CHILD's 2004 Home Contest Winners

Creativity, love, and plenty of paint helped these parents turn ordinary children's rooms into charming havens.

By Kathy Henderson, Photo by Annie Schlecter

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Playroom Palace

Grand-Prize Winner:
The Adler Family, Carmel Valley, CA

Today's space-starved families are coming up with creative ways to carve out playrooms for their kids. Case in point: Tracy and Glenn Adler turned a sunny storage area above their garage into a fairy princess kingdom for their daughters, Sarah, now 7, and Emily, 4. The walls and ceiling were papered with cloud-covered wallpaper topped with murals of a medieval castle and flags. The Adlers divided the space into a crafts area with vinyl flooring and a carpeted area for pretend play, with toy shelves in between. But the room's most striking feature is a castle playhouse designed and built by the Adlers. "Our playroom is a place where kids can use their imagination and enter a world of kings, queens, and princesses," says Tracy.

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