That cabinet to conceal the TV is beautiful. Mine is above my fireplace and I hate that it's a focal point in the room. I've been throwing around ideas on how to conceal it, I'll add this to the list.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I would put a television over a piano if that's where both items fit. They don't interfere with each other. I really don't see the problem.

So glam and stylish for a room that is friendly for children. I love that, I am a designer and my niche is families and children's rooms, my biggest request and challenge is keeping the style while creating functionality. Well done!

I think the room looks lovely, but you people must have very different kids than mine!

I really wish a requirement for before and afters would be the same angles and similar lighting are used. I have a hard time visualizing the improvement otherwise. :-/ Obviously the fireplace is going to look better in the "after" when the photo is professionally taken and the fireplace has been cleaned.

why do TVs have to be hidden?

its nice

I like the blue rug! Very nice. But the coffee table seems so far away from the seating. No?

There is a tv over the piano, its just encased... you can see it with the door parshly opened

I like the creative concealment of the TV - I'm not sure I would do it, but it's an interesting alternative to TV cabinets.

As for the rest, the fireplace is decidedly better, but I prefer the "before" of the rest of the room. The "after" seems better suited to an elegant single woman in her 70s than a couple with children. (Just MHO.)

It would have been perferred to see a DYI rather than a designed livingroon.

It is nice but I agree w/slangevar; where do the kids fit in here?

I think its beautiful,and I LOVE that living room section! Id take it all,rugs,carpet,tables! I dont see why some think it isnt 'kid friendly',microfiber uphostelry and sturdy furniture can be elegant and accomodating.Its silly to me to pigeon hole what is "kid friendly",my beloved Grandmother had delicate french furniture and fine things all over her house,and 17 grandkids constantly in and out,and we never broke a thing.

Why would you think a kid friendly room has to look like it can be hosed down? This looks like a very open, airy room without too many little things that children aren't supposed to touch. Stuff wears out and needs to get cleaned whether you have kids or not so just make your house look like you want and expect accidents to happen.
I guess one of my pet peeves is people using the excuse of children to explain why all their furniture and rugs are brown.

I like keeping the TV concealed if you aren't using it all the time. I just wonder where you'd put the various DVRs and cable boxes and blu-ray players and such. From seeing the frames partially open, I don't imagine there's enough room for that stuff unless it was a very small TV.

I love what you've done. HOWEVER, candle holders on the floor in front of the fireplace is not kid friendly. Having already gone through and outgrown the "kid friendly" decorating stage, I can tell you that toddlers will use those candle holders as clubs or guns or roller skates. Just letting you know what's to come . . . .

@johncb - Exactly... this looks like a grandmother's living room - not a family's living room. That sofa may indeed be microfiber, but it looks very light-colored, as are the chairs. Stain magnets. And that side-table vase is just begging to be knocked over.

The only way to keep this room pristine is to have all sorts of rules governing its use. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - I have friends that were raised in rule-heavy homes. It just wouldn't be my personal preference.

And please tell me how those built-ins hold a LITTER BOX? Does the cat know how to open the door?

I like how much brighter the living room is and the shelves by the cabinet, but it seems to have lost that "home" feel that it previously had.

Unless the kid intends to EAT those candles, I don't think they can be called unsafe for kids. They're decorative and don't pose a risk since they're unlit.

The "before" didn't have a home feel...it had a cluttery, claustrophobic feel. I much prefer the after, where things have a place to go. The rug is beautiful color and I like the piano a lot. This is obviously a room where people can gather. Just because there aren't toys scattered about doesn't mean it's not kid-friendly. I think kids should be encouraged to live in adult spaces; things shouldn't be catered exclusively to them.

Did you read what I wrote? The candle HOLDERS are the problem.

LOVE this redesign and especially the fireplace makeover.

Elegant yet comfortable and functional-looking at the same time.

I'm intrigued by the mention of the cat litter box in the storage unit to the side of the fireplace. I assume there's an entrance to the box that the cat can go in and out by itself, but how is it concealed from view?

I wish there were the down home vibe of the first one with the efficiency of the after. The colors on the after are arresting. It looks like the kind of living room where you only go when "grown up guests are over".

It's nice. It would be interesting to know the ages of the kids, though! I'm going to have to wait til mine are older before I can add the accessories that I'd really want in my living room.

Oh, and regarding microfiber: run! Run away! I hope there are multiple kinds of the stuff...I was told ours would be easy to keep clean, and it definitely is NOT. Plus water rings have ended up being permanent. My kids aren't allowed to eat in the room, but when my toddler would put his mouth on the edge of the sofa, I had to drag out the shampooer and clean that whole cushion to avoid a permanent mark.

Small pet peeve of mine - it bothers me when "we need more storage" is listed as one of the initial problems, but the storage solution provided is not actually used for storage. Aside from the closed shelving on the bottom whose organization we can't see, the shelving around the fireplace only serves as display - there are roughly 10 books and a few vases there. When I say "I need more storage," it's because I have two six-foot bookcases that are bursting at the seams, not because I want to create a small vignette.

Don't get me wrong, I think the unit and the overall effect is beautiful (though the right half appears to be taller than the left, but I'll give that up to an uneven old building), but it's being used for display, not storage.

I like the Before better..

Glad they didn't paint the fireplace. Not a huge fan of "glass vase with sticks" as decor but the rest is pretty. It says KIDS not BABIES or TODDLERS so a few candleholders are probably ok. Not everything has to be nailed down just because you have kids in the house.

Love the gold ceiling!

I love that it has a very adult feel--just because you have kids doesn't mean it needs to look like the kids did the decorating. The big things I think of when I think of kid-friendly design are 1) space for them to spread out and play with their toys and 2) space for the toys to be neatly put away other than that, my house, my aesthetic (and things don't need to stay 100% baby-proofed forever). While clean-ability is certainly a consideration, I agree with an earlier commenter that the room shouldn't look like you can literally hose it down.

I agree with Jukles, yuck!

Only people who buy a piano to have as a piece of furniture and not to play as a musical instrument would put a television over a piano. I guess this look is called nuveau stupid.

It's ok. The before looks cluttered, crowded, old and tired. The after is fresher, more contemporary; the only 'kid friendly' part seems to be room on the blue carpet to play.

i like the golden ceiling.

I love that couch! Colour, style, everything!

I like the Before just fine - except for the speakers in front of the fireplace (at least I think those were speakers). I am a sucker for exposed brick, that's always something that elicits thumbs up from me.
In the After, I am not crazy about the gilded ceiling and I don't like the panels or whatever it is on the wall behind the sofa. I do like the concealed TV very much, those doors are nicely executed. (I am of the persuasion that TV's are not very pretty to look at when turned off and are better off out of view - shoot me).

I like the Before just fine - except for the speakers in front of the fireplace (at least I think those were speakers). I am a sucker for exposed brick, that's always something that elicits thumbs up from me.
In the After, I am not crazy about the gilded ceiling and I don't like the panels or whatever it is on the wall behind the sofa. I do like the concealed TV very much, those doors are nicely executed. (I am of the persuasion that TV's are not very pretty to look at when turned off and are better off out of view - shoot me).

I like the Before just fine - except for the speakers in front of the fireplace (at least I think those were speakers). I am a sucker for exposed brick, that's always something that elicits thumbs up from me.
In the After, I am not crazy about the gilded ceiling and I don't like the panels or whatever it is on the wall behind the sofa. I do like the concealed TV very much, those doors are nicely executed. (I am of the persuasion that TV's are not very pretty to look at when turned off and are better off out of view - shoot me).

I thought the second photo on the "above" couple was the "after" photo. It looks way better than the retro, weird below TRUE after photos. I guarantee you that nobody at Mercer Interiors has either a cat OR a child.
1. Monochrome elements? They turn a stain into a Vegas marqee, basically screaming "Look at me, I'm a stain surrounding by oceans of solid colour!"
2.The fabric looks like some kind of brushed velvet or microfiber. It's basically a lint trap. Give that cat twenty four hours with it, and you'll be able to collect enough hair to get started on a scarf.
3. I, personally, DO like concealed tellies. But I can't wait til poor little Allie is banging away at "Aude Lang" for her recital while Mom is trying to hear how many sticks of butter Paula Deen is adding to the monkey bread on Food Network. That's, of course, if Kitty doesn't shred the cowhide piano seat because it's a great scratching post.
4. There's nothing I love better than when my host serves my drink and it's four feet away on the coffee table. It's a great chance to put to use that Grabber pincher thing grandmas keep around.
5. Is there anything more inviting to a child than a good old fashioned climb? NO! So why not put some miniature ladder looking things at the bottom of the built ins and let their imaginations and bodies fly!? Right onto the guillotine table, sawed to a clean, sharp edge. So sharp, in fact, that you have to sit four feet away from feet, or your legs will be amputated at the knee.

The only improvement I see is the fireplace and that, in the form of less clutter not more storage. Zero evidence of kids here. Perhaps they are just frequent visitors. What's the purpose of the screen behind the sofa? It's out of place there & doesn't mesh with the other decor. Then there's the coffee table in the middle of the room...kinda defeats its purpose. I studied the after pics for some time before I figured out precisely what it was that disturbed me (other than the overall lack of character).It finally hit me...

Let there be light.

Imagine curling up in the room late of an evening with a good book...

I looove the TV cabinet! Brilliant!

As a pianist and piano teacher, I can't fathom what would be wrong with placing a TV above a piano. It's not like you're going to be using both at the same time anyway! And I would definitely guess that since they chose a small, unassuming digital piano, these people are more interested in their piano for making music than as a furniture piece.

Love the gold ceiling. It is spacious, bright and airy. The design is beautiful. I don't see any reason to believe this room is not kid friendly. I am guessing that the kids also have their own space in this home where they play. Not everyone has toys overrunning their living spaces. I have a separate playroom in my home, and the kids have their own bedrooms. Why should their clutter move into the family/living room too? When toys come down to play during the day, they go back up at night. And, @mosaicwench, if your kids are using candlesticks as swords after being told not to ONCE, then, wow, maybe you do need to have everything padded down. But, most people who have made it through the toddler stage can have things on the floor and coffee table without fear of it being used as a weapon. I think it is a beautiful, usable space!

There's a bottle of Bombay gin and martini glasses on the lower shelf of this kid-friendly living room. Pretty handy for the kids.

Does anyone know who sells the coffee and side tables?

Hi Apartment Therapy readers,

Thank you for all of your comments! I wanted to clarify a few things that are being commented on in this thread. And also let you know that I myself have a cat and two children ages 4 and 8!

-The cat litter box is in the lower cabinet on the right and is accessible from the back as these built in units are functional from this living room side as well as the (unseen for this post) dining room side. The cat does not have to open the door and the owners are fastidious about keeping it clean! We discussed other locations for it in this apartment, but this was truly the best solution for the space that they have.
-The fabric on the upholstered pieces are all stain resistant Krypton materials. Their products are designed to be used with pets and actually were first used on their pet beds. So very kid friendly there, but yes some stains happen that are very difficult or even impossible to get out. The client wanted fabric, not leather and that is the nature of the beast.
-Candles and holders, glass vases, Bombay gin, less than packed arrangements on the shelves were all done to style the photo. My clients arrangement was slightly different, but this was what I felt looked best for these shots. Certainly they are free to move items out of the room if they pose a hazard in any way! They have one son who was old enough and well behaved enough to handle a room with some "grown up" elements.
-In terms of storage for their son, he has a dedicated shelf inside the cabinet that has a number of baskets of his toys. Easy to take out and play with and then put away out of sight when done. He also has a bedroom with the rest of his toys and belongings.
-The audio/video equipment is in the left hand cabinet and is wired through the wall to the TV. The components can be used with the cabinet doors closed with the an extender, which is a device that sits on the shelf (it is there but really small) to transmit signals to the cable box, cd player, etc.

Hope this helps! Elizabeth Aurandt

It looks like the ceiling was already painted that color in the before pic - I don't like it - these Brooklyn rooms need something lighter, like an off-white, to reflect natural light down into the room. I like the blue rug a lot. I don't like the furniture - except the piano, which I don't consider furniture anyway, it is a musical instrument. Liked the old wood mantel shelf better than the sharp-edged one which is more likely than not going to cut some kid's head. Like the idea of building the deep built-ins that go through to the dining room - don't love the execution of them at all though - this modern style looks out of context in old Brooklyn houses- I've seen many built-ins that better show off the wonder of the Brooklyn brownstone/brick/limestone parlors. Didn't like the before much either. One thing that does not bother me is the placement of the round coffee table (I don't like the style of it, but the placement of it seems fine for placing things, for kids to sit at, etc.). That brick fireplace needs to be covered in drywall - it was not meant to be exposed - the room would be so much lighter without that unfortunately exposed brick. The window shades are OK here, though. The screen thing behind the couch is ugly - do they have something against walls?

Indeed. Tea parties are so passe'.

Elizabeth....I hope I didn't offend you. I was really just teasing, as I am great fun to be around. But yes, initially, it didn't come off as kid-friendly. I apologize that you felt you had to justify your design. I certainly did not mean to hurt your feelings. The important thing is that it works for your clients and that they love it. Screw the rest of us. ;-)

The backlit bookshelf is a great touch, the living room looks way better than the before photos.

Very nice.

Nice that those built ins are accessible from both sides.

Ha ha hah ha hah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha . . telling a child Once and they stop . . . . . ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hah ha ha ha

This looks beautiful. With children in the house, though, these rooms will not be uncluttered for long.

You don't know kids then because toddlers would try to use them to stand up and then would fall over with the candles hurting themselves and damaging the candles. Also 3 to 5 year old especially boys will wave them around as weapons. Not kid friendly at all. Frankly even without kids its still not a good idea to have candles on the floor.

Gorgeous!

I have three girls ages three, five and six. A white couch candle holders within reach and a lot of the elements the room has above. My girls are very active and curious and never left alone for much time. Do they sometimes pick up things that I rather they did not? Yes, but then I remind them that they have toys and my things are not their toys. And guess what, they put the objects back down. I agree with another poster who said you should not cater your whole design effort around children. Their are rules and a den that my girls have way more freedom in and they have a bedroom.

I believe if you teach a child to respect items, including their own, at a young age, that respect will go along way as they get older.

As long as the objects are not obviously dangerous, kid friendly means different things to different parents.

So if the owner is comfortable with the design and feels it is kid friendly for "his/her children" then congrats. Gorgeous!

Nicely put! Every family is different with how they raise their children and how they behave, therefore every home has different standards for "kid friendly".

Also, having a design background myself, some items in the photos might just be props for the styling the room for the photos and wouldn't be placed there on a 24/7 basis (ex: cocktail area).

I personally love the exposed brick and don't see anything wrong with it. Love the custom built ins as well as the gold painted ceiling. Beautiful work!