How do you turn a spare room into a playroom?

A spare room might hold a sofa bed, a desk, boxes from the last move, an exercise bike nobody uses. With some planning, it can become a playroom: a room set aside for scenes, arranged around the two of you, and private whenever you want it to be.

Making a playroom is mostly a matter of thinking clearly about what the room is for, then making a handful of good decisions about furniture, light, sound, flooring and storage.

Decide what the room is for

Before measuring anything, talk about how you'd like to use the room. A few questions help:

• Is it only a playroom, or does it need to work as a guest room, study or dressing room too?
• Who else lives in or visits the home, and who might see into the room?
• What kinds of scenes do you have in mind, and what pieces would support them?
• How should the room feel when you walk in: dark and enclosed, light and calm, formal, warm?
• Where will aftercare happen?

A room that's only a playroom can be arranged entirely around scenes. A room that has to pass as a guest room needs pieces that read as ordinary furniture and storage that closes. Settle this first, because every other decision follows from it.

Clear it and look at it empty

Empty the room, even if it's only for an afternoon. An empty room shows you its real shape: where the light falls, which wall is the quiet one, where the radiator and sockets sit, how the door swings, and what you see from the doorway. Stand in each corner and in the doorway, and notice which wall draws the eye.

That wall is the natural place for the centrepiece, whether that's a bed, a cross or a cage.

When you want different things from the room

One of you may picture a dark, enclosed room; the other something calm and light. Settle it before buying anything. Take turns to describe the room you'd happily walk into, then look for what the two pictures share: a colour, a mood, a piece. Layered light helps here, because one room can be bright and calm at one moment and low and close at another.

Awkward rooms

Sloping ceilings, chimney breasts and small box rooms each change the plan. A sloping ceiling limits where a four-poster or a cross can go, so measure the height along the slope and mark it on your plan. A chimney breast creates alcoves that suit storage and an aftercare chair. A box room may suit a single piece and nothing else. Loft and basement rooms need checking for damp, ventilation, access and a floor that's firm underfoot, and that check belongs to a qualified tradesperson. For questions about a particular piece in a particular room, ask us.

Measure properly

Measure the floor, the ceiling height and each wall, and mark the door and its swing, the windows, radiators, sockets and switches. Note anything that projects from a wall, such as a chimney breast or a boxed-in pipe. Then measure the route in, from the front door to the room's doorway.

Our pieces arrive flat-packed with printed assembly instructions, so they travel through the house in parts. Send us your narrowest door, stair and turn, and we'll check before you order. Our guide to measuring a room for restraint furniture covers each measurement.

Choose the centrepiece

Build the room around one piece. The right one depends on the scenes you have in mind and on whether the room needs to pass as something else.

A restraint bed

A four-poster restraint bed can do several jobs at once. It's a bed for aftercare and rest, a frame for restraint, and, with restraints stored away, an ordinary-looking bed for a guest room. Our guide to choosing a restraint bed frame compares our headboards.

A St Andrew's cross

A cross is the piece for scenes where one partner stands. It needs clear floor in front of it and to each side, so a partner can move around it freely. Our guide to where a cross should go covers placement.

A cage

A cage suits a dynamic that wants a defined place for agreed waiting, with the door's opening agreed before every scene and nobody ever left inside it unattended. It needs a calm spot where the person inside can see the room, away from heat sources and direct sunlight. Our guide to where a cage should sit covers it.

Start with one piece and live with it before adding another. A room with one well-chosen centrepiece and space around it feels more deliberate than a room filled to its edges.

Which piece first

If you're torn between a bed and a cross, think about which scenes you'd have most often, and whether the room must pass as something else. Our guide to choosing between a bed and a cross weighs the two.

Plan the layout on paper

Draw the room to scale on squared paper, or cut paper shapes for each piece. Place the centrepiece first, then the supporting furniture: a chair, a table or chest for what you'll use, storage, and somewhere soft for aftercare.

Leave clear space around every piece, enough to move around it freely. Keep the route between the door and the centrepiece clear, and keep anything with a sharp corner well away from where a scene will happen. Mark out the plan on the floor with masking tape before you order, and walk it.

Light

A single ceiling light flattens a room and everything in it. Replace a lone ceiling light with several lamps on dimmers, placed low and to the side, so you can move from bright enough to set up to soft enough for a scene. Add a lamp near where aftercare will happen. Blackout blinds or heavy curtains keep the room private and let you set the light at any time of day.

Keep every lamp, flex and bulb well away from fabric, rope and the furniture itself. Any change to the room's wiring is work for a qualified electrician. Our guide to lighting and laying out a playroom goes further.

Sound

Think about sound early, because it affects where things go. Keep the centrepiece away from any wall you share with neighbours, and favour the wall against a hallway, a wardrobe or another of your own rooms. Soft furnishings, a rug, heavy curtains and full bookshelves all help the room absorb sound.

If you're considering more than soft furnishings, our guide to soundproofing a playroom covers what's involved. Any structural work belongs to a qualified tradesperson.

Floor

The floor needs to be level where each piece sits, comfortable to kneel or stand on, and easy to clean. A large rug over a hard floor is the simplest route. Check that the floor is level before assembly, and have a qualified tradesperson look at any floor you have doubts about. Our guide to playroom flooring compares the options.

Storage

Closed storage keeps a playroom tidy and private. Choose a chest of drawers, a cupboard or a lidded trunk, and give each kind of item its own place: restraints, rope, accessories, cleaning things, towels and blankets. A lock is worth having if anyone else shares the home. Keep everything clean, dry and off the furniture between scenes. Our guide to storing restraints and accessories covers it in detail.

An aftercare corner

Give aftercare a place of its own: a sofa, an armchair or a corner with cushions, within easy reach of blankets, water and something to eat. If the centrepiece is a bed, it can serve. If it's a cross or a cage, a soft place a step or two away matters more. Our guide to what aftercare is covers what each of you might need.

Keeping it private

Decide how private the room needs to be. A lock on the door, blinds that close fully and storage that shuts may be enough. If the room has to pass as a guest room or study, keep visible pieces to ones that read as ordinary furniture, and keep everything else put away. Our guide to keeping a playroom discreet in a shared home covers the details.

Warmth and air

A playroom should be comfortably warm, because people in it may be still for a while and wearing less. Keep the room heated evenly, and air it between uses. Steel furniture belongs in a dry, ventilated room, away from prolonged moisture and direct sunlight, so have a qualified tradesperson deal with any condensation or damp first.

Keep every piece clear of radiators and heaters, and keep heaters away from fabric and rope.

Colour and finish

The room's colours and the furniture's finish work together. A dark frame stands out against a pale wall; a pale frame recedes into one. Our finishes are Obsidian, Oxblood, Gilt, Chalk and Forge Clear, a clear coat over the steel, or any RAL colour, which we confirm before you order. Our guide to choosing a colour covers how each sits in a room.

Assembly and fixing

Assemble each piece in the room where it will be used, following the printed instructions with enough people for its weight, and re-tighten every fixing before first use and whenever it has been moved. Our guide to assembling a flat-pack steel bed frame walks through the process.

If any piece is to be fixed to a wall or floor, have a qualified tradesperson assess the wall or floor and do the work. None of our pieces is designed to hold a person's weight off the ground.

Before the first scene

Before you use the room, talk through how you'll use it, sober and out of role. Consent is a yes that's freely given, informed, specific, ongoing and withdrawable at any moment, and the scene stays sober too. Agree a safeword and a non-verbal signal; either one ends the scene immediately and is never discussed or overridden in the moment. Never leave a restrained person alone, and keep the means to take off every restraint within reach.

Check each piece, its fixings and the finish around the rings before every use. If anything has moved, loosened or chipped through to the steel, stop using the piece and contact us before it's used again.

Living with it

After the first few scenes, look at the room again together. What did you reach for that wasn't to hand? What got in the way? Where did aftercare actually happen? Move a lamp, shift a chair, change what lives in which drawer. A playroom settles into shape through use.

The order of work

Doing things in the right order saves effort and money. Have a qualified tradesperson deal with anything structural first, such as damp, a floor that bounces or a door you'd like replaced, and a qualified electrician with any change to the wiring. Then decorate, because painting around finished furniture is harder. Lay the floor and rugs next, then assemble the centrepiece, then add supporting furniture, storage and lighting. Soft furnishings come last, once you can see what the room needs.

Order the centrepiece early. Our pieces are made to order, with a current lead time of 8–14 weeks confirmed with your order, so the preparation can happen while it's being made. We answer questions throughout production.

A playroom checklist

• Agree what the room is for, and how private it needs to be.
• Empty the room and look at it.
• Measure the room and the route in, and send us your narrowest door, stair and turn.
• Choose one centrepiece and plan the layout to scale.
• Replace a single overhead light with lamps on dimmers.
• Keep the centrepiece off any shared wall, and add soft furnishings.
• Lay a rug, and check the floor is level.
• Add closed storage and an aftercare corner.
• Assemble from the instructions and re-tighten every fixing.
• Talk it through before the first scene.

Questions about playrooms

How big does a playroom need to be?

Big enough for the centrepiece, the clear space it needs, and somewhere for aftercare. A small room with one well-placed piece works better than a larger room crowded with several. Measure, plan on paper, and ask us about any piece you're considering.

Can a playroom work as a guest room too?

Yes. Made up with a good mattress and plain bedding, a restraint bed works as a guest bed, and with closed storage and a reset routine the room reads as ordinary.

Can a loft or cellar work as a playroom?

It can, once a qualified tradesperson has checked it for damp, ventilation, access and a firm floor. Steel furniture belongs in a dry, ventilated room.

Does a rented home change anything?

Our flat-pack pieces are assembled in the room without altering it. For anything fixed to a wall or floor, check your tenancy agreement and use a qualified tradesperson.

Do we need everything at once?

No. Start with the centrepiece, light and storage, and add the rest as you learn how you use the room.

Can you make a piece to fit an awkward room?

If none of our collection pieces suits the space, we can make a piece to your brief. Our guide to how a bespoke commission works sets out the process.

See our BDSM beds, St Andrew's crosses and BDSM cages, each made to order in S235 steel with a current lead time of 8–14 weeks.