Fun and Stylish Playroom Decor Ideas

Thoughtfully designed playrooms are a great way to spark creativity and imagination. But they also need to be practical and functional. And it is possible to strike the perfect balance—a dedicated space for play that isn't chaotic or messy. Even a small space or a spare room makes a great place for kids.

So, if you have ever wondered, “What do you put in a playroom?” or “How can I decorate a playroom on a budget?” you're in the right place. In this post, I'm sharing my top tips for how to decorate a playroom that will be fun, stylish, and functional.

The wall of a playroom is covered with the letter "A" in different scripts, above storage units, small bookcases and a monitor showing a Ferris wheel.

Table of Contents

How to Decorate a Playroom: General Tips

I have designed several playrooms since our girls were toddlers. Now that they're 12, we have more of what most people would call a family bonus room, but really, it's still a playroom. Our kids just don't think it's cool to call it that anymore, lol. It's still a favorite spot for physical activity, games, and unlimited fun.

When you set out to design any space in your home, you absolutely need to come up with a cohesive design plan first. If that's something you struggle with, I highly suggest you check out Designer in a Binder®. It's the system I use every time I design spaces in our homes!

In any event, I have a lot of experience with designing playrooms and kid-friendly spaces! Before we dive into specific tips and ideas, let's talk about the “big picture” playroom decorating tips.

When designing a child's playroom to be both functional and stylish, you generally want to focus on:

Creating a flexible space that can be used in a variety of ways. This is especially important if you have kids of multiple ages. You want to be sure all of your kids can enjoy it no matter their age.
Choosing functional playroom décor and furniture that you and your kids will still love as they grow and get older.
Including lots of functional and versatile storage solutions that can store anything from favorite toys for young children to board games and books for older kids.

With those overarching goals in mind, let's talk specifics!

Playroom Décor Ideas

Incorporate Color & Pattern

I know there are tons of neutral décor lovers out there, and I totally get it. Neutral décor can be very soothing and comforting. But I feel that playrooms should make our kids (and us) feel energized, and there is no better way to do that than with lots of bright colors! Don't worry. I'm not talking neon bright—just a vibrant, energetic color palette.

A colorful indoor gym and playroom for young children includes a play table, storage bins, and a green couch. The rug says "Play all day." — Source: @chaos.and.rainbows

Think beyond your walls! Color and pattern can also be incorporated through décor items like artwork, soft rugs, throw pillows, etc.

A basic teen bonus room with colorful art squares, storage. and two tweens using the coffee table for writing. Tasha Agruso of Kaleidoscope Living designed this room. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

Use a Fun Wallpaper for an Accent Wall

A playroom is a perfect space to use a fun wallpaper that may feel like a bit too much in a “regular” room. The right one can add a splash of color and pattern!

A small playroom has one wall with colorful geometric shape wall paper along one wall, built-in bookshelves along another wall, and plenty of toys, kids furniture, and storage space.

Photo by Lucy Interior Design – Discover kids' room design inspiration

Include Ample Storage for Crafts & Toys

Versatile and simple playroom storage is your friend. I've personally found that a combination of open and closed storage is the way to go in a playroom. Look for multifunctional furniture. Closed cabinets can help you hide items you don't want to look at all the time, while open storage is great for books and bins for toys your kids play with the most. You can take a tour of our bonus room to see how we store things below.

Modular Cabinets

Believe it or not, cabinets for playrooms can be very budget-friendly. These IKEA cabinets we used in our current bonus room were affordable and are STURDY. They are modular so that you can create a mixture of closed cabinets, storage units, and open shelves.

A colorful playroom with storage and foosball table by Tasha Agruso of Kaleidoscope Living. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

Bookcases

In our old playroom, we built these DIY pipe shelves and desks, which added a ton of storage and gave them somewhere to sit and draw or work on puzzles.

The corner of a playroom with pipe bookshelves and a shelf-desk. Books and games are neatly arranged on the dark wood shelves. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living Kids' Playroom Reveal

And the beautiful bookcases below are actually a genius IKEA bookshelves hack. Affordable, stylish, and functional!

A bright playroom wall with an IKEA bookshelf hack that turns bookcases into horizontal storage. You can find playroom ideas and more in this blog. — Source: Bless'er House

Baskets and Bins

Wondering how to store all those Legos, Polly Pockets, etc., so they stay organized and easily accessible? Baskets and bins are a great option.

I personally love lidded bins that can stack and store pretty much anything. We use our lidded bins for Legos, which have worked incredibly well. These IKEA Kuggis storage bins are inexpensive and sturdy. They come in different sizes but are designed to stack perfectly on top of each other. They are large enough that my girls can keep their Lego sets largely assembled when they put them away. See how nice and unobtrusive they are in the background?

A closeup of the corner of a weaved basket on a light, colorful rug. Blurry storage bins and a bright blue square painting are in the background. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

Best of all, they use bins and lids to build on, which makes it easy for them to move around AND clean up when they are done.

A plastic white bin and cover, as seen from above, are easy storage for LEGO and more. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

Include Storage Furniture

Using a storage bench or window seat for seating and storing things like board games is one of the smartest items you can include in a playroom design. In our last house, I eventually took over my girls' dedicated playroom to use as my home office. At that point, their play area moved to a nook/corner in our family room. They used a storage bench as the seat at their desk, and it held all of our board games!

A playroom in the corner of family room, including a desk, and two young girls near low bookshelves. Room by Tasha Agruso of Kaleidoscope Living — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Family Room

A storage bench's interior space is full of board games. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Family Room

And in our current bonus room, we love our storage coffee table (I'm a sucker for unique coffee tables). Not only is it great for storing stuff, but the fact that the top flips up also makes it one of our girls' favorite spots to draw or make bracelets while they watch TV.

A young girl sits on a couch while using the raised desk portion of a coffee table. Unique coffee tables that are multi-functional are great playroom ideas. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

And these incredible storage chairs and coffee tables are GENIUS! They add style and function to this modern playroom space.

Four storage chairs with the seats lifted surround a multi-level round coffee table in a playroom. — Source: Bless'er House

Add Interest to the Ceiling

Playrooms call for whimsical touches, and what's more whimsical than doing something fun on the ceiling? I love this idea of adding simple gold stars to the ceiling (I love ceiling ideas that make a huge impact).

A sunny, colorful playroom with stars on ceiling, bookshelves in the corner. a striped rug, and central white table. Playroom ideas can include impactful ceilings. — Source: HGTV

Want to take the whimsy up a notch? This ceiling mimics the inside of a circus tent. SO FUN!

One playroom idea shows a ceiling made to look like a circus tent, along with a cardboard rocket ship and bags in the corner. — Source: Petit and Small

Include a Desk or Table for Homework & Crafts

In every single playroom we have set up for our girls, we have been sure to include a large table or desk. Not only are desk drawers perfect for holding things like crayons and markers, but the large table surface offers lots of space for doing crafts, putting together puzzles, making friendship bracelets, and even doing homework. The large desk sits behind the sofa in our girls' current bonus room space. Two stools easily tuck under the desk when they aren't in use.

A wooden tabletop with a white lamp is behind a leather couch and is used as a desk for kids. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

You may want to choose a kid-sized table and chairs for younger children. The more comfortable they are, the more they will use it!

This playroom idea has a blue mural of old ships on a wall behind a white desk with four stools and large windows. — Source: Emily Henderson

For older kids needing less floor space, you might even want a large table AND a desk area for a homework zone.

A green room has white desks for homework against the windows and a craft table in the middle of the room/ Th walls are covered in framed pictures and art, which is just one of many playroom ideas. — Source: Ann LaCouture

Add Comfortable Seating

Every playroom needs a cozy reading nook or lounge to curl up and watch a family movie. Choose durable seating furniture (think leather or a performance fabric) that can be easily reconfigured so that you can easily rearrange your playroom as your kids get older and use the space in different ways.

In our girls' first playroom, we included a small loveseat and comfy bean bags. Joe and I usually sat on the loveseat, but our girls almost exclusively sat in their bean bag chairs because they LOVED them.

A playroom with blue-grey walls, a white loveseat and two child-sized bean bags. Framed children's book covers are on the wall. Good playroom ideas include comfortable seating. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living Kids' Playroom Re v eal

In our current bonus room/playroom, we combined a leather loveseat with two stylish recliners. These three separate pieces are so much easier to rearrange than a large sectional would be. I know because we have already gone through 2 different furniture arrangements in this space as our girls have grown and needed a bit more open floor space.

Playroom ideas can include bonus rooms like this, with white walls, comfortable seating and child-friendly coffee tables and artwork. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

One large sofa or couch and a smaller loveseat would also give you a fair amount of flexibility.

Light wood beams make an interesting ceiling for a white wood paneled room with deep blue couches. A grey futon, round wood coffee tables and part of a large wooden toy plane complete this playroom idea. — Source: Emily Henderson

One of my favorite playroom ideas is using large floor cushions to form one long seating area. The best part is that your kids can let their imaginations run wild and use the cushions to build all kinds of creations! Also, how fun are those wall decals?!

Playroom ideas for attics with angled ceilings include black crosses along the wall and ceiling, cushions on the floor for seating, and two hanging rope swings. — Source: Chango & Co.

Include a Chalkboard Wall

We painted a large wall in our girls' first playroom with chalkboard paint, and I was genuinely shocked by how much they used it for years. The chalkboard dust can make a bit of a mess, so I don't know that I would recommend a chalkboard wall in a room with wall-to-wall carpeting. But it's super easy to vacuum up on any hard floor surface. The best part is that the chalkboard wall itself serves as a huge piece of artwork that is constantly evolving and changing. Sigh. I kind of miss our chalkboard wall.

Two young girls write on a floor to ceiling chalk wall. Children's art work hangs above them, bins full of staffed animals hang on the side, and the top of the wall reads, "Every child is an artist." — Source: Kaleidoscope Living Kids' Playroom Reveal

Add a Swing, Basketball Hoop, Climbing Wall, Etc.

If you have the space, why not include the ultimate play space? Or a full-blown indoor playground to let you bring outdoor play into the house?

An indoor gym with rock climbing walls, rope ladders, swings, and rings are being used by children in this converted space made from great playroom ideas. — Source: @annlacouture6

Blue striped stairs line the back wall and stop at an indoor climbing frame. Under the stairs is a little display with a small fir tree and other knickknacks. This playroom idea includes using an alcove at the back of the stairs as a place to sit. — Source: Emily Henderson

An indoor gym playroom idea includes a rock-climbing wall, ceiling rope net and wooden toys and storage bins. — Source: Carl Wooley

Playroom Wall Decor & Accessories

When it comes to the finishing touches of playroom wall décor and accessories, HAVE FUN WITH IT! I am a huge proponent of filling walls with things like your kids' artwork.

In our own playroom, I turned some of my daughters' original paintings into wall art by enlarging and framing them. Each piece displays the name of who painted it and the age they were at the time. I absolutely love how they turned out.

Two comfortable chairs, white cabinet, and a wood coffee table are in front of a wall of framed children's artwork. — Source: Kaleidoscope Living's Colorful Bonus Room

As much as I love our framed prints, I also LOVE the idea of just putting your kids' drawings and paintings directly on a wall—it's such a great accent wall idea. Hot tip: Use museum putty to stick them to your walls—it won't damage the wall surface or the paper when you remove it!

One of the best playroom ideas is to use children's artwork as decoration. A wall of kid's art includes an elephant, handprints, and more crafts. Books and an art cart are in front.

Have fun with the other accessories in the room. I filled an entire gallery wall with “A”s I've collected over the years. They are perfect for the space because our last name begins with “A,” and both of my daughters' names begin with “A” as well. They add lots of color and whimsy to the space.