My friends, I did it! It’s done! This is the third home tour in a series I did of my #canningcabin, a new home for my family that I have spent the last 4 months renovating and decorating (all while pregnant with our 7th child LOL). You can check out my main floor tour and our master bedroom and closet tour (and yes, I put up shiplap in a rental!)

If you’d prefer to watch the transformation (and see a real life work-at-home mom moment with my kids), click below. Otherwise, read on for how to create a modern playroom, and learn about the home office I created for my husband, and a “secret room” that was so much fun to transform.

1. KEEP THE PALETTE BLACK AND WHITE

I love colour, but I wanted to try something different and edgy in my basement. For a long time, I’ve been inspired by Scandinavian design for its austere, simple forms- but for a long time I had a limiting belief that it was just not possible to have minimal decor when you have a bunch of kids. But what creating this space has shown me is the power of a minimal palette of black and white.

The way to keep things interesting is to vary your patterns but all within this black and white palette. Think stripes, geometric prints, painterly lines, and high contrast cabinetry. Speaking of cabinetry…

2. UTILIZE FLOOR TO CEILING CABINETRY

This is my secret weapon in playrooms. Honestly, THIS IS A GAME CHANGER. I know I call a lot of things game changers, but this is REALLY an important strategy for parents who want serenity, function, and a modern aesthetic in a playroom.

Putting in floor to ceiling cabinetry allows you to HIDE ALL THE VISUAL CLUTTER AND CHAOS that comes with toys, books, Pokemon cards, florescent blinking plastic, and all that fun stuff behind beautiful, closed storage. You literally get to close the door on visual clutter and it is a big reason why I love spending time in this room.

I worked with Tailored Living on this space, and the big reason why I love working with them (check out this ultimate craft room I did earlier this year) is they make it so convenient for you to achieve organization and order by bringing you all the samples during an in-home consultation, taking all the measurements, working with you on a 3-D design that will be ideal for your family, installing the cabinets quickly and simply, and really just getting you where you need to go in regards to your organizational goals. With franchises across the US and Canada, there’s a solution waiting for you.

I wanted high contrast in the cabinetry so I went with white modern shaker cabinets on the perimeter of the room, and dark drawer fronts on this generous island that allows my kids ample room to spread out and get messy. The combination of drawers and tall cabinets is an important strategy- the tall upper cabinets are great for books and board games, the deeper lower cabinets are fabulous for large bins for toys and oversize, bulky toys, and shallow drawers are great for art supplies, paper, Shopkins and lego. We used laminate for its durability as well as its accessible price point.

And to add a bit of sparkle to the space, I added these new pulls by Shayne Fox Hardware. I love the handmade, rustic element these bring to this cabinetry.

But the biggest thing I argue cabinetry brings in a playroom is PEACE. Even if the contents of the drawers and toy bins are a jumbled mess, behind closed doors and drawer fronts, no one is the wiser. Like I said, GAME CHANGER.

3. KEEP THE BLACK MATTE

I chose to put a sink in this space as it’s so practical with my 6 little kids. In keeping with my monochromatic palette, I chose to use a matte black faucet and turned to one of my favourite partners Delta Faucets (I still mourn the loss of all the faucets in my old house!) with their new Esque faucet.

The name Esque is inspired by the suffix meaning “in the style of” and a clipped ballet pose that speaks to elegance, grace and movement, clearly visible with its sleek pull-down design and modern innovations (watch my video above to see the ShieldSpray technology in action, watch how the water is dispersed in a truly unique pattern to clean up dirty dishes while containing mess and splatter- seriously, go press play on the video above!)

And I kept the matte black going with the wall paint colour which makes me so happy. I don’t think I would have been as bold to do this if I did not have so much natural light in this space- but I’m so happy with how this Wrought Iron colour by Benjamin Moore turned out. And whenever I use dark shades I like using it in a matte finish, as opposed to eggshell or satin. It’s rich, and lush and I love its modern look.

4. USE LARGE SCALE ART FOR A GRAPHIC ELEMENT

I think this is my favourite element in my playroom. We went to Staples, paid $15 a print, and had large individual portraits of my children blown up to fit this inexpensive Ikea SILVERHÖJDEN frame. We hung them around our TV about 3″ apart and it creates a graphic element that makes me smile every time I enter the room. Keeping things black and white helps the TV to not feel like a major focal point of the room, and instead sort of blend in to the composition.

5. CREATE A SPACE FOR THE GROWN UPS

Sometimes mom and dad need a moment to steal away, but still keep an eye on the little ones. One of the things this house did not have that my old house did (and we needed) was a home office space. So we actually put this wall up ourselves, including these beautiful doors I painted blue from Metrie. I love how the clear glass gives us the option to still peek in and see what is going on with our children.

We put in this electric fireplace media unit by Dimplex in this space and I just love how it creates instant cozy with the press of a button. You can put an electric fireplace virtually anywhere you can run the correct power, and the results are fast, stylish, cozy and so comfortable.

There is something about a fireplace that promotes instant comfort and relaxation at home, don’t you think?

And if you watch my video above, you’ll learn about this crazy “secret room” we discovered while walking around our property- this room was literally full of garbage, and had been enclosed with drywall (complete with drapery still up!) inside the office. We tore down the drywall, cleaned up the room, and now enjoy a sweet little space that I am hoping forces me to slow down every day to literally smell the roses, LOL.

What do you think? Could you create a modern playroom somewhere in your house? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks to Tailored Living, Delta Faucet Canada and Dimplex for partnering with me on this post. I work very hard to research the brands I partner with to ensure they provide you my reader ways to make your life more beautiful, functional and effortless. Opinions are very much my own. Photos by Larry Arnal

FULL PRODUCT LIST

PLAYROOM

Tailored Living Customized CABINETS: http://bit.ly/2Hpill3

Cabinet HARDWARE: http://bit.ly/2tqLZAj

Wall PAINT colour: http://bit.ly/2K1DOp2

Delta Esque FAUCET: http://bit.ly/2KfGQpe

Gold picture FRAMES: http://bit.ly/2ttko1o

Sectional SOFA: http://bit.ly/2Md4n7i

Barstools: Old ones from my last house we spray painted Champagne Mist

Photo ledges: http://bit.ly/2tm0yFX

Teepee: https://amzn.to/2IigYnl

Accessories: http://bit.ly/2HrbuY7