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The Ultimate Family Room
Putting the Focus on Fun and Fitness
By Amy Carey Bowman
Today's energetic families need ways to be active and have fun together without just "vegging out." Save movie night for Saturday. Tonight, get busy in the ultimate family room, one that allows your active family to reconnect in fun new ways.
Forget sofas. Your d袯r will be a hit with the addition of some unusual seating. Try suspending a swing or two from the ceiling of your family room – yes, swings indoors! (Be sure to anchor them securely to support beams.) IKEA offers a line of swings that are perfect for use both inside and outside. Or hang IKEA's rope ladder above a mountain of pillows in a climbing area. Oversized beanbags and floor cushions make excellent landing pads. Add a slide like Little Tikes Easy Store Large Slide to maximize the fun.
For even more adventurous families, Rachel Mallon, an interior decorator from Portland, Ore., suggests building a climbing wall as the ultimate way to express your energetic spirit. Choose colorful climbing holds just for kids and make climbing a family affair. (See our sidebar for details about what's involved in constructing your own climbing wall.)
If an indoor climbing wall exceeds the limits of your space, you can encourage active play with all sizes of exercise balls and tumbling mats. Put a child-friendly sound system nearby, and stock it with groove-inspiring music to get kids moving. Stack a big set of soft blocks in one corner of the tumbling area to see what structures the kids create.
Sometimes kids crave quieter play. A pair of child-sized armchairs near a few crates of books creates a reading space, while a puppet theater or soft-sided playhouse enables hours of creative interaction. Want to take it a step further? Build a low-tech stage and hang curtains around it to make a theater that's just right for acting out plays or lip-synching to favorite songs.