Oftentimes, the kids’ room is an opportunity for both homeowners and architects to flex their creative muscles and create an environment that encourages play and exploration. The 16 children’s rooms and play spaces below exhibit the best of the best—from reading nooks to netting, and climbing walls to indoor swings, these modern kids’ room ideas are ripe for stealing.

A Playroom Makes the Most of Slanted Ceilings

An Outdoor Play Cubby With a Kid-Sized Deck

A Mature Tribeca Loft With A Fun, Theatrical Kids’ Room

A Netted Children’s Study in Melbourne

A Playful-But-Polished Home in Chicago

Bold Patterns and a Swing Enliven This Child’s Room

Shop the Look

An Environmentally Friendly Kids’ Room With a Reading Nook

Bridged Beds in a Bedroom in New Jersey

A Harry Potter-Worthy Play Area Under a Staircase

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A Firepole and Climbing Wall Star in This Children’s Room

When the directors of London–based Scenario Architecture—husband and wife Ran Ankory and Maya Carni—purchased a Victorian terrace house in London, they sought to renovate, expand, and adapt it to suit the needs of their family of four. The children's bedroom has a climbing wall and a fireman's pole for accessing a special hiding spot in the eave of the historic home." layout="" credit="Courtesy of Matt Clayton" photoUserId=""/>

A Child’s Bedroom Designed to Look Like a Home’s Exterior

A Plywood Climbing Wall in The English Countryside

In the booming British beach town of Margate, longtime locals Natasha Hart and Oliver Whitmarsh teamed up with newcomer architects RL-a to salvage a 19th-century workers’ lodging. Their son Stan’s bedroom includes a vintage Habitat Skipper bed by Loïck Peyron and a climbing wall designed by Natasha. The plywood finishes are kid-friendly and also affordable." layout="" credit="Photo: Nick Ballon" photoUserId=""/>

A Green Reading Nook Snuck Into a Dormer

Austin architect J.C. Schmeil converted his family's 1935 bungalow into a spacious modern family home on a modest budget and with tons of ingenuity. A dormer on the south side of the house contains two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms features a reading loft carved out of the attic space above the dining room. The intersection of the gabled roof and the shed dormers allowed us to wrap large windows around each corner, taking advantage of the “borrowed landscape”—treetop views that root the house to its site." layout="" credit="Photo by J.C. Schmiel" photoUserId=""/>

A Kid-Friendly Home is Full of Surprises

Architect Bergendy Cooke, who worked for Zaha Hadid and Peter Marino before returning to her home country in 2007, is an admirer of the strong, sculptural architectural forms that appear in Japanese and Spanish architecture. Outside Queenstown, she put her ideas into practice in a home that would be the benchmark for bc+a studio, her own venture. The combination bunk bed and playhouse is a whimsical gesture the architect designed specifically for her two daughters. The spaces are organized in such a way that they can play independently or together." layout="" credit="Photo by Paul McCredie" photoUserId="6133464852778975232"/>

A Reading Nook Accessed Via a Climbing Wall and Rope Lead

A Secret Chute and Ball Pit

Related Reading:

15 Modern and Creative Spaces For Kids

10 Homes With Nets to Make You Feel Like a Kid Again