Livable Kids Space

So as we are making a baby safe play space, I have been looking really hard for some inspiration. Since our living room is right when you come in the front door I don't want for it to scream plastic toys, but I still want for it to be an area that if we make a mess playing it is ok. I have been collecting images for a while that will work for either the future basement play room or now. We have not made too many choices, but know that the room will go back to being a universal room so don't wan to make any structural changes.

I love the chalkboard walls. I think for now will be a bit of a stretch, but I am thinking of find an old school house chalk board to use. Could be a cool art display. Also we have a similar rug that I was thinking of moving into the guest bedroom, but might work well in this room.

I love this room. The white walls, fun play poofs in bright colors and open space to play what ever. I wish we could paint the walls white, but I think I am at my limit with Nick and white walls.

I love the bookcases in this room. I wish we could do something similar, but I think it will be too permanent for a room that is only temporarily baby proof. I have found an interesting solution to book storage that I will share later. I am still trying to find more storage solutions for toys overall, but we have a few that will work for now.

How to Baby Proof

So I have been debating on the best method for baby proofing. Option 1 is getting a large movable play pin to use around the house. Option 2 is baby proofing the entire house. Option 3, baby proofing one large area of the house. We have decided to go with Option 3 for the time being. It does not seem right to keep James so confined, and now that he is crawling there is no way the whole house can be baby proofed. Plus the cats did not do very well with the baby gate.

The best room to make James safe is our living room. It gets great sunlight, is large enough that James has plenty of space to crawl around and installing a baby gate to cut of this area of the house will be the least traumatic to the cats. Time to say farewell to the old family room as we make slow but sure progress on the James safe version. The other bonus is we have can get rid of the blue/green color scheme. Taking down the curtians alone was a huge improvement!

The sofa will stay and so will the bench tucked under the table. My attempt at being Damien Hirst has moved to another room, but might come back.

The desk has moved into the den and all the plants have to moved into the guest bedroom. Even though the coffee table has "sharp corners of death," it is the perfect height for James to pull himself up and play. Currently it is a highly watched play area untill we get more padding on it.

The funiture/accessories shuffle has made the entire house a mess with items being displaced all over. Hopefully we will end up with a better arrangement once all is said and done. Plus I am excited for another project.