Building the ultimate playroom has never been an ambition of mine, but something funny happens when you have a child and suddenly, your priorities change. Instead of renovating the bathroom (ball ache) the focus has shifted to making the playroom as fun as possible…mainly for our little boy, but also a bit for us too. 

Babies grow up so quickly, it’s really hard to know what to do when you start considering the longevity of a room. We didn’t want to fill our playroom with stuff that needed replacing within a year, but equally, we didn’t want to put things in that wouldn’t be used or be dangerous for the baby.

In my naivety, pre-child, I thought babies just sort of played with toys and that was that. In reality, when you’re looking after an ASBO 11 month old, you soon realise that there is method to the playroom madness. 

Decoration is an important one. We’ve kept the walls white so we can cover marks. If and when we paint, we’ll be using some kind of indestructible paint that doesn’t mark or stain. No more Farrow and Ball, I need industrial strength resistance! Instead of paint, we’ve used some wall stickers along with a load of prints from Rayne Proof Prints to break up the white. The good thing with prints is that you can change them pretty easily – winner. 

Along with the usual toys, we’ve tried to add in a couple of favourites from soft play. Ball pits seem to be our boy’s favourite thing at the moment and the Scandiborn ball pit is mint.

The soft edges make it safe yet robust and the ball colours mean it fits in well with the room aesthetically (or so I’m told). Having a little ball pit at home is so much fun. As you’ll know, you get certain laughs from your child that show they are REALLY loving life and there’s no sound like our lads ball pit laugh. 

Another little addition (thanks Mum) is the Houzz tipi. We got married in a (much bigger and browner) tipi so it’s got an element of sentiment for us. It’s also class for hide and seek which is another one of the baby’s favourite games. I don’t know what it is about hiding but he thinks it’s hilarious. It’s not so much fun when he decides to use the tipi as a walker though! 

There are so many toys you can buy for a baby or child, it’s mad. Eddison’s favourite toys are a shaker Elissa made from a water bottle and some sequins and his tool box. Whenever I’m drilling or fixing something, he intently watches so we got him a tool box and even at 11 months, he loves playing with the bits. He’s not yet figured out that a hammer is for hit things other than me and his head, but he’ll learn. He’s also obsessed with watching me cook, so if anyone has any recommendations for good kitchen sets, let me know!