And then I send them this picture:
But anyway -- remember the reading nook from this post? We have turned it into Claire's play nook. When she was just a young pup, all of her toys used to fit in a couple baskets, so we had a blanket on the floor in the main part of the room and just kept her stuff there. But when she turned 6 months old, the toys got bigger (and more numerous). The den became an obstacle course, so we had to move her to the nook.
When we bought this house, I thought the nook would make a great play area. The cabinets under the bench offer out-of-eyesight storage and it has two built-in sets of shelves for books. Granted, the cabinets are falling apart and the inside of the bench gives me the heebeejeebees. 70's shag carpet, check. 40 years worth of dust, check. Heating vent, check. What?? Yeah, one of the two heating vents for this room is inside the bench. Hence the louvered doors, but it still doesn't let the heat out. So, I closed the vent for now, but I eventually want to get the whole thing rebuilt and re-route the heat to actually come out into the room. (A novel concept, I know. It was -16 here when I left for work the other day.)