STYLE PROFILE: Smart Playrooms
We all want our kids to spend less time in front of a screen and more time playing and learning. Doesn’t it feel SO good when those two things are combined? Smart Playrooms designs innovative residential and communal play spaces that focus on child development, and these spaces will change the way your kids play.
As the Founder and CEO of Smart Playrooms, Karri Bowen-Poole has spent the last 10 years revolutionizing the way children learn and play with her innovative and educational playroom design services. Her intentional and ground-breaking approach has landed her in the homes of A-list celebrities and families who are looking to change the way their kids learn and play at home.
Before starting Smart Playrooms, Karri had been teaching and working with children for over 10 years. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Education, she worked as a teacher at private schools throughout the tri-state area including the Buckley School and the Nightingale-Bamford School in NYC, Greenwich Academy and the Stanwich School in Greenwich. Karri recognizes the profound impact the playroom has on children’s behavior and how they interact, learn and play. Karri sees the playroom as the third teacher, and is passionate about creating playrooms that are fun, educational and inspirational by combining her educational expertise with her love of design. She believes that over-scheduling our children and taking away recess and downtime has numerous consequences, from limiting their ability to become good problem-solvers to negative impacts on their mental health. Karri designs spaces that allow kids to be kids, and these spaces encourage and nurture their independence, confidence and happiness.
Q&A
What is your motto as a playroom designer?
Keep It Simple. Keep It Educational. INSTALL MONKEY BARS! I believe less is more. Be more intentional about choices. Creative, successful, functional designs are more about being thoughtful than spending a lot of money. Really think through what you will use the space for, how it will grow with your kids and then how to maximize the space so everyone can use it. And donate anything that your kids have outgrown.
I am so passionate about monkey bars and I use them in almost every playrom I design. I am known as the MONKEY BAR DESIGNER! Monkey Bars are everything in the playroom…they provide a real challenge for kids,, sensory and vestibular input and also take up no room in the playroom as they are on the ceiling. They are the perfect addition to every playroom.
What are the key ingredients that go into making a playroom “smart?”
A Smart Playroom is an educational, child-centered playroom that:
Combines interior design principles with functional organizational systems.
Understands child development and what kids needIs customized to the ages and interests of your children
Nurtures and encourages independent, open-ended and creative play
What are your signature design elements?
MONKEY BARS, ROCK WALLS AND CLIMBING ROPES AND NETS!! I love designing creative climbing circuits and spaces and will design them anywhere…in a garage, on the third floor or in a basement. Just give me any space and I will make it AMAZING with activities that encourage movement and climbing so all the kids in the neighborhood will want to come and play!
What motivates you?
My professional mission has always been to truly make an impact in a child's life—either by motivating them to want to do better as a student or instilling a love of curiosity to make them want to learn more. Since founding Smart Playrooms in 2012, I have designed hundreds of educational playrooms in the U.S. and overseas, including Europe and Africa! I see the playroom as the third teacher, and I love being creative with play spaces. I appreciate my clients’ willingness to let me go wild and think through creative activities and designs to excite and motivate their kids to learn and play more creatively.
What people, places, or things inspire you?
European and Scandinavian design fascinates me and impresses me as their use of colors are so perfect for children. I am so fond of subtle neutrals with pops of colors, like grays and whites with a pop of green, teal or orange. It’s so challenging to find decently made items NOT in primary colors in the US.
