I agree with the no lamps unless necessary. I have two little ones and while they have never knocked over lamps, I don't have any within reach in the playroom. We rely on natural light and then a floor lamp placed behind the couch that isn't easily accessible. I would do as Tib suggested and put pretty bookends and books on top, or random toys or big ones that don't fit in the cubbies. Love the map idea over the storage. Then I would get attractive baskets for some or all of the cubbies. Then even if they aren't filled, everything looks uniform. I like uniform. : ) Serena & Lily has nice baskets (I have some in my daughter's room) and they are having a 20% off sale in a few days. Land of Nod is also running 15% off bins and baskets right now. Pottery Barn Kids has some cute ones and you can find a coupon every once in a while. Bins and baskets in general aren't cheap but I love the look and function of them. Just make sure and measure your shelves before ordering.

PP offered some great tips! Your girls are going to love the room. I had a couple suggestions I haven't seen mentioned yet. For wall art: I love etsy.com for handmade art or budget-friendly photos. I have some great prints for my 2 girls' rooms. They also have vinyl adhesive quotes or you can order your girls' names. They can be pricey, so I ended just hand painting a two-tone pink cherry blossom tree. Not as fancy as this, but decent enough considering it only cost me a few quarts of paint. This decal from easy is $86. For your windows: I agree with the PP worried about window safety. With those windows, I would invest in plantation shutters (too heavy for a 2 or 3 year old to unlock and swing open) or buy a metal window gate to ensure your kids can't open the window. Then you can buy some pretty sheers to soften the look of plantation shutters. I got some from Pottery Barn Kids that are embroidered with pink and green butterflies to cover my daughter's shutters. It offers a light whimsical look. They're both sleeping now so I can't take photos. I can't copy the image here, but I see one on eBay now with lavender butterflies for $35 per 84" panel. Post photos when you finish the playroom!

Fiona, ok. but you did ask how to work w/the "dark" playroom. you could bringing in more lighting if you're not willing to paint that room. How about if you leave that one wall that color, but paint the other 3 a nice white? Could that be a compromise? if you did something like this, and brought in a fluffy white rug, it would lighten up the space The red is a nice color w/the wood floors and ceiling, which I really like, but if you did the other 3 in the white, you'd be amazed at how better the room would look. tape off a lower portion for the chalkboard. btw, does the entire space have to be a playroom? do you want to divide half of it? maybe use a portion for schooling or office or a lounging/reading computer area? what if you painted that wall black, and did the other white, but brought in some red accents? The black wall w/the white book cases around it would look great w/all of the wood

Ikea furniture life depends heavily on the owner. They've done well at my house with kids ages 4, 7, and 18 but haven't survived long at friends' houses. We've had a hand-me-down Billy bookcase for over 10 yrs and bought a second to match it 4 yrs ago. The original held dozens of engineering textbooks for years (even though ours was fine, I do not recommend it). My now 18 yr old used them for 3 years, and for the last year my 7 yr old has had them in his room. We also have 2 Kallax 4x4 shelves bought 4 yrs ago when our youngest was born. They were both anchored to the wall and housed in the playroom with canvas boxes holding toys. Now, we've moved and the kids are older with less in the playroom only using one Kallax, so we're using the other to hold all the engineering texts in the office. (Much sturdier solution, works great) Also be aware that the top Billy is standard depth and storage behind the doors will be very shallow, at only 10.5" while the Kallax has cubbies that are 15.25" deep and provide more toy and book storage. If I were you, I'd get the Kallax 4x4 or 2x4 over the Billy with doors. I can see the doors being a week spot and kids wearing them down.