A Place to Play...but where?!

The time is upon us - Knox's toys are getting larger and larger and are quickly outgrowing the bins and baskets I've been using to corral them.  Yup, it's playroom time!

Let me first start by saying that in no way am I trying to banish my child from the main living spaces of our home.  I don't want a sterile home that does not reflect the fact that a child lives here.  My goal is NOT to make our home look kid-free and I expect that some of his favorite toys will always make their way into our family room where we spend time together.  I'm simply trying to prevent our main living space from getting completely overrun by toys and give him an organized, safe and inspirational place to play.

Luckily, I've amassed what a collection of inspiring playroom images over on Pinterest to draw from.

 {check out lots more amazing play spaces on my kid's room Pinterest board}

But there's one small problem... 

This is where you come in!  I need your help nailing down where to put this room.  Luckily, I have 2 rooms that I think would make great play spaces for him...but they are on opposite ends (and floors) of our home.  I will lay out the location, size and pros/cons to each room but I would SO APPRECIATE your thoughts on which you think will work best.

OPTION 1:  OUR CURRENT FORMAL LIVING ROOM - ROUGHLY 180 SQUARE FEET.

You might remember I gave this room a 30 minute makeover using just stuff we already had on hand. 

I'm happy with how this room looks now but it's never gotten a lot of use.  We have a separate family room that opens to our kitchen and that is were we spend all of our time.

Pros for turning this room into the playroom:

• It would finally bring a "purpose" to an otherwise purpose-less room.


• It's located on the first floor of our home where we spend 90% of our time in close proximity to our family room and kitchen.


• It's got 2 large, uninterrupted walls which would be perfect for some built in storage solutions.


• It's a nice size.

 Cons for turning this room into the playroom:

• There's no closet space so any storage would have to be created (this doesn't really bother me but I thought I'd point it out).


• There are no doors to this room.  Baby gates would probably be necessary early on but there is no way to "close things away".


• It is located right off the front door to our home and is one of the first rooms you see when you walk in.  See the floor plan of our first floor below. 

 
See??  You walk in and it's there on the right across from the dining room.  This is my one and only reservation about turning this room into kid-ville.


OPTION 2: THE BONUS ROOM ON OUR SECOND FLOOR - ROUGHLY 255 SQUARE FEET.

This is arguably the best room in our house.  It's got a fantastic cathedral ceiling and gets wonderful natural light thanks to some beautiful windows.  It has also been sitting in a state of complete disarray for years since we really haven't needed the space.  I have never shared photos of this room and you're about to see why.  Terrible iPhone photos but trust me...nothing is going to make this room look good in its current state!

Great windows, cathedral ceiling and a dramatic step-up entry.

 

As you can see, it's currently equal parts workout room and storage for Craig's List purchases waiting to make their debut.

 

  
Pros for turning this room into the playroom:

• It would make for an INSANE playroom...like straight out of PB Kids insane.  


• It would finally give this room a purpose.  Whereas the formal living room is at least furnished, this room is really and truly nothing.


• It's huge!  There would be no shortage of open play space in this room. 


• It has a large set of double doors that effectively keep this kid "zone" very separated from the rest of the house.

Cons for turning this room into the playroom:

• It's huge!  This room will eat furniture (and $$) to furnish. 


• It's upstairs.  This is my main concern with turning this room into the main play area of the house. 

Other than morning, bedtime and the occasional trip upstairs to put away laundry, we are never up there.  Knox is getting more and more interested in playing independently but am I really going to put him upstairs and then come downstairs to make dinner? I suppose I could rig up a video monitor in the room but my worst nightmare is that I create this great room and he just drags toys downstairs to play in the family room.  Then I'm right back to where I started!

I'm aware that this is most likely a temporary issue.  10 years from now (or sooner?  I have no idea), a second floor playroom will probably be perfect.  But that's a loooong way away...and my family room is being overrun with plastic NOW!  

SO PLEASE HELP!  Moms, where would you put this room?  Am I over thinking things (always possible) or am I right to worry about having a playroom upstairs and still having toys dragged downstairs?  Is having a playroom right by the front door a bad first impression to make with potential buyers whenever the time comes to sell this home?  Or will the future owners (who will likely also have kids based on the demographics of our neighborhood) appreciate having this first floor playroom?