Main. Definitely.

Having a solid barrier (like a staircase) helps to encourage keeping toys/hobbies/crafts in the playroom and out of bedrooms.

I designed a house with the play room on the second floor. It had a dedicated stair that went directly into the kitchen on the first floor. There was no door between the playroom and the kitchen.

I have a 7 year old and 2 grown children so here is my experience. I agree that a playroom on the main floor, thoughtfully designed to transition from playroom to tween/teen TV/gaming hangout would be ideal. I would add glass doors to give some noise separation as they grow but still allow you to monitor what’s going on through the glass.

My 7 year old won’t play upstairs alone in his upstairs playroom now but with twins, you probably would not have that issue.

Our playroom was on the 2nd floor when my girls were growing up. I liked this setup, even though their toys would make their way downstairs fairly often because they liked playing near us. But, I did not want to see their toys every day, so I liked that it was upstairs and tucked away and the toys got put away up there. When friends came to play, they all went upstairs and happily played out of sight. Now as teenagers, it's nice to have that space for them to hang out with their friends with some separation from us.

We are building a new home now and put our playroom right off the family room with barn doors to close off the clutter when needed. I'm so excited for a dedicated space near where we live the most in our home (family/great room and kitchen) just for the kids stuff.

So, it seems "better" is subjective, depending on lifestyle and personality, lol. :-D

Abandon hope. The “playroom” is where ever mommy is when they are small. By the time you get them out from under foot, they are old enough that you don’t want them off segregated from you and getting into who knows what.

What floor doesn't bother me - I put our play room on the 2nd floor next to the kids bedrooms. Biggest variables to me were:

• Had to have decent windows to not feel like a cave
• Had to have some sort of door to help with noise
• If upstairs, couldn't be above any room I'd want to be quiet (or reversed if in basement)
• Carpet

We are in the midst of a build right now and have a 4 year old and 1.5 year old.

Our home is a triplex in a gut renovated rowhome (one floor of which is a walkout basement). I wanted a main floor playroom so we converted the formal dining and added opaque double pocket doors. The room has two large floor to ceiling windows too. I wanted the kids stuff out of our living room and also wanted to be able to close to doors (and the mess) after the kids go to bed. Our designer was initially waistband; she has kids but they are older. I think she might have forgotten what it is like to have very small kids.

I figure, as they get older and want their own space, they will either retreat to their bedrooms upstairs or we will shift the basement from media room to “tween/teen” room. And I’ll recapture the dining room in the process. At resale, it can be a 4th bedroom also.

My children's playroom was in a "finished" basement (I use that term loosely as it was NOT a space where any adult would want to sit), that was right off the kitchen. I could hear what was going on down there while I was in the kitchen. I had friends who had big old 3-story houses and theirs were on the 3rd floor. An upper floor is nice in a colder climate as it's warmer. My children did sometimes complain about the cold in the basement but I just bought a big old shag rug and that stopped the complaints.

DD"s playroom for her boys was in the basement off the kitchen, as well. Her boys loved it!

I have never had any desire for a playroom on the main floor. The toys migrate all over the house.

One needs a 2nd child before a child will play anywhere mum is not. Fortunately, if one times one's children property, this doesn't take too long. In the meantime, the first child can play in a 2nd floor extra bedroom with a chair for mum.

My kids' "playroom" was on the main level next to the kitchen so i can keep an eye on them while I cooked. It was separate from the main living room so it didn't matter that the playroom was ALWAYS messy. As they got older, we turned the playroom into a study area with desks and bookshelves.

Main level; it has worked really well for us. They like to be on the same floor as me. They often drag toys into the living room, but then they put them away in the playroom when they are done. In a few years, we will transition the room to an office/homework/study room. I really wish we had built a closet in that room, though....that is the only thing I would change if I had to do it over. We did double full glass doors. We never close them right now, but they will be nice to have when they are in there on computers and stuff.