Mainfloor and set up

[Fireyesblue]

I have a main floor playroom. Actually, we converted our dining room to the play area which is open concept to the living room by a few feet. Its a great set up. I have a small screw (my own toddler and 2 other kids). Looking to reclaim some of our space and perhaps even get the dining room back! We eat dinner around the kiddie table. lol I have an unfinished basement we use as a play area as well. I want to take the playhouse out of our living room and move there as we also have one outside. For those with main floor play areas do you use your entire living space or have a designated area within that space? Would it be impossible to downsize the toys and move most downstairs to set up the dining space and have them use our living room as they mostly do now? And no eat in kitchen

[BlueRose]

I have a main floor daycare. When I started I only used my livingroom, which was the perfect size. But most of the families I interviewed said it was too small. So I extended it into the dinning room. These are the only rooms I use for daycare. The rest of the house is only for family. Downsizing is good. I didn't add any extra toys when I expanded.

[Van]

I have a main floor daycare and have closed off the living room as just for family so we keep the doors closed off there

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I have main floor daycare. I have living room, dining room, kitchen and powder room. Toys stored on bookshelf or behind couch at end of day. Children sleep in guest room for under 2's with cribs and cots in spare room for over 2's.

Only thing maybe think about is if basement not walk out, how you get all children out if there a fire. Also, if unfinished, how will it look to potential client coming to see dayhome.

[Busy ECE mommy]

We use our living/dining combo on the main floor. I don't have massive items like a playhouse, as we have one outside. The only large items I have are train table/sensory bin/play kitchen/work bench/art table/kids couch. The rest are toy shelves with containers of toys.
It depends what clients want as far as using the unfinished basement. In my area, people stay away from daycares even with finished basements. Parents prefer lots of natural light, and are concerned about the safety aspect to exit quickly in an emergency. That's just my area though.
We still have our own adult family room off the kitchen, so no daycare or kids items there. We are fortunate to have 2 large rooms, so we can always have "adult space" I don't think there's anything wrong with reclaiming some of your space!

[Lee-Bee]

I think ultimately you need to do what works best for your family and then the families comfortable with that will sign up. Some want the full out daycare segregated daycare areas while others prefer the full home with toys spread throughout.

I started with the fully finished basement that was solely daycare. The kids never entered the house aside from going up for nap.

When I downsized I completely left the basement behind and we took over the house. This allowed me to tend to the house during the day (with only 2 kids). Every room is still set up for the main family but has kids stuff integrated. The family room is for the trains and at time big play house). The guest room has all the toy shelves and is more or less a playroom. My daughters room has all the books (they snuggle in bed and read). We half sacrificed our diningroom (still has the table and chairs) as it now has the kid sized tables and shelves for puzzles, games and small toys.

Everything has it's place at the end of the day and doesn't scream "kids have taken over" but the kids can easily access their toys.

There is no reason to be eating around a kids table if you don't want to. Get a real table set up, grab some booster chairs for the kids that need it. Get some bins, baskets and small shelves to store the toys on. Find some creative places throughout the house to tuck away toys. We have a bin under the end tables, beside the couch near the wall etc.