Castle Playroom Inspiration: A Whimsical Garden Playroom

Seeing a whimsical garden playroom for children can really get the creative juices flowing! This adorable play area was our castle playroom inspiration.

Several years ago, a friend of mine was housesitting for her parents and invited us over for dinner. When we arrived she gave us a tour of their beautiful home. As we turned the corner at the bottom of their stairs, we came across the most adorable playroom for children. Her sister, Kelly, designed and painted the whole thing for them. Seriously, what child wouldn’t love to have a playroom like this at their grandparents’ house?

Our Castle Playroom Inspiration

I fell in love with this whimsical playroom on the spot and quickly realized we also have a split level staircase just like this in our house. I was completely inspired to create a similar playroom someday for our children. Fortunately, I had my camera with me and was able to snap a few photos so I could remember what I loved about this playroom and how they did it.

First, they had a special child-sized entrance to the playroom. They made a white picket fence on hinges, so it could easily open and close for the children.

Here’s the child’s eye view of the back side of the white picket fence entrance. From inside the playroom, they look at beautiful vines with purple flowers climbing along the white picket fence. I also saw they painted the baseboards green and added hand painted grass blades as the base of the mural. They also chose a green carpet which greatly added to the appearance of the grassy garden playroom.

The next thing I noticed was the mirror on the back wall of the playroom. Kelly painted bricks, shutters and a flower box to turn the mirror into a “window” for the children. A mirror also adds extra light and visual depth in a small space. I love how they included a child-sized table next to the window. Wouldn’t this be perfect for a make-believe garden tea party?

At the very back of the playroom, they have a basket piled high with fun costumes. It’s difficult to see in the photo, but next to it is a bookcase with games and toys. I made a mental note: a great playroom must have good storage to put away toys and costumes when they’re not in use.

The mural on the wall also included tall sunflowers at the height of an adult. They painted the ceiling sky blue with white clouds, so the children can feel like they’re outside, even when they’re not.

Most of all, though, I loved the whimsical flowers Kelly painted throughout the playroom. They make the playroom so fun.

Kelly incorporated so many cute details in the garden playroom. She even added tiny little creatures for the children to find, like butterflies, bees and other bugs. Notice the tiny little lady bug hiding on the fence in the photo below!

I have sons, so unfortunately any playroom I create at our house couldn’t be this flowery or cute. I needed to find a way to add a masculine touch, but could still be inspired by the general idea of creating a magical hideaway for kids.

Over the next few years, I continued to think about this playroom every time I looked at the blank walls of the closet space under our stairs. Eventually it occurred to me I could make ours into a castle for the boys. Castles aren’t just for princesses. They can be for princes, knights and even court jesters, right? So onward we go — Next in this series, we’ll share how to paint faux stone walls for the castle. If you’d like, you can subscribe to Kenarry to follow along with our castle playroom series over the next few weeks. You’ll get an e-mail in your in-box every time we publish a new castle playroom post, so you don’t miss a thing.

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Previous in the Castle Playroom Series on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

Castle Playroom: How to Create A Magical Hideaway for Kids

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Inspired Ideas is a regular feature on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home, sharing ideas we’ve found. This Inspired Idea for a playroom under the stairs came from my friend Katy’s parents, along with her sister Kelly Tuit who painted the beautiful murals. The photos were taken by me and shared with their permission. If you live in West Michigan, Kelly paints murals professionally through her business, A Brush of Whimsy. If you’re interested in hiring her, please contact us and we’ll help you get in touch with her. 

Filed Under: Kid Ideas Tagged With: Castle Playroom, DIY, Home Decor, Inspired Ideas, Kid Ideas, Playroom Under Stairs