Haha.....The first pic reminds me of our LR from 1984(when we moved in) - 92 when it was the kids' playroom....I had 3 kids in less than 4 years and that room was a godsend...space to play and I could easily keep an eye on them. No matter that guests walked in and the first thing they saw was matchbox cars on the floor, stuffed animals, dolls, blocks, an old couch, etc.

It looks like it was working for the kids, though ;-)

I am getting REALLY tired of that light, it's as ubiquitous as nesting tables were in the sixties.

I've never used a 'public' space as a playroom for the kids toys~I had 3 kids within 5 years and 2 more 5 years later. The toys were always kept in toy boxes/shelves in the bedrooms, although they could bring toys out to play but always put away when finished.

From what I see on TV, it seems kids have full rein of the house these days. I have 3 younger grandchildren, and my 2 DD's make the kids keep their toys in their rooms also, or an upstairs room they've each designated as a playroom. PI think a playroom should be out of sight and not on the main floor, unless a door can be closed. Just my 2 cents.

But what if the kids are still toddlers or very young preschoolers? I sure needed to keep an eye on ours.

When my daughter was young, we lived in a small-ish townhouse. Toys were upstairs in her room, or in the loft which we used as playroom. When my son was little we'd moved to a much bigger house. It wasn't practical to keep all toys in his room. I had a wicker trunk in the family room with the toys he played with the most and the rest were in his room. He could bring anything he wanted downstairs. Everything got put away (either in trunk downstairs or brought to his room) when done playing.

There is no right or wrong answer. I am a neat freak and can't stand seeing a mess. So, for me, a playroom that is always messy on the main floor is not an option. For my brother and sister-in-law who are much more laid back about this, their living room was the kids play room. They even finished their basement at one point with the intent of it being the kids playroom, but it never was. The living remained the playroom until the kids were much older. Worked for them. Drove my mom (another neat freak) crazy, but it worked for them.

We had a toybox in each childs room from baby on till they left for college. Our rule was they could bring their toys out to the family/living room but they "must" be put back before going to bed at night. If they left their toys out in their room, I announced that tomorrow was vacuuming day...which meant put everything on the shelves or off the floor. Worked for us.

I should have added we did have toy boxes in the room and it got picked up every evening. In 92 DH finished off the basement and that became the playroom. We had no loft or spare bedrooms. Just a FR with the TV. I did buy LR furniture eventually and the room was seldom used. So having a playroom on the main level within earshot made way more sense. I could hear and poke my head in while I cooked or cleaned. My SIL ended up putting a pool table in her LR....that room got way more use as such, especially at gatherings.

So... where did all the toys go? Is this picture five years later when the kids no longer want so many things? It seems like a drastic change to get a room to work for a family who clearly used the space before.

To me the best thing about this redo is the absence of those silly columns.