Children can find books easier if they are displayed with their covers showing.

I suggest you look at the National Association for the Education of young Children (NAEYC) site. It is the site that all preschools in the USA use and follow to become accredited. You will learn everything that your children are expected to learn by age through age five.

And now a word about color:
Color choices for a room for adults and families in a home and color choices for learning spaces for children MUST be approached from different perspectives.

To quote Faber Birren, "A haphazard indulgence in bright accents - rugs, furniture, accessories - may be charming and all that, but it is largely meaningless. What may be done in a home is no one's business but the owner's and [the] decorator's, but if the physiological and psychological needs ... are to be served, colors should not be chosen on whim or impulse."
From "Color and Human Response: Aspects of light and color bearing on the reactions of living things and the welfare of human beings"
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company
ISBN 0-442-20787-5

It is doubtful that someone on Houzz will have expertise in the area of the impact of environmental color on the learning capacity of children, and the physiological response of the human child's body to different colors. I suggest you devote time for considerable research in this area. Be sure you are keeping in mind that you are looking for the effects of color on CHILDREN. (There is a wide range of research in the area of the effects of color on adults, as noted in the post above.)

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/the-best-colors-for-kids-rooms-stsetivw-vs~1315

I would hire a decorator.

Ah dsharr, if only hubby would let me :)

Just wanted to add that for a room of this size, it helps to divide the room into different zones, so that your furnishings don't get lost and in order to use this large space and beautiful room to it's best advantage. I would keep the area near the television as a television/media area and create a children's area where the Christmas tree currently is. I would consider getting a table to use for another part of the room - think one area that a table might work well is in front of that great window, so that it would be near the children's area, they could use it for art, games and other things, as well as overall family use, and then another smaller seating area in front of the fireplace. Another thing to consider would be to paint the walls, perhaps a medium light gray to match the color of the stones in your great fireplace to warm this large and high space up. As noted, you really could use a lighting pro to get some more lighting as well. But I would think of the overall room first of all, plan for that and just start adding one thing at a time.

I agree with several posters that your lovely stone fireplace is being underutilized. Consider floating your sofa directly in front of the hearth and pair it with a sofa table as a room divider to separate the conversation area from the play area. Delineate the play area with a fun area rug. Look at Home Decorators where you can search by color for reasonably priced rugs. Your play area should have kid sized seating, a play/work surface for tea parties, coloring etc. and toy storage. Consider a large toy box with safety hinges or serviceable baskets. You definitely need a larger light fixture as well as table lamps or floor lamps to make this room brighter and more inviting. Make this a great family gathering space!

Children do better with low shelving for toys than toy boxes. If you use bins on the shelves, attach a color photograph to the outside of the bin.

Perhaps a wall mural could help ID the kids' play area. Here's a possible link. http://www.muralsyourway.com/wall-murals/?s=home

Something like this?
http://www.muralsyourway.com/the-carousel-mural

Try Boost Graphics. I found they have the best prices on wall murals. Peel and stick and simple to install. www.boostgfx.com

cool idea here...

Cjstephe, I have a few ideas which might work for you. But first I need you to answer some questions. 1. The hockey net is blocking what looks like your front doors.. Do you use this area as an entrance into your house? 2. Are you or your husband handy to paint, use a drill, screwdriver, small saw, sewing machine, or crafts? 3. You say you moved the furniture so you could watch the kids... Where do you usually view them from? I can't figure out where the doorway or pass thru to your kitchen is located? 4. Do you drive and take the kids with you when your husband is out of the home? 5. What city do you live in? I know these sound like strange questions but the answers will help me with seasonal suggestions, research locations, and shopping ideas. Worried about blank walls and lack of pictures in a play space! Use your children's art work. Even the youngest will be excited to see their masterpieces go up on the wall... You can change the pictures once or twice a month. Then you will have lots of variety and artwork which displays each child's interest. When my children were young, my hubby and I were working hard, but there was never enough money for luxury... Yes decorating is a luxury...so ideas, cheap methods and some elbow grease is a great way to get the home you feel meets your needs and wishes. I am looking forward to sharing some of my "experience" with you.

Chalk board Paint! If you don't want to to paint the walls, Paint big canvases and hang them.
Also, Paint an old thrift store globe. They can literally create their own world!

Msharr thanks for the mural suggestions, I will definitely check those sites out!
Mapeggy- that is the front door behind the hockey net, we just happened to be playing with it yesterday :). The entryway to the kitchen area is right on the side of the fireplace, you can see part of it in one of the daylight pictures I posted. We live in rural illinois and my husband is VERY handy. I usually view the kids from the recliner! I hope that answered all your questions. I look forward to seeing what ideas you have!

you should use a cute bed at the corner of the room then a small tent where children can play, some stuffed toys and some nature oriented wall decals...........:)

or maybe some kitchen furniture

If you like the mural idea, it could fill the corner vs. just going along one wall.

You might be able to pick up a few ideas from Pottery Barn Kids -- by looking at one of their catalogues or doing a pirouette through one of their stores.

I'm wondering if your children like to play in the entire room (I suspect they do) and if they would even stay in the corner with their toys even if you fixed it up to look cute and cozy. I suspect they won't - LOL. My kids and my grandkids always ended up bringing their toys to wherever the adults were gathered. Turning their bedrooms into nice play spaces was a complete waste of money. The vision of little girls sitting around a tiny table on tiny chairs having tea with their dolls is an adult fantasy, and I've never, ever seen a small child do this on their own. But at least you are using a corner of the living room where adult action does take place, so you're on to something.

I'm thinking that not only will the kids want to use the space, but Mom and Dad will probably want to interact in that space with them. If you pushed two twin beds together into a corner, you could make a nice day bed arrangement with big comfy lounging pillows, where the kids could read, you could read to them, and even nap (you and kids!) You could mount wall lamps overhead with unbreakable shades, which should be pretty safe around kids, and allow for reading. Mount the kids art on the walls above the beds. Put sturdy shelves that are safe for a kid to climb on at the end of each bed, which will help to define the corner as the cozy place to lounge - maybe 40 inches high. Toys and books that are safe for all ages go in the shelves.

You can keep this arrangement simple and less intrusive, or get creative and make a "shelter" out of it, by faking some sort of "roof" (think window canopy) that defines and makes a sheltering spot. Or create another level above the beds - a loft arrangement that is enclosed enough to be safe, and somewhat secretive but with look-outs. Sort of a tree house inside the house. Attach a slide for quick exit. Put a soft landing pad down at the slide exit and the bottom of the ladder - doubles for exercise mats. This type of structure could be quite attractive and whimsical when done with a theme - such as Hobbit Village, Castle, Tree Fort, Jungle Hut, etc, etc. Since your husband is very handy, he'd probably have fun building this in such a way that it can be easily taken apart when the kids are older or you decide that you want your living room to be an adult space again.

Erect a small tent or teepee somewhere nearby, for play space and as storage for stuffed toys, pillows, blankies, etc - time to tidy up - toss them in. Buy a regular table and chairs for games and crafts, and get the little ones booster seats. Now older kids, Mom and Dad, and little ones can play games together and do fun activities. The table and chairs can also become a wonderful play tent by draping a sheet or blanket over it. And it can become a play surface that is somewhat safe from the baby - such as a place to play with Legos or do crafts. And it can be moved around the house when you have parties, etc.

Get a bunch of storage bins, and use them for those things that aren't safe for all ages. Store the bins in your regular, already existing, cabinets and make it a rule that these things have to be put away immediately after use, and put baby proof latches on the cabinets. If you put a coffee table in front of your sofa, the kids could also play on that surface while watching TV and you're watching baby, and if the coffee table had casters it could be pushed into the play corner for some activities.

I don't know what you can do with those ugly and large, but very fun, plastic ride-on and other toys that kids seem to accumulate these days. I suppose you could just push them over to the corner somewhere when they're not being used. Maybe some of them could be stored underneath the twin beds in the corner, or your husband could construct a type of toy closet or toy garage.

Is that big window the only window in the room?

Think of it as a preschool classroom - it is big enough! You will need a table and chairs for drawing, playing house, etc, a train table or lego table, low, open shelves all around the corner of the room with toys inside/ontop (or seating on top with cushions), a rug that defines the space (and that can get messy - Ikea?), a play kitchen, an easel for drawing, painting or chalk, book shelves (covers facing out) and comfy area to read - bean bag chairs, mini sofas. Doll house? Car garage? Blocks? Hooks for dress-up clothes - and a mirror? You could install big panels of homosote painted to match the walls to hang kids' art work or school work or photos of posters, maps, sports medals, etc.

Ikea has great, cheap kids' furniture and storage options.

Or buy direct from a preschool supply company (ask your kids' teacher for a catalog - Lakeshore or others).

There will still be room left over for hockey!

Great responses. So much to think about.
Jagood, yes the big window is the only one in the room.

I see it like "megancambodia" -- a preschool type area. One end of our TV room functions as such for our grandchildren, with a rocking horse, rocking chair, 2 sided easel (chalk board + drawing board w/ butcher block paper, a large doll house, mesh drawers on wheels & mesh baskets for their toys. Kids never stay one place, but their stuff can be housed together in one area. :-)

Check out Ikeahackers.net. We just built our kids an incredible lego table from that site. They have a art table area (inexpensive) that I think would be great for that space...maybe 1/2 art 1/2 lego to satisfy all kids?! Look at the pic I attached. You can get a full size table or 2 for under 50 bucks a piece!

Melmo78- I am looking on the website, which ikea table is that?

Are you on the Ikeahacker.net site? It is under the kids section. It is a Vika table top (they come in 2 sizes) and you can get longer legs if you would like

Just to let you know... melmo78 is only talking about the table tops when he/she says they are $50 because the storage under the tables are $60 a piece so you are looking at $60x2 + $50x 2 + the cost of the legs. It looks great and I love it but it is not a cheap as they are making it sound. If you have an Ikea near by I purchased an expanding kitchen table and cut the legs down to coffee table height. Bought a few kids chairs and they use it for everything from eating and arts and crafts (it expands to seat 8 so it's very spacious) and we use it as a coffee table when company comes over it's fantastic. It is easily cleaned because it is a kitchen table and meant to be cleaned regularly. We have gotten our money's worth and it does not look like a kiddie table.

Actually delucs you can get a whole table for under 35 bucks http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59903709/ that's what I was referring too. I was showing an idea and you can alter to make it cheaper or more expensive depending on your needs and budget. I was trying to help. You can get the table top for $11 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00209839/ and put it on cheap bookshelves. I wasn't trying to deceive anyone but thanks delucs for trying to make me look like a jerk

I don't know if anyone else has suggested this idea yet, but I did read a few posts.... Def need to make the fireplace your focal point with your furniture and move tv to the built in area. I agree with that for sure!
I think I would then have a game table /dining table and chairs in front of large window area.
Then heres the kid area idea.....buy miniature living room furniture for the kids for the christmas tree corner. A couch, one of those tiny recliners, (or 2 small couches in an L shape, and low corner table or shelving unit that a dvd player and/or video game stuff can be stored and put a small flatscreen tv on top of that. Totally for the children. Arrange the furniture as if they were walls to their own little living room inside the big room. Decorate it just like you would for big people....a rug, the cushy seating that all we adults love, end tables with lamps and great cool art on the walls!

I found this stuff on a website looking for kids living room furniture. But a lot of this stuff is for waiting rooms and schools I guess....but kind of gives an idea. Sensory Edge....the table and chairs is only $99...FYI

Still thinking about murals. You could put one on both sides of the large window. We did that with a forest scene once -- cut it to go on both sides of the fireplace to make it look part of the scene.

To make your kid's bedroom look awesome you can put a print on wall

Wow Melmo! You took that completely wrong...I actually was looking into it because I was sooooo impressed by the design. I happen to be an Ikea fan for taking the off the shelf and customising it to your needs. When I saw your table I thought instantly how great it would be in our playroom as my son loves Lego. It has a large work surface and concealed storage...Brilliant!!! But as shown in the picture it is not $50. That was the whole comment no insults intended.
And I think she could really use a coffee table in the huge room for both everyday use and for company!

Wow.... looks like you have more answers than you know what to do with, but the HGTV Park City home (I think it was their 2011 give-away home) has the cutest little "kid nook"... with a kid sized door. You should go to their site and take a look at it. Here are two of the pictures...

Melmo78 I really like the art table you made, would you mind me asking where you got the bins, etc for underneath? any other info would be great! We are in the process of trying to design a home office/art room that would be kid friendly as well. This seems perfect! I am also greatly interested in the lego table that you mentioned you made, do you have any pictures or details? We have a million legos and hard core fans here, to have them organized somehow would be a slice of heaven!!!
Thanks!

Bella Skye-I got everything from IKEA and the ideas from IKeahackers.net. For some reason it's not letting me attach pics but here's the link to it http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/01/lego-table-for-big-kids.html. It's amazing and I used an exacto not a saw. For lego storage I used clear plastic shoeboxes and labeled them by color and put all the instruction manuals in a binder for easy reproduction. I would love to do something like this but it wasn't in my budget http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hdMW5JqD08I/Tqm0gj_LwGI/AAAAAAAANp0/vQ6IUu0TsZM/s1600/OrganizedLegoStorage17.jpg. I have built ins in my playroom so I stacked the bins (all have lids) on top of each other. Sorry I can't post pics not sure why it's not letting me.

have you seen the actual lego furniture for storage? Pretty cute.

That Lego furniture is pretty awesome. I am going to work on my husband to build a Lego table, the kids would love it! The ikeahackers site that melmo posted looks great!

melmo78 Thanks so much the links are a big help! I like the idea of putting the manuals in a binder for future reference, I am definitely going to put that into the plan too!
mpoulsom awesome lego furniture, do you remember what website that was on? do you know if they sell these in the US yet? Thanks so much everyone for all your help! It is my first time finding this blog and I am already motivated for New Years projects!! Will definitely be a regular on here!

yes, they sell them here. I first saw these on the "Fab" website I think??? But if you type in Lego Storage or Furniture...you can find them. I think they were on sale on the Fab website recently, but not sure if that's still going on.

cjstephe, were you able to use these shared ideas to rearrange your room? My idea would be very different from the others. But if you are well underway with rearranging, then I will not pursue. Sorry for not getting back...had the flu for over a month.

Mapeggy...the room is still a work in progress. We have rearranged some furniture and I have purchased a bunch of pictures to create a gallery wall. I would be very interested to hear your input!

Nice inspiration photo... http://houzz.com/photos/1731277
Kids need open floor space. Love a fun, big rug to define the area. When my kids were tots, I knew their toys would always be about the room. I didn't fight 'em, I joined 'em... My home's color scheme was bright. The toys seem to blend in nicely then.

Just thought of another NON-shelf room divider. An aquarium perhaps? Just a thought.

Just thought of another NON-shelf room divider. An aquarium perhaps? Just a thought.

http://houzz.com/photos/2314132

http://houzz.com/photos/1965670

Leyden kaden would like it