Small Apartment Living: Playroom Products

17 May 2018


We live in a 685 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment in Center City, Philly. We wanted to create a play space for our toddler and friends to play on rainy days, extreme weather days and for get-all-your-energy-out-before-bed play. After some research, we found two products we have absolutely loved.

The mats are from Cream Haus. Their mats are non-toxic, thick (1.6 in.) and water-resistant. It’s great for crawling and learning to walk, as they cushion their fall well. It’s amazing to sit on for extended periods of time for parents who play on the floor with kids. Or for when your adult kids come over to play board/card games. It’s also perfect for stay-overs because the entire mat is cushy for everyone to sleep on.


We have three of the 51 in. x 102 in. folding play mat in grey/cream and two sets of the modular cube play mat in blue which come in a set of 4. We thought the modular may help with the shape of the room and each of the modular comes with Velcro on all four sides. However, we found that they aren’t heavy enough to stay down on their own without moving. I would only recommend them if you have a wall or furniture to put it up against. For our room, it worked best to use them against the wall as a wall “bumper”. In the future, I’d love to try the bumper mat or the Inua Haus Canopy. For now, the mats are essential for our day to day living and play. Here are some pros and cons.


PROS: Thick (1.6 inches), perfect color palette (colors I like in light blue, white, grey but they also have pink), non-toxic (free of PVC, BPA, phthaltaes, etc.) easy to clean (wipe down, vacuum) and easy to move (they fold!).
Living in a 685 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment, your living room needs to be able to convert last minute from 90% play area + 10% dining area to 80% dining room area for 20 guests + 20% play area. They fold well so we could tuck them into the corners of our bedroom when we hosted large gatherings yet still keep one out for the littles to play. We placed some against the wall (modular mat) as well as the floor (folding mats). Our foldable mats are 51 in. x 102 in. size in grey and white. The modular mat is blue with one size being 25.6 in. x 25.6 in.


CONS: We originally purchased the modular mats because our apartment is an odd shape but found that they move around quite a bit because they're light and can be velcro-ed to each other but not to the larger foldable pieces.
Therefore, we decided to make them wall padding and bought another folding mat. They're a little weightier due to length, so they don't slide around as much.


The “sofas” are from Nugget Comfort. We didn’t have any seating and while searching for safe, small sofas without corners, I came upon this company. We purchased one to try it out and absolutely loved it and ordered another one. My husband loves putting together mazes and forts for our toddler and it’s been a perfect way to tire out our toddler indoors when we can’t get him to the playground. It’s also been such a hit with our friends and their kids!


It’s 15x15x24 and comes in 4 pieces. A thick piece, a thinner piece and 2 triangles and is made from something similar to pool foam. The fabric causes friction on each other and keeps them up for building fun. It’s also a perfect height for standing and playing. We’ve used it for active play, imaginative play and for naps (for kids and adults alike). It can be a crawl space, fort, store front, castle, you imagine it, you can make it! We've also made them ball ramps, slides, tunnels, lounger, toddler nap bed, etc. We bought two sets of koala color when they came out with new colors last year. We couldn't be happier. Our growing toddler expends lots of energy running through mazes that his dada puts together. It's been a great dada-son activity as they create something different together each day. Here are the pros and cons.


PROS: Easy to launder and put back on. Tons of fun and different ways for anyone at any age to use it. We recommended it to someone and the husband was easily convinced because of how comfortable it was to nap on it!


The only CON might be the static it produces in the winter, but what kid doesn't have fun trying to zap you with static?

Small Apartment Living: Playroom Products

17 May 2018


We live in a 685 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment in Center City, Philly. We wanted to create a play space for our toddler and friends to play on rainy days, extreme weather days and for get-all-your-energy-out-before-bed play. After some research, we found two products we have absolutely loved.

The mats are from Cream Haus. Their mats are non-toxic, thick (1.6 in.) and water-resistant. It’s great for crawling and learning to walk, as they cushion their fall well. It’s amazing to sit on for extended periods of time for parents who play on the floor with kids. Or for when your adult kids come over to play board/card games. It’s also perfect for stay-overs because the entire mat is cushy for everyone to sleep on.


We have three of the 51 in. x 102 in. folding play mat in grey/cream and two sets of the modular cube play mat in blue which come in a set of 4. We thought the modular may help with the shape of the room and each of the modular comes with Velcro on all four sides. However, we found that they aren’t heavy enough to stay down on their own without moving. I would only recommend them if you have a wall or furniture to put it up against. For our room, it worked best to use them against the wall as a wall “bumper”. In the future, I’d love to try the bumper mat or the Inua Haus Canopy. For now, the mats are essential for our day to day living and play. Here are some pros and cons.


PROS: Thick (1.6 inches), perfect color palette (colors I like in light blue, white, grey but they also have pink), non-toxic (free of PVC, BPA, phthaltaes, etc.) easy to clean (wipe down, vacuum) and easy to move (they fold!).
Living in a 685 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment, your living room needs to be able to convert last minute from 90% play area + 10% dining area to 80% dining room area for 20 guests + 20% play area. They fold well so we could tuck them into the corners of our bedroom when we hosted large gatherings yet still keep one out for the littles to play. We placed some against the wall (modular mat) as well as the floor (folding mats). Our foldable mats are 51 in. x 102 in. size in grey and white. The modular mat is blue with one size being 25.6 in. x 25.6 in.


CONS: We originally purchased the modular mats because our apartment is an odd shape but found that they move around quite a bit because they're light and can be velcro-ed to each other but not to the larger foldable pieces.
Therefore, we decided to make them wall padding and bought another folding mat. They're a little weightier due to length, so they don't slide around as much.


The “sofas” are from Nugget Comfort. We didn’t have any seating and while searching for safe, small sofas without corners, I came upon this company. We purchased one to try it out and absolutely loved it and ordered another one. My husband loves putting together mazes and forts for our toddler and it’s been a perfect way to tire out our toddler indoors when we can’t get him to the playground. It’s also been such a hit with our friends and their kids!


It’s 15x15x24 and comes in 4 pieces. A thick piece, a thinner piece and 2 triangles and is made from something similar to pool foam. The fabric causes friction on each other and keeps them up for building fun. It’s also a perfect height for standing and playing. We’ve used it for active play, imaginative play and for naps (for kids and adults alike). It can be a crawl space, fort, store front, castle, you imagine it, you can make it! We've also made them ball ramps, slides, tunnels, lounger, toddler nap bed, etc. We bought two sets of koala color when they came out with new colors last year. We couldn't be happier. Our growing toddler expends lots of energy running through mazes that his dada puts together. It's been a great dada-son activity as they create something different together each day. Here are the pros and cons.


PROS: Easy to launder and put back on. Tons of fun and different ways for anyone at any age to use it. We recommended it to someone and the husband was easily convinced because of how comfortable it was to nap on it!


The only CON might be the static it produces in the winter, but what kid doesn't have fun trying to zap you with static?