Makeover By Monday | Cottage Playroom with Built-In Bench & Kitchen

We tackled my friends Anna and Justin’s kids’ playroom for the second episode of Makeover by Monday (Read about their office makeover here). This room brings me SO MUCH joy! Playrooms are one of my favorite space to design because I can really have fun! They can be whimsical, and I can play with colors that I normally wouldn’t use. I did just that in the space; we packed so much joy into this little room, so let’s get into it!

This is a little space next to the office that we made over (read about the office makeover here), and Anna and Justin use it as a playroom for their girls. It’s on the main floor, making it easy for them to keep an eye on them while in the kitchen and living room. It’s not a very large footprint, so we couldn’t change the layout much, so my goal was to take what they had and create a custom built-in version that functioned for them while being absolutely adorable.

What do you think?! Isn’t this the dreamiest playroom! There are a few showstoppers, one of them being the whimsical cottage we built in the corner. This turned out better than I could’ve imagined. Initially, I envisioned a house bookshelf, but Mr. Yolo insisted it should be an actual playhouse. After much debate, we decided on the latter, and I’m thrilled we did! The cottage turned out better than I could’ve imagined. It’s so fun and such a great way to maximize the corner space and create an area where the bench seats could come off both sides. We figured out a few things on the fly: the window box and little window were late additions. And the shaker roof was Alan’s idea, and it totally made the cottage so charming.

Built-in Storage

I wanted to make sure they still had storage and a place to do art, so our carpenter, Michael, created built-ins around the room. One side was cubbies for storage, with a window seat on top. They could sit up there and play musical instruments. And the other side is a desk and tower of storage for art supplies. Anna said the girls use the kitchen all the time, so we elevated that by creating our own built-in kitchen. It really hit on all the things they had in the space before but just makes it look like a well-thought-out completed design. I am sharing the shopping list for everything we used to create the little play kitchen below!

Cosmo Block-Print Wallpaper

I just love this wallpaper so much. It’s one I designed for my collection with Chasing Paper. Anna and I have a shared love for Cosmo flowers; she grows them in her backyard and drops bouquets off on our porch. They are a really special flower to me. I wanted to capture the joy of this bloom in the playroom, so I used the rich mustard color and picked a coordinating yellow paint, and it feels so fun in here! I love that this print works in this kids’ room, and it could also work in an adult room. It’s just a perfect touch of whimsical and an ode to our love for Cosmo flowers. Cosmos were not quite blooming yet during this makeover, so I added a few faux ones I had to the window box.

Is this custom kitchen Micheal built not the most adorable thing? Stay tuned for a post with all the details!

Yellow Paint

Anna loves the color yellow, and they actually had a yellow accent wall, but I am officially declaring accent walls are out. I fully believe in picking a color and committing to it. If you don’t want to paint a whole room a color, a great way to still utilize the color is to create a trim piece which goes all the way around the room and just paint the color below it. I used Behr Wild Ginger for the wall under the trim to complement the Cosmo wallpaper.

The best part of this room was witnessing the girls’ reaction! Our daughter joined them in the playroom, and it was such a delight to see them enjoy the kitchen, read books in the cottage, and craft at the desk. Witnessing our design come to life and bring so much happiness was truly heartwarming. I’m thrilled this room is in our friends’ home, allowing us to revisit and relish the joy it brings.

All the shopping information is below – let me know if you have any other questions.

Watch Season 2 of ‘Makeover By Monday’ Saturdays at 1p/12p c on the Magnolia Network on TV! Or stream anytime on Max and Discovery plus!