Ncdel--why not go ahead and paint around the closet? You might be in this house for more than two years--you never know. Or you could paint the inside all pink and purple, or whatever your daughter's favorite colors are. Another consideration is that this is a playroom. I suspect, when you start getting this house ready to sell, you are going to have to paint the playroom anyway--kids do tend to make marks on the walls, even when they are trying not to. Balls get bounced, toy trucks are let loose, stuff happens. And by the time you move, your daughter may have outgrown the dress-up stage. So if you really want to give her a special little girly space, I'd say go ahead and do it. If you knew for certain sure that you would be moving in a year, I'd say don't do it. But a "maybe" move in a couple of years? You don't want to spend the next couple of years feeling as if you can't do anything you really want to do in the house because you are moving soon. Two years is a long time to live in a place without changing it to suit you and your family. I know. My dad was in the military and we moved every year or two. The longest we stayed in any one house was two and a half years. My parents were adamantly opposed to doing anything to any house we lived in--or maybe it was that they didn't want to spend a single cent on something that would be left behind when we moved (they were very frugal). We coped with furniture that didn't fit, curtains that didn't cover windows, inadequate storage in many houses, weird wall colors that clashed with our furniture, you name it. And even my parents would complain about the poor lighting in a room, or the lack of storage space in the kitchen, or how echo-y a certain room was--all of which could have been solved with less than $100 spent on lamps, or a microwave cart or some curtains or a small area rug. I think this is why I am so concerned with how my surroundings look today. I'm not saying go hog wild and spend tons of money and time and effort to make the house totally "you." If you are moving in a few years, that would be a lot of investment that you wouldn't get back. But a few little projects, the ones that speak to you the most and that would make you feel more at home in your own home--things that you can do in a day or that cost less than $200--go ahead and do a few of them. There's a happy medium between doing nothing to personalize the space and personalizing every square inch of the house. And if you don't want to paint, do check out the wall decals that are so popular right now--you could decal the closet door and just peel them off when you move.

Thanks for all the pictures and advice. My DH thinks that painting the floor is a good way to go, but I think it needs to be nicer. Sounds like most of you agree that the floor needs to be nice enough to feel comfortable with kids sitting on it to play. I think since we might be not putting much furniture down there to show, that clean painted walls, new light fixtures and carpet would be the easiest to do and have the largest appeal. Our ceiling is finished plaster, and has radiator pipes hanging on it, so it is not a new house with high ceilings and that type of setup. The ceiling and pipes are all sprayed off-white. Thanks for the preliminary help. I am currently working on emptying it out (we're getting a dumpster in 2 weeks). I will post some pictures when I get it emptied out.

Not sure why pressure from other family who aren't living in your house would make you rethink what you want in a house if it wasn't on your radar to begin with. I agree with patricia about having living spaces on your main level be living spaces, and having a separate living space without a TV so adults can separate from kids but still be on the same level. I would make the office space your TV room (den). With doors. Kids toys could be in there too. Regarding the office, what does your upstairs look like? How many bedrooms do you have? If you have 4, you can easily convert one bedroom into an office. Most people respond to that by saying "but I NEED a guest room!" If that's your response, think about how often you have overnight guests, and whether you want to dedicate 144 square feet of your house to guests who will be with you a handful of nights each year (when you think about your house as a cost/SF, think about how much money you're spending for that dedicated space, and how many nights in a hotel it would take to recoup). I am planning on converting our guest room into a play room/guest room, with a murphy bed in the closet for the handful of times we have overnight guests each year. You could do the same with a guest room/office combo. Murphy bed or pull out couch or day bed for overnight guests.

First things first: cork is a rigid structure. it is still wood...it's just the softest hardwood in the world. It will not squish. It will not visibly compress when you step on it. What it will do is absorb the energy of a foot step. That means when the foot hits the cork, the leg's energy (all of your weight on the heal of your foot = ?150? lbs/square inch???) will be absorbed. The jolt of hitting the floor will be deadened. That means the jolt of the ground hitting the foot (remember: for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction15) 0lbs/sq. inch coming down onto the floor is going to be the same energy going UP the leg. That's the type of jolt that damages feet, ankles, knees, hips, lower back, mid-back, upper back, shoulders and neck. Every step you take on cork is going to be the same (on the body) as stepping on plush carpet. You won't 'sink' like you do over carpet but the cork will do the same thing. That's why people purchase cork. It is a solid surface (just like hardwood, laminate or vinyl) that treats your body like carpet does. Cork underlayment will add to this energy absorption. The more the merrier in my books. Generally I like to stick to 6mm cork underlayment with 1/2" cork floating floor (11mm or 12mm). That gives you 3/4" floor height which works nicely with doors and trim. It works nicely with stone/porcelain tiles in entranceways (they often sit 3/4" high). Adding a 'squishy' underlayment is going to do one thing: cause the floor to bounce and buck (most people hate this feeling...but if you like walking on a trampoline then perhaps it is what you are looking for). A squishy underlay (like foam = almost useless compared to cork) will also cause the click edge to fail much faster than if you had a solid underlay like 6mm cork. Colorado is a cold location. I would not hesitate to use the 6mm cork underlayment in your situation. Remember: cork is an insulator. Like your thermos, it keeps 'warm things warm' and 'cold things cold'. There is no difference between your thermos and a cork floor. Insulation is insulation. Warm air lingers LONGER in the winter heating season. And in the summer cooling season the cold air in the basement will REMAIN cold for much longer.