Formal to fun: Your unused dining room could be the perfect playroom

When Alexis Cosinuke moved into her house in Lexington, Ky., a couple years ago, she knew she'd have to get creative to give her three kids a place of their own. Because the home didn't have a basement or designated playroom, she turned to a space with an intended purpose that often feels too stuffy for young families: the dining room.

The expert DIY-er and design content creator handled much of the work herself. Out went a builder-grade chandelier and wall-to-wall carpet; in went a subtler light fixture, hard-wearing vinyl plank flooring, and built-in cabinetry that Cosinuke customized to suit her children's interests.

"For instance, the shelving behind the cabinet doors had to be wide enough and deep enough to fit bins that house my kids' art supplies," she says. The space got two coats of Clare paint's Dirty Chai, a warm brown: "It's as if the room is giving you a bear hug when you walk in."

For parents like Cosinuke — who are short on space and working within a limited budget — the dining room is an obvious candidate to turn into a playroom for a couple reasons: Outside of holidays and special occasions, it often doesn't get much use. And it tends to be located close to the kitchen and other main arteries of the home, making it a convenient spot for grown-ups to keep an eye and ear on the little ones.

"It's one of the first places we consider if there isn't a designated space for play," says Courtney Gault, founder of Greenwich Play, a family-focused design firm in Connecticut. "Especially today, they're pretty formal ... so it's the perfect location for a playroom for little kids."

If you're planning a dining room transformation of your own, consider this advice from Gault and other experts.

Repurpose — but retain — existing features

Remember that one day, either you or a future buyer may want to turn your playroom back into a dining room. So be sure to "maintain that genuine character of the space," says Gault. For example, she suggests keeping the chair railing if you have one, but adding a mural or fun wallpaper above it so that it doesn't feel so formal.

When Gault repurposed the dining room in her own first home in Connecticut, she also took an inventive approach to the fireplace. Obviously, she didn't want to get rid of it, but she sought to give it a new purpose in a room that would now revolve around her son's interests. Her answer: make it a book nook. "I took a dog bed that we weren't using and put it in there, and even bought padding so no one would hit their head coming out. And we had like a little book cart right next to it with blankets and pillows," Gault recalls. "It totally took this unused little space in the house and made it this purposeful magical place with twinkle lights and fluffy pillows."

Storage, storage, storage

In a space designated for kids, storage is, of course, crucial — and probably not a feature that your dining room already has much of.

Cosinuke designed her built-ins "based on the dimensions of the largest toys and storage bins we had, so I was certain they would fit," she says. "Doors are your best friend. They hide the beautiful chaos of childhood." She also incorporated a bench that does triple duty as a reading nook, a place for adults to sip coffee within sight of the play zone, and more hidden storage — lift the seat, and you'll find soccer balls and dress-up clothes. (While Cosinuke designed all the built-ins herself, she hired someone to build them.)

Gault turned to a favorite source among budget-conscious families for the storage that she installed in the dining room of her former home: "This was my first real foray into transforming Ikea furniture into built-in looking things," she says. "They make a lot of low storage [which works well in] dining rooms where you often compete with a chair railing or low window." She recommends Ikea's Billy bookcases, with doors attached. Adding trim that matches the rest of the room can make them look custom. Paint, wallpaper and new knobs help, too, she says.

Among Gault's other advice: "Use the walls! Install shelves, coat racks, hang fun lighting, and create a place for your child to display their work."

Anne Gillyard, co-owner of the D.C.-based grOH! Playrooms, specializes in designing kid spaces that aid child development. She recommends setting up a toy rotation and keeping only a few toys out at a time, while tucking the rest away in another part of the home.

"Think about a cluttered desk: It's really hard for adults to work at a cluttered desk," she says. "And play is children's work. So actually having fewer toys out is not only going to help your children focus, [it will help them] develop more independence and be able to clean up after themselves easier."

Consider the adults

Adding playfulness is vital in a playroom — it's right there in the name — but within reason. "If [your dining room is] right off your foyer, we tend to advise designing in a similar style to the rest of the home while still infusing a smaller pop of color or really playing with texture and pattern," says Gillyard. "Sometimes it might be pink window trim, or adding a little wallpaper or a fun unexpected paint color to the ceiling because without walking in there, you might not see it."

The goal, she explains, is to encourage creativity — and one of the best ways to accomplish that is by figuring out if the space also inspires the grown-ups. "It's about finding the level that feels comfortable for you," Gillyard says. "Because if a space can inspire us to be playful, then it will inspire our kids to be playful."

Cosinuke took the simple step of adding a pair of adult-size swivel chairs to the playroom in her house. It's now the spot where she and her husband like to debrief before dinner, while the kids romp.

Kathryn O'Shea-Evans is a design and travel writer in Colorado.