I really disliked having a LR next to a playroom. In our former home that was the setup: LR separated from playroom (actually called 'family room' at the time) by glass doors. It was very difficult to entertain adults in the LR with children in the playroom (noise, constant back and forth of the kids, etc.). In that house you had to go through the LR to reach the playroom, coming from either the foyer or the kitchen. (Maybe your plan differs.) Whether you have glass or other dangers, the trouble with small children is...you have to *watch* them all the time! LOL French doors should probably have safety glass anyway.

teacats: That would be my top choice if we had more depth to the room. :) Well we bit the bullet and made the swap and everyone's first impression is that it is a big improvement. It is amazing that we even all agree--as we seldom all agree on the same thing. Since the TV is quite large we prefer the more distant view than having the sofa as close as it was before. We were able to rig up a temporary cable connection off of our message center--smart thinking DH put in the structured wiring everywhere (cable, phone, etc.) I apologize for the poor quality pictures. I could not get a setting that did not show the morning sun coming in the transoms. Good news is there is no glare on the TV. DH thinks the technology of the TV must adjust for that. What do you think (so far)? Obviously, this will entail some changes with the furniture and the cable/surround sound plan. It is very hard to spend time and money putting in a system only to realize it's not workable and needs to be completely redone. Retrofitting the wiring to this wall will not be trivial as the remodel called for sheerwall and bolts on this wall plus the backside of the wall has shower tile on it so whatever we do we need to proceed with caution. Thoughts at this point are to get a larger rug--I'm thinking the Karastan multi-panel Kirman I had my eye on for the LR but did not get. As the console is custom we are thinking to see if the company can make a hutch for it with CD storage on the sides and a bridge across the top. Then the bookcases will be consolidated into one where the shorter of the two is presently and a comfy arm chair will go in the corner where the hardback chair is now. I've told DH and the kids this will be Pop's chair--he really likes the idea of his own TV/reading corner. We may even add a second chair where the ottoman is now--more for conversation than TV viewing. Whenever we have a party people always seem to congregate in this area--it's more of a great room since it's open to the kitchen. Then I'm thinking of replacing the coffee table with a larger sized storage ottoman with the top that flips over--to break up the wood look since the kitchen cabinets are also viewable.

My husband has divided the developmental stages into useful names: floppy stage (baby can't sit up on their own), potted plant stage (can sit up in a Bumbo and eventual high chair. Throwing and spilling to be expected), the start of the long baby suicide watch stage (starts with crawling/scooting and progresses to cruising and then walking), tantrum stage, and then pee/poop on floors/wall stage (potty training). We have two boys ages 7 and 11. When your kids are young you want them within eye and ear shot. When they're a baby that means they may room in with you for awhile until they move to the nursery, Room for a bassinet next to the bed and dimmable lights are useful along with a place to put a changing pad and diapers in your bedroom and a comfortable chair for nursing/bottles/rocking. A lot of people want the nursery next door but baby monitors exist for a reason. If the room is next door then both parents are woken up during night time feedings instead of one sleeping and one tending to the baby. Eventually you'll also want to have marital relations again and that will be awkward if there's just a wall separating you and your child. I recommend at least a hallway separation. In our current home the master bedroom is at the bottom of the stairs and the bedroom we used as a nursery was at the top of the stairs. It worked perfectly. Eventually your child will move into baby suicide watch stage. Baby proofing an entire house is a major pain in the butt. For that reason I recommend choosing a baby proofing zone that can be closed off using baby gates and/or doors that's within eye and ear shot of the kitchen and a bathroom. Basically you're creating one large play pen Make sure doorways are built for the easy installation of gates (wide ones are harder to gate) and that doorknobs, cabinets doors, etc are chosen that are easy to baby proof. Design a fireplace surround that's easy to baby proof. We ended have to put a big, ugly cage around our's because our kid kept trying to crawl into our's to eat the rocks and impale himself on the grate. Carpet is good for babies but if you prefer hard surfaces try to choose flooring that isn't very slippery. You may not have to baby proof everything (we didn't have to install toilet locks for example) but this is how you can make your life easier. Make sure there's also space for toy storage that's easy for a young child to use so he or she can help clean up. It doesn't have to be permanent. In the kitchen designate a drawer for eventual use by the child so he or she can safely get his or her own dishes. Choose a potty training bathroom close to the kitchen and living room and make sure it's easy to clean and has room for a step stool in front of the sink and toilet. Choose a scrubbable wall covering so you can easily clean off pee, poop and/or toothpaste. Eventually the kids won't be on baby suicide watch stage and will move to toys that hurt bare feet stage such as Barbie high heels or Legos. Once they move to that stage you want a room that's away from you that has a door you can close to contain that mess. At that point toys aren't allowed in the family/living room anymore. Don't bother to fit it out with built-ins, etc until you're actually using that room. Even then, keep the room as flexible as possible.

The stove is gas and we've never used it. I would love to tear out all the brickwork but the original chimney is walled off behind it so it would be a huge, expensive project if it's even structurally feasible. This house has a lot of projects and the main level is my priority so the wet bar will have to wait even though it would be great to have that done. Maybe I can find a slide to attach to the wet bar...they climb on it anyway...and then put the climber on the back deck if it will fit. My boys play outside a ton when we have snow, but 2/3 of the winter we have no snow and apparently it's not so much fun to play outside when it's cold, windy, and dry. We did have the room open for a playroom when we first moved in but then DH insisted on getting that sectional. I would have preferred just a couch and more open space. Maybe if I split the sectional up I can make the room more open again.