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The couple’s ten-year-old twins have connecting rooms next to a play space furnished with Aalto stools, a table from Artek, and a Nanna Ditzel rattan hanging chair purchased at Interstudio.

1/2 basketball court Architect: James Dixon, Railings: Keuka Studios, inc

Guest loft

Kid's Playroom

Takuma strikes a pose from the loft lookout as seen from the second floor. The loft is used for storage as well as a place for some peace and quiet.

The couple initially painted partition walls between the children's room and their own with black metallic paint creating both a writing surface for the children and a magnetic bulletin board for notes. However, "the black looked too oppressive," Astrakhan says. So they applied several coats of lively lime green paint to brighten up that section of the house.

A deeply saturated blue hue colors the playroom wall.

A 17-foot-tall freestanding play structure that designer Sharon Davis designed for her family in upstate New York can only be entered by climbing taut netting and entering through a trap door. Descending requires sliding down two structural-columns-turned-fire-poles.

This Murphy bunk bed, the Lollipop IN model from Resource Furniture, stows away flush to the wall when not in use.

This sleeping area includes a bookshelf and sconce.

Awkward sloping ceilings are put to good use in this family apartment known as the Starburst House in Beijing, China. Across from the living lounge, tucked under the mezzanine study, is a child’s playroom. Mountain-shaped wall cushions line the wall, echoing the peaked ceiling.

The Tower House is made up of tiny houses, clustered at the southern end of the property and clad in white steel panels and western red cedar shingles. Spinning off the living room on the north side of the main house, the children’s study sits separate from the other pavilions. On its upper level, Oxley netting forms a web on which the kids and their friends can sit and read with views of the leafy street and garden.

The space below the stairs in this revamped Brooklyn brownstone was turned into a cheerful play area for the clients' two boys. "We built an egg shaped 'nook' underneath the staircase, and filled it with soft ‘pebble’ pillows," adds architect Frederick Tang.

At the top of the house is the sky-lit playroom, connecting the children's and guest bedrooms.

The playroom wall mimics the exterior.

The lower level, which contains the main communal spaces, has a vaulted ceiling that reaches nearly 12 feet in spots. The living room walls are painted Simply White by Benjamin Moore; Fireclay Tile is used for the kitchen backsplash.