A designated playroom is a pipe dream in DC, but we’re lucky to have a bit of extra space in the dining room that we’ve carved out as a baby corner. My delusional self originally thought that we’d be able to corral all toys in the nursery but, it turns out, you need toys in other places, particularly in a rowhouse where forgetting something on the third floor when you’re already down on the first feels like an Olympic sport.
I’ve written previously about the odd layout in our dining room, with two bump-out bays. One has a sofa — it’s my favorite spot to sit as the late afternoon sun streams in — and the other has always been sitting in purgatory. We didn’t actually need that much space, until we did.
Now it’s been turned into the baby corner. It’s where we have a play mat, a soon-t0-be-used walker, and a slew of other toys and accoutrements. And, of course, I figured out a stylish way to disguise it all so it can be tucked out of sight at a moment’s notice (or every day when I have the house to myself from 9 to 5).
An Aesthetic Solution for Toy Storage
The most critical element of this space is the piece of furniture that hides the toys and baby stuff. Obviously I wasn’t going to choose something specifically designed for children’s storage. I knew I could find a vintage storage option that would integrate more seamlessly with the style of the room and provide maximum storage. I didn’t need to spend retail price on a kids’ bookshelf when I could easily source a solid wood sideboard on the secondhand market with both closed storage and a more chic look.
However, easily wasn’t as easy as I hoped. I won’t pretend this was a quick hunt for the perfect piece. I spent months, literally, stalking Facebook Marketplace, reaching out to favorite vendors about their inventory, and occasionally scrolling through secondhand sites. Looking back, for the amount of time I spent searching, I probably could have commissioned a custom piece and come out ahead. But, alas, here we are.
I finally found this sideboard on Facebook Marketplace from a seller out of Baltimore. It’s one of those pieces that I couldn’t have dreamt up. Did I originally envision a weathered light yellow with washed gray-green detailing? Not at all. But this has the perfect French country meets elegant meets effortless vibe that this room needed. And it fits the space with just two inches (if that?!) to spare. It makes use of the entire nook, and it gives us room not only for toy storage, but for work-from-home storage, too (I end up working in the dining room 95% of the time, so my desk is often for appearances only — my planner, computer, and notebook live here). The sideboard was likely used as a media cabinet previously, so it even had a hole cut in the back, which means our printer also lives in here. This pieces does it all.
Inside, we have a few baskets filled with toys, then outside, there’s a basket that I picked up at the Ekster Antiques Barn Sale, which houses play mats and blankets, then, of course, the play gym and walker live just outside. It feels almost like we have a playroom, but it packs easily away in the most aesthetically pleasing fashion, which is exactly what we need in a rowhouse where we’re hoping not to let the kid stuff take over.
