Our Secret Closet Turned Play Nook

Today we have another reveal (a mini one), to cheer us up or at least distract us from the world right now – or perhaps the perfect place in which to crawl inside and stay til 2022! This hall closet had so much potential – it has the sweetest little window and a junction box for a sconce. We had a fantasy of putting in a secret bookshelf/door in the kid’s room that opened to this little nook, but we never did. Instead, we used it for seasonal coats with a rolling rack and just random storage.

I don’t think I ever took a “before” photo of this landing, but the original doors and doorframes were painted a dark brown, so we lightened them up with white paint, but otherwise, we didn’t really change this area too much.

Once we decided to make the former playroom into a den to sell the house, we realized that this would be the cutest little playroom, especially since it’s next to the kid’s room. So I brought the furniture that we already had up there. The play kitchen is from Pottery Barn and is SO CUTE, rocking horse from Target (Hearth & Hand 2 years ago) and of course our sheepskin from Article. All the kid’s pots and pans are Hearth & Hand, and my favorite wood food is here.

Sconce (similar) | Knit Banner | Play Kitchen | Rocking Horse (no longer available | Sheepskin Rug

The banner is from Lulu and Georgia but is no longer in stock there. Here it is from another source. I forget where I got that sconce years ago but it was super affordable (this one is similar). Fun/disgusting fact – the glass is clear, but the dust makes it look frosted in the photo. That’s where we are at these days…

Dollhouse

And then there is the dollhouse… that miniature building mocks me every time I see it because neither of my children want to decorate it with me. Maybe I don’t know HOW to play dollhouse with kids and need to reframe it, but they do not share the same miniature styling passion. In fact, when I threatened to give it to a our neighbor kid who would use it they both said, “Ok. We don’t like it” which if you have kids you know that generally the idea of giving away toys to another kid, even the toys they NEVER PLAY WITH is traumatizing and all of a sudden the previously neglected toy is “the most special thing to me”. So that’s how much they don’t want to play dollhouse with me. I even took Birdie to a dollhouse store in the valley and let her pick out miniature lamps, desks, and dolls to get her involved. Nope. Charlie made his opinion clear years ago when he used his action figures to destroy the living room and I got more upset than a mom should get about a 3 year old messing up my dollhouse fireplace vignette.

I’m sad that our kids likely won’t be able to enjoy this space for too much longer (they haven’t even seen it yet). But that’s how we turned our extra hall closet into a play nook (or would be a super cute zoom school – because that’s a thing now – our kids going to school in their closets!!). xx

In case you missed any of the other reveals so far check them out: The Living Room | The Kid’s Shared Bedroom | The Basement Guestroom/Office | Basement Bathroom | Elliot’s Room | Kitchen and Dining Room | The Entry | The Family Room | The Front Yard

**Reveal Photos by Sara Ligorria-Tramp