{"id":419789,"date":"2025-09-13T00:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T00:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/419789\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T00:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T00:41:12","slug":"my-son-has-to-ask-permission-to-use-my-ball-pit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/419789\/","title":{"rendered":"My son has to ask permission to use my ball pit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The idea came from a &#8220;crazy&#8221; idea by her best friend<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757724071_3_0_CaptureJPG.jpg\" alt=\"Julie Williams installed a ball pit into her seven-bedroom home\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Julie Williams installed a ball pit into her seven-bedroom home(Image: SWNS)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">From the outside, Julie Williams&#8217; home in Birkdale looks like an ordinary four-storey house &#8211; inside it doesn&#8217;t look anything out of the ordinary either. It has all the usual rooms; seven bedrooms, a kitchen\/breakfast room, two bathrooms, a beautiful garden and stunning sun room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But there&#8217;s one addition that makes it stand out from everything else \u2013 a <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/property\/southport-house-sale-800k-people-32404078.amp\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">built-in play pit filled with around 11,300 plastic balls<\/a> next to the master bedroom. Julie told the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">ECHO<\/a> It was a<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/property\/southport-house-sale-800k-people-32404078.amp\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> &#8220;crazy idea&#8221; <\/a>by her best friend that inspired the installation of a ball pit in her home. However, she didn&#8217;t need much persuasion to buy plastic balls and build the play area in an unused part of her seven-bedroom home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">So, what&#8217;s it like living with a <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/property\/southport-house-sale-800k-people-32404078.amp\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">your own play area <\/a>right next to your bedroom? The IT consultant Julie says it&#8217;s a &#8220;special luxury&#8221; which she installed because she is &#8220;crazy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said: &#8220;I had a room off one of my bedrooms that was basically an old staircase cut in half by the previous owners. There were bare walls, an old carpet ripped up and a banister that was old and covered in green paint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;The previous owners look like they have cut the staircase off and bricked it over [making it into a closed off room]. The room was doing nothing but being used for storage, I didn&#8217;t know what else to do with it,&#8221; says the mum-of-one, who <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/property\/southport-house-sale-800k-people-32404078.amp\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">moved into her home in Birkdale in 2019.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">So, that was when Julie&#8217;s best friend came up with the idea of transforming it into a ball pit. Julie said she didn&#8217;t take much persuasion to start on the &#8220;crazy idea.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_Screenshot-2025-09-03-at-084315.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The idea was inspired by a<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/property\/southport-house-sale-800k-people-32404078.amp\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> YouTube video tour of Cara Delevingne&#8217;s Los Angeles home<\/a> which was described by Architectural Digest as &#8220;St-Tropez meets Coney Island meets Cotswolds cottage meets Monte Carlo meets butch leather bar.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Julie added: &#8220;That&#8217;s what best friends are for, they come up with crazy ideas. We&#8217;d been to an exhibition in London where we went into a ball pit and it was amazing. It seemed like a great idea so I bought some balls, measured it up, bought some MDF and drilled it up, and ta da, we have a ball pit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Despite having an eight-year-old son Julie claims she uses the ball pit the most to relax in. She said: &#8220;He knows it&#8217;s mine, he asks if he can go in it. It&#8217;s my special luxury.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After six years in their beautiful home Julie has decided to sell up. She said the home deserved a family with multiple children and not just her and her son to live in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Julie, originally from Australia,<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/birkdale\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> moved to Birkdale <\/a>after 23 years of living in London, said: &#8220;I put the house on the market last year because we decided to downsize, having seven bedrooms for one child is a bit over the top, I can fit a ball pit my house, how much space do I really need?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I decided to move up here to give my son a different way of life and you can get a seven-bedroomed house in the north for the price of a one bedroom apartment in London.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Julie loves living in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/birkdale\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birkdale<\/a> for its closeness to the beach and slower pace of life. She said: &#8220;It&#8217;s a beautiful property. I will be sad to leave it but we are looking to stay in the area, just somewhere smaller.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by signing up to our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/data.reachplc.com\/212764146160855\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"daily and breaking newsletterLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">daily and breaking newsletter<\/a>. 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We&#8217;re also on <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theliverpoolecho\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Facebook\/theliverpoolechoLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook\/theliverpoolecho<\/a> &#8211; your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The idea came from a &#8220;crazy&#8221; idea by her best friendJulie Williams installed a ball pit into her&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[28276,748,393,4884,179,457,2516,10003,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-419789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-birkdale","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-people","14":"tag-property","15":"tag-property-news","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115194212472953794","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}