Integrating Children into your Decor

So, I have been giving a lot of thought to this lately:  Once the baby arrives and becomes a destructive little toddler, how will we keep our sanity and still manage to live aesthetically as my husband and I are used to?  

I see it all the time.  Parents that let go of their houses once kids arrive.  In my opinion if you are one of those people that doesn't mind seeing your house upside down with toys and garbage everywhere, then it really poses no threat to you. But my husband, an architect and I are from another mindset.  We like our home to be tidy and clean and we enjoy having guests and people over some times.  For this reason, I don't see how we will change our habits once kids arrive.  I have a cousin that has a lovely modern apt.  Her husband happens to be an architect too. She has two toddlers and they are happy, well-adjusted kids who play all day long.  But there is one rule in that house:  The toy bins outside in the living contain a few selected toys the boys have picked from their room and agreed to play with until they get tired and get replaced with another new toy.  That way, they get to play with all their toys and are organized and tidy about it.  What a genius idea!  I think I might implement that.

Another more progressive idea is to integrate your children's toys and crafts into your decor.  I always wanted to do this, and finally found a post on Apartment Therapy that covers just that. I agreed with the writer of the post that there should be a happy medium between allowing the house to be run by toys or not allowing toys at all.  The pictures speak for themselves.