Having three kids aged almost 5 and under and living in a very small house (under 1200 square feet for a family of 5) in Silicon Valley, our living room/dining room/kitchen (it is all one room - a"great room" concept, if you will) has been overrun with kid stuff for the last 5 years. First it was a pack-n-play, 2 swings, 2 bouncy seats, an exersaucer, etc. when we had the twins. Then it was less baby equipment, but more toys - blocks and tents and play houses and stuffed animals and.... After that came the coloring table and the train table. Now we're at a place where we're ready to take back our adult space to some degree. Not that the kids won't still have their stuff in the living room - the coloring/activity table will stay. And they have a kids computer table now that will stay. But all the toys are going in their rooms. The toys have been scaled back too - there are just less of them.
And herein lies the joy - for the first time in 5 years, we have one chair that is purely an adult chair. Well, ok, the kids can sit in in too. But it really looks adult. It is meant to be purely a reading area - or maybe to look out the window and just think - an oasis in the great room that can easily be crowded by kids and noise and life. The chair comes from my parents who don't have the space in their little cottage to use it right now. They bought the chair after making the switch about 10 years ago or so from heavy bulky furniture to lightweight furniture, as they have moved often in their lives. There is a reading lamp and we are in the process of setting up a side
table to hold our magazines and a cup of tea or coffee (or wine...). We plan to get a new cushion for the back at some point - or just recover the one that is there. All in all, a very affordable way to completely change this space and establish a little place of our own.
** As aside - the bookcase behind the chair is one of our great finds in organization for the kids stuff. The 3 baskets are for each of our 3 kids. Inside are the shoes they wear most often and their school backpacks. It is an easy way for them to find their stuff (and put it away) and all that random kid stuff that used to sit by the door in piles, or be lost amongst the rest of the house's chaos, is easily disguised. The bookcase and baskets are from IKEA and only cost about $70. Very affordable.
