Kids playroom makeover on a budget

Upcycled dining room table - Ikea Expedit storage in background

The kids are growing up so I thought it was time for a play room overhaul.

No more small plastic Ikea tables and play kitchens, it was a bit sad saying goodbye to some of those old toys. But I had not problem waving bye to all those little plastic pieces of pretend fruit and veg that used to get left all over the house.

Anyhoo this is just a quick post on what I did for the kids while my creative space room was getting reorganised. As my room is out of bounds for the kids I made them their very own craft space.

 This is my creative space - CLICK HERE to see the makeover for this room

I pretty much had a budget of $0 for the kids room, although I did go over as I bought new oilcloth for the table and cane baskets. But that's ok - I sold their old Ikea table and kitchen on Ebay and as well as freeing up lots of space the proceeds paid for my little overspend.

Everything else I used was from around the house, existing furniture or the kids already had.

The main focus of the room now is this lovely table which is my old dining room table that we removed from my creative space. I painted the legs white and then stapled pretty oilcloth to the top. It's a fabulous solution as the table is so easy to keep clean and the nice wood is still intact underneath if I want it again in future.

Yup this is all I needed, you don't need to hem oilcloth, I just cut and stapled :)

Boy oh boy has oilcloth had a revamp since I was young, I actually like this Clarke & Clarke one I picked up.

If your looking for a less permant solution you can always just cut the oilcloth to size and use like a regular tablecloth, but I found the kids were always making it slip off the side. So stapled on for me is the way to go.

Then I just painted the chairs white or blue and covered the seats in the same matching oilcloth.

Upcycled dining room chair

Oh my goodness, oilcloth chairs for the kids is amazing, cause my kids are super dooper messy and always spilling stuff. It is so easy to clean crayon, pen and paint just wipe off in a few seconds with a damp cloth like magic.


To store all their craft stuff I used this old pine tv cabinet, pulled off the doors, painted it white and bought some cheap cane baskets. It's so easy for them to pull out to access what they need.

Repurposed old TV cabinet with cane baskets inserted

and no the room does not ever look like these pictures. It's a kids craft and play room and made to be used so it has piles of homework and craft projects underway all the time.

But that's ok I can live with a bit of mess if I get creatively inspired kids in return :)

White pen holders - Ikea, Blue bin repurposed ice bucket

Craft table and chairs- old dining room set painted and then covered with oilcloth
Craft shelves - old tv cabinet painted white with doors removed and cane basket inserted
Oilcloth - Clarke & Clarke Rosetta  (in Australia try Fabrics online for similar)
blue bin - ice bucket repurposed for bin
white pen holders - Ikea
Large white shelving in background - Ikea Expedit with cane basket inserts

Craft storage stand - repurposed planter from hardware store

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!