressed with how we stuck to our tiny budget and so pleased with how our playroom makeover turned out! This space gives Ace a place to play safely and independently, whilst we complete daily chores or work from home.
Will you be creating your own budget playroom makeover? Please connect with me on Instagram and show me if you do!
Sian x
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