Before & After: The Under-$60 IKEA Item That Created a “Coloring Station” in This Kid’s Playroom

Playrooms are spaces where kids get to be the boss. They’re four walls that support their imagination, whether through play-pretending with toys, reading books, or being crafty. When designing these rooms, it’s essential to consider how they’ll engage with the space. 

For instance, if your kid loves to play with LEGOs, you’ll want an ingenious storage solution for when they’re done playing, or if you’re raising a bookworm, there are 26 books every kid’s home library should have. But, if your child loves to craft — you’ll want to hear about what Mica, who owns this tropical home in Tampa, Florida, did in her daughter’s playroom. 

Mica’s daughter’s playroom had an awkward space between a wall and a pillar that needed to be filled. They put a cabinet to close it off, but the backing stood awkwardly facing the playroom. Knowing that her daughter loves to color, an idea sparked. 

It took Mica and her husband a while to figure out what to do with the back of the cabinet, so she looked to other playrooms and found a solution. “I saw a pegboard in other playrooms and thought it was brilliant for organizing all the crafts our daughter uses every day,” Mica says. “It all came together with the desk. Our daughter loves it.”

Putting the pegboard together was a quick project for Mica and her husband. After buying the pegboard from IKEA, they used a Wagner paint sprayer to paint it in shellac primer. “Because these surfaces would be in heavy use we made sure to use a primer that would help the paint stick through scratches,” she says. 

To help the pegboard flow with the rest of the playroom, the couple painted it in Sherman Williams’s “Windswept Canyon.” To add pops of color onto the pegboard, they spray-painted the IKEA storage compartments that would hold their daughter’s tools. 

It took about two days for the primer and the paint to dry, but once it was set, it was time to hang the pegboard (Mica and her husband followed the instructions that came with the piece!). Next, it was time to organize their daughter’s craft materials.

“We have placed all of the things she uses frequently within her reach and that has worked great. Out of her reach are things that are purely decorative or we use less frequently,” Mica explains. “There are things she knows to get mom and dad if she wants access.”

The pegboard has become Mica’s daughter’s “big coloring station” because she can access all her materials easily. However, the rest of the playroom is set up so their daughter can grab most things without a parent’s help. 

These popular KALLAX shelves from IKEA line a wall in the playroom (painted in the same process as the pegboard!). “They are great storage shelves and we have many. I also found these drawers that can be added and I could not resist painting them as well,” Mica shares.

Mica’s daughter’s playroom isn’t the only stunning space in their colorful Florida home. To see more, visit the full house tour on Apartment Therapy. 

• Pegboard — IKEA
• Storage container — IKEA
• Storage container — IKEA
• Storage container — IKEA
• Storage container hook — IKEA
• Table — IKEA
• Couch — Nugget
• Couch — Nugget
• Wood climbing structure — Wiwiurka
• Paint — Sherwin-Williams