Create The Cutest Play Corner for Kids (Even in a Small Home)

It’s totally possible to design adorable play areas for children, even when you live in a small house, or don’t have a ton of space to work with. And the good news? It doesn’t require a ton of money either. While we may all dream of the giant playrooms with hidden storage that we see on HGTV programs, the reality is, they’re not always achievable. Maybe your house doesn’t have a ton of square footage. Maybe you opted for an office or a guest room instead of a room dedicated to toys. Maybe you don’t have the money to renovate a space to make it safe (or enjoyable) for playing. Or, maybe like us, you do have a playroom, but it’s on a different floor than the main living area, making it difficult for toddlers to use without supervision. 

That’s why we designed a play corner for our daughter–one of the cutest solutions we’ve developed to help tackle a potential toy storage problem. 

What is a play corner?

While there’s really no formal definition, to me, a play corner is a small area in any room that has been designed with your child’s interests in mind. It might be an awkward nook under the staircase, a hidden space between your armchair and a bookshelf (that’s ours!), behind the couch, or that corner in the dining room where you used to stick the high chair, but now have nothing but dust collecting in it. It doesn’t have to be anything huge–just large enough to accommodate your child and a few play things.

Inspiration from our play corner:

Play Corner Organization Tips:

Because our corner is between an armchair and a bookcase in our living room, we were able to use the shelving to store books and toys. On the lowest shelf, we have a medium sized, soft basket that is easy for our daughter to pull toys from as she pleases. On the one above it, in addition to books, we line a few of her favorite plastic toys–usually farm animals, but the occasional rubber duck makes its debut. If the toys don’t fit in the basket, we donate them or move them to a different area. Everything in a play corner should have its place–whether it is a cubby, shelf, or even something as simple as a plastic storage tote. 

Skip the Technology

Because a playcorner is a place for your child to unwind, practice independence, and develop more of an imagination, it’s best to keep this space free of digital clutter like iPads or a TV. Anything else is fair game–things like books, blocks, coloring books, and instruments are big hits in our family. 

Swap Things Out Regularly

To keep it interesting for both you and your child, consider swapping out playthings every few weeks. This doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy all new things–it just means you take toys from other parts of the house that haven’t had a chance to shine in a while and put them here. Or, maybe you swap things according to the season. You don’t have to overthink things either–you can keep the same categories of things regularly available. For instance, if you take out a coloring book, replace it with a different one. If you take out a stuffed animal, do the same. 

Keep it safe

When choosing your play corner, make sure that it is a safe space for your child to spend time in. If it is surrounded by wires, sharp or unsecured furniture, breakables, a baseboard heater, chemicals, or other hazards, then it is either a no-go or may need a bit of childproofing. 

One word of caution—these are not for parents who don’t lever want to pick up after their kids. 

Although my daughter does a fairly good job of keeping objects from her corner in the general vicinity of it, the extent to which your play corner stays just a corner depends on your child. Naturally, some kids will pull every book off of a shelf. Others will decide the plastic toys you stashed in the playcorner belong in the dining room instead. Kids are kids. Like any play space, they don’t always respect or understand the boundaries of it. I find myself resetting my daughter’s playcorner almost every night to keep it tidy. This might bother some people, but because I have a system of organization in place, it takes less than five minutes and doesn’t bother me. Plus, if I’m feeling overwhelmed, I’ve learned to ask for help.