A family in Indiana makes great use of bonus space by creating a cozy hideaway that’s just for kids.
Welcome to How They Pulled It Off where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.
Not all playrooms are created the same. Case in point: Becky Asleson, the owner and principal of Maple & White Design, a South Bend, Indiana-based firm, designed a bonus play space under a flight of stairs, and connected it to a larger playroom through a hidden crawlspace accessed via a custom media console. Climbing through the console on their hands and knees, a child might feel like they’ve uncovered a passageway leading to Narnia or some other magical realm, as they discover a brightly colored jungle-theme mural complete with a tiger, flapping cranes, and leafy palms.
This custom playroom is hidden behind a secret door accessed through a media console and is a cute space for the kids to call their own.
Sarah Shields Photography
“The homeowners envisioned the playroom as a place where their children and grandchildren could gather—a true multigenerational hub in the home. But for this bonus space, I wanted it to feel cheerful and inviting, something really colorful, loud, and fun for kids,” says Asleson, who designed the space in 2023, and saw it completed this year. The mural was designed by local artist Hannah Kirkwood.
The secret play nook was a creative use of extra space. Originally, Asleson and the homeowners envisioned this space under the stairs as another closet or small storage room. “But we didn’t think through it much until it was drywalled,” she says. “By the time we finished that, we realized there would be all this wasted space since the ceiling drops down from nine to four feet.”
The secret playroom is accessed through a custom media console in the house’s existing playroom, as seen above. When the door is closed, no one’s the wiser…
Sarah Shields Photography
Like the incredible shrinking hallway in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, the room gets smaller and smaller with every step. It sits adjacent to the larger playroom, and Asleson thought it would be fun to create a hidden door that connects these two rooms, giving the homeowner’s grandchildren a kid-sized space of their own. Later, she added a child’s size table and chairs and sleeping bags for indoor camping or forts to complete the secret hideaway feel.
…but when you open the door, a surprise!
Sarah Shields Photography
See the full story on Dwell.com: How They Pulled It Off: A Secret Jungle Playroom—That You Enter Through a Hidden Console Door
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