Could you post a floorplan or rough line drawing of how the house is laid out? It would help to put the photos into context.

The first piece of advice is to not get hung up on traditional names of the rooms. Someone else's formal dining room may turn into your TV room or your homework room.

How old is your baby? Based on my experience, you may have to adjust your expectations as to how clean and "adult" you can reasonably keep your house.

Have you considered keeping the formal livingroom a tv free zone? Reserve that room for a quite minute away from the noise of the kids ,to visit each other or company ,listen to music , reading ect.Where I grew up tvs were in the family room and thats where we spent most of our time but it was really nice to have a quite space that stayed clean and toy free to just read or have a minute away from all the noisy boys in the house.

Our first house is a 80's ranch, but we don't have a formal livingroom. I want to have wall to wall shelving added to both sides of our fireplace so I can stick the baskets my sons toys have to go in there so they still look nice. Unfortunately for us, I just have to pick up all the time.

Where will your family be hanging out the most? I would then just try to only contain the babies toys to that room outside of his bedroom and just keep baskets handy. I bought really cute ones from C&B. Also bought and ottoman that opens to storage.

I think the house looks cozy and comfortable, all those nice spaces! The walls seem like a reasonable size -- to me -- not small and awkward ;-) But pics can be deceiving, maybe all the furniture in the rooms in your pics are smaller scale for smaller rooms. Without a floorplan, it's hard for me to understand how the rooms really relate to each other. I like madeyna's suggestions for the spaces in your home.

I'll share my experience with children (currently my boys are 9 and 5), but I'm not sure how similar it will be as we are living in a home that doesn't have a formal living room or a den...we have a kitchen w/shared dining space, a public living room, and three bed/two bath. My kids used to play in the living room/entry, and kept the toys in their rooms. Now they share a bedroom and the unused bedroom is a play/office/exercise/storage room. They play either in the entry or the play room w/the toys, and they read wherever it's quiet (my 9 yo often reads on his bed or, if no one is in the living room, on the sofa). We have a tv in the living room and in our bedroom, but do not watch a lot of tv. Our living room is small and there really isn't a lot of space for them to play, so IF they play in there they are either jumping on the furniture (not good), watching tv or reading, or sometimes throwing stuff. When we entertain, people go into all the main rooms and kids often go into the middle bedroom for toys etc. But, honestly, we're busy and tired with kids so do not entertain often only for holidays or birthdays, and it's not a "Better Homes and Gardens" kind of presentation LOL!

I love the kitchen/den area you have. I imagine you and your baby (and maybe more?) will spend most of the time in that space. That's a great casual/play/tv space, and I think it's the type of room where you can put your DH's squishy/ugly chairs...my DH wants the same kind of chairs ;-) If I had a formal LR, I'd keep it mostly kid-free and not store their junk in there or turn it into a playroom. I hate how visitors to our home can totally see what's going on...the smallness/openness allows too much transparency for my comfort.

I think with larger homes like yours seems to be, you aren't going to be in every room every day. With children, a lot of time is spent cleaning up the various activities. I think it would be calming to have a space that just stays nice and neat, that the kids don't have a reason to go in there and spread their mess.

I agree. You say you love to entertain. Fortunately, you have extra space that you can dedicate mostly to entertaining--though you can certainly use a living room as an adult retreat during the day. The easier you make it to entertain, the more often you'll entertain.

Personally, I don't feel very welcome when I am invited over someone's house to find toys and kids junk strewn over every conceivable space, especially when it confronts you as soon as you enter the door. Unless you have no choice because you live in a small house with limited space, being greeted by a mess of toys tells me you really don't value your adult visitors very much.

Agree that the "official" names of,the rooms mean nothing, notice how the PO used the first room as a home office!

We rarely see people want to gather in a formal LR, but in the cozier room. You could do as I have seen done by many families: the dining room becomes a playroom (handy to the kitchen, toddlers love to watch the cars and bikes and dog walkers go by, and look at that wonderful windowseat you have, just toddler-height!). Then the room to the left of your front door is the dining room. Between playroom and dining you could put in a door or, more easily, hang a curtain (I'm picturing a drop-cloth curtain). As baby gets older, like school and teen years, you might even turn this into your own sitting room/mom central/"butler pantry".

The cozy room is for family tv and reading time. I'd put the TV next to the fireplace so you can see it from the kitchen. And the sunroom is for everything, reading, gathering, playing.

My friends' boys had all their Lego bricks in the sunroom, they loved the light, and there was no furniture to get in their way! The flat floor was good for building, spilling, rolling trucks. And when moms gathered, the kids played happily in the sunroom while we chatted in the connecting family room.

I,really expect that even if you want to entertain in the LR, you will be shooing people out of the FR and kitchen, so why fight it?

I'd assume that as long as your child is young, i.e. toddler, you'll have the kitchen/den as the main playing area, so you can keep an eye on the child but also because most young children want to have an adult close by (even if they play by themselves.) Could you use the sun room as your TV room?

It's hard to see the flow between rooms.

Can you post a floor plan?

Here's rough lines for our living area. Hope this helps you to understand what Ive meant by 'awkward'.
Orange lines are the walls that I think we can have our TV mounted on.
Dotted lines are doors or windows. Box-looking things are built-ins(2 bookcases in FL and fireplace in Den).

+ Our baby is 17 months old girl :)
Thank you already!

Consider putting the TV in the corner to the right of the fireplace. Then your seating area will be from the middle of the room facing the FP. You could have a small dining table in the den, leaving room at the end of the kitchen for your toddler to have her play area. OR, you could put the table at the end of the kitchen and have toys at the end of the den by the kitchen. When your children are older you can move the toys to the sunroom. This way you can maintain your formal dining and living rooms. I think your house is lovely and not awkward at all.
PS. I just went back and read your original posts and see that you are concerned with your TV area being cozy. Perhaps you can do that with furniture placement, maybe even a sectional to create a corner.

Good luck!

I think you will spend all your time in the den & kitchen, and it will be very nice to have your FL & FD seperate & tidy for visitors & company. I'm quite envious of that set-up!

I would put the TV on the large wall you have in mind, and float the furniture, maybe a sectional, facing it. Put chairs flanking the fireplace. The sunroom will make a great playroom when your baby is older. The wall where the PO's had their TV is a great spot for a cabinet/shelves/baskets to stow toys away for now.

I think it's a great house & a very workable floor plan. Congrats!

what you are calling a formal living room looks like an enclosed porch that was turned into living space, I have never seen a formal living room in a home of that vintage with tile floor. I think your current 'den' was once the formal living room, it is the room with the fireplace, and that is what I would use this space for. I would turn that little front living room into your playroom/den, and put some french doors on it so when you have adult guests, you can channel the company to the large living space beyond and keep the toys and clutter closed off.

Somebody did some widening of doorways and construction on this place throughout the years, you probably got more square footage for the money than the going rate in your area due to this quirky layout, but all the better for you.

What does it look like from the front?

Thank you all so much! Now I have a better idea for making our family room!

jlc721, I will try the way you said, and agreed that I would spend most of my time in den and kitchen.

detroit_burb,
below is the front. I want to add window shutters in lively color and paint new color also over brick sidings. But I think I will enjoy this look a little more for now :)

What a pretty house!

If you have your TV in the den, will there be too much going on with your baby, kitchen, etc.? Could you have the TV in the sun room?

Gosh that is an adorable house! I love the exterior as-is...so much personality. Congrats, what a great place to raise your family.