how would you divide a large lounge into adult and child space?

[MamaChris]

Now we've finally bought a house , we're wondering how to divide the large through lounge (22'x12', narrowing to 9') into separate adult and child spaces. Ideally we'd like to close off the child space at the end of the day to have a toy free zone, and have some nice things (eg topple-able free-standing cd player) in the adult space that won't be at risk from ds in the day. ds only 6mo, so not sure what damage he could be capable of as he grows, but imagining the worst

options we've considered but dismissed:

• use a long sofa/big shelves (ds will surely squeeze round/climb it why my eye is elsewhere, and still need a moveable way of closing gap between sofa and wall so that you can walk through when needed)
• freestanding divider (looks nice, but ds could knock it over)

we're left with building an arch and putting in double doors but this seems potentially expensive and too permanent

Does anyone divide a big room up this way and if so how? Or are we just dreaming? (Still not used to having to consider child in thinking about how to use rooms).

We have one big room - but much as we would like it, we have never managed to have a toy-free zone. But in the evening, we put all the toys away in a basket in one corner, and it becomes an adult room again. Dd1 tends to like to play wherever we are... so I don;t know if you will manage to keep your ds away from you, really.

Stuff like CD player etc will be at risk for a while, but not for too long. Put everything you care about up high for a while, so that your space is out of reach. The other option is a temporary structure, like a play pen. You could just fence off a corner with it.

it's not about keeping ds away from us, honest! more about having separate daytime space (shared with ds) and adult space (for when ds is in bed). maybe we'll just have to put our precious things in a playpen to protect them from ds!

Doh! As soon as I'd posted it I realised that wasn't what you meant.,.. (just wishful thinking on my part!)

Good idea to put your stuff in a play pen!
We didn't actually make our room child friendly at all. The only loss was a very old amp, which got turned on and off too many times. Everything else survived (including dd1)...

I think you can get a bit over-concerned with the idea of making everything child-proof. If your son is only 6mo, you have a little while to see what sort of character he will become - my ds and dd have not been too difficult nor caused too much damage - before you have to worry about what damage can be inflicted. Unless you have very precious collection of antique glass or something, I wouldn't worry too much yet.

I do sympathise with wanting toy-free evenings however and for that storage rather than a separate area is key. I would be thinking along lines of getting good joiner in to build floor to ceiling cupboards in any alcove, dead wall space etc.

Our living room is pretty much the same size, doesn't narrow but has an annoying stone fire place that sticks out into the room. I did consider trying to split it but have come to the conclusion that good storage is the way to go. So we now have a big unit with baskets for DS's toy and tall cupboards against another wall further down which hides a multitude of sins.

Use a babydan thingie as a room divider

Then you could add curtains if you want to hide the view

thanks all. sounds like storage really is the way to go

so now we're back to thinking a strategically placed sofa and some child-friendly screen (for example) to "contain" ds and toys during the day and lots of storage for easy tidying at the end of the day. perhaps (I dream), tidying up his toys could even become the first step in ds's bedtime routine?

I would think about how stable that screen is

How about dividing with shelves like these ones?

shelves look lovely, but aren't they going to look like a climbing frame to ds?

had assumed screen was stable as it's for kids, and had wide feet, but I guess we'll have to test it first. good point!

I've not come across children who use shelves as climbing frame but maybe me and friends have been lucky. Ask around your friends and see if that is a likely scenario - it seems a bit of a waste to buy something that isn't that attractive and will only last a couple of years on the off-chance your ds turns into Edmund Hillary.

Am remembering myself as a child lala - would climb (and fall off) anything. Perhaps ds will take after his dad (an angel child, never climbed a tree, never broke a bone), but I fear not!

those shelves are nice though...