Hallelujah — the sun is finally back on the East Coast! After weeks of rain, we grabbed the camera to photograph our newly finished bonus room (and yes, “finished” is flexible — we’ll probably tinker forever). We managed to fit a lot of fun and function into the space, plus one enormous spot to sit and not move. The couch in this room is a true vortex of comfort. But I digress…
If you missed how this room came to be (and are wondering where it is), we previously turned an unfinished storage area above our garage into this bonus space. We added built-ins and floating shelves to fill the window nook and created a wire-free wall for the TV. It’s hard to believe this space looked so raw back in January.
We aimed for a casual, playful room that works for the whole family. It’s proved useful to have a contained play area upstairs — not the doorless living room — and a shared space that isn’t one of the kids’ bedrooms. We’ve avoided labeling it strictly a “playroom” because adults use it too: it’s perfect for movie nights, accommodates overnight guests, and doubles as a quiet spot to read. The door has quietly become one of our favorite features.
We think of the room as four functional zones:
- Arts & crafts desk
- Mega-sofa / TV area
- Dress-up corner
- Wall-to-wall storage & floating shelves
Let’s start with the art desk. Our kids seem to appreciate having a desk on each floor: both get tons of use. This spot often becomes their first stop in the morning before breakfast, and having it has made actually getting a morning shower more realistic. Winning.
The desk and chairs were a lucky hand-me-down from a neighbor whose grandkids outgrew them. They’re from a kids’ furniture brand and the chairs echoed our painted spindle-back chairs downstairs. The colorful prints over the desk bring in playful, intricate artwork that the kids love.
We repurposed small wooden spice racks as art supply trays, painted them, and tied their color into the chairs with leftover touch-up paint. Clear plastic cups hold pencils, crayons, and markers; we used a soup can as our size guide to find containers that fit nicely into the racks.
Now the butterflies. This idea started when we moved butterfly and bird pillows into the room, and then found feather butterflies on clearance that made the plan a reality. We first mapped a general shape with Post-it tabs, then swapped them out for the butterflies one by one. Each butterfly arrived with a removable adhesive on the end of a bendable wire, so we could tweak their position and give them a slight float off the wall.
Turning from the art desk, you see our large patterned rug, the wall-mounted TV, and our Mega Sofa-Thing — three chaise sections clamped together to form an enormous, comfortable seating area. We went with a gray-brown slipcover on the chaises and love how the configuration creates a cozy gathering spot for family movie nights, sleepovers, or weekend napping.
The Mega Sofa-Thing has already hosted numerous movie nights and several sleepovers. It doubles as a guest bed when needed — just add sheets, blankets, and pillows. It’s also become my favorite weekend morning retreat when I’m not quite ready to start the day.
We installed dark curtain rods and long ivory curtains to frame the windows and soften the space. Toss pillows echo the bird and butterfly theme and add small pops of color.
Behind the couch, tucked beside the built-ins, is the dress-up corner. Costumes, capes, hats, and play uniforms had been overflowing a bin downstairs, so moving them here made perfect sense. Being visible and accessible has dramatically increased their playtime. A full-length mirror has helped revive the dress-up craze: nothing beats admiring a shark hat in the mirror.
We added baskets for storage and a blue inlay floor mirror that the kids adore. Hooks provide a place to hang outfits, and a framed collage of Clara’s “recipes” — photographed, arranged digitally, and printed inexpensively — creates a whimsical, personal artwork above the hooks.
We didn’t buy many new toys for this room — we moved favorites from other areas so they’d see more use. The play kitchen came from a closet, Duplo collections were split between floors, and puzzles and games moved into lower cabinets for easier access. The new layout helped avoid turning the room into a dumping ground for more stuff.
At first, after drywall was complete but before furnishing, we wondered if finishing this project had been worth it. The room felt like dead space for a few weeks, but once pieces arrived and found their places, it quickly became a versatile, frequently used part of the house — for play, relaxing, TV, guest sleeping, and imaginative camping.
To close with a bit of nostalgia: here’s what the end of our upstairs hall looks like now compared with the house when we bought it. The transformation from a dated laundry nook and unfinished storage to a light, useful bonus room makes the whole upstairs feel more complete.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important sprawling-out assignment to fulfill on a certain trio of chaises.
Psst — we updated our current house’s before & after gallery to include this room and refreshed some other spaces, and we’ve compiled paint colors and sources for each room for easy reference.
*This post contains affiliate links