I'd rip it, extend the hardwood and for now? Decide no built in ANYTHING. ! I'd leave it as a "walk right through". You happen to have a sectional there? So what. It isn't nailed or glued to the floor.

You are showing one angle of this room, one picture.

Show the rest of this room, all angles and some surrounding areas as well , and give me a reason to change my mind.: )

This below? BYE BYE!!

I need a to scale floor plan and yes those cabinets need to be ripped out but then stop .After the floors are done all over then come back with a to scale floor plan ,on graph paper , showing this space and how it relates to the rest of the home . Remove that weird piece of trim above that opening too. I assume this opening is a pass throught but from where to where ? Show every measurement and post here in jpeg format in a comment . BTW how old are the kids?

I would just remove them, do the floors and not build in anything.Get furniture that can be used as desks, tables, cubbies or stand alone cabinets for toy storage for now that can grow with the kids as their needs change.

Not knowing anything about your family's habits, but I would probably want to close up that opening - for noise control now and for teen years. and future privacy for older kids. Not sure how important watching tv while eating is? Do the kids spend so much time in the room they would feel isolated from the rest of the family if it were closed? A TV in this room for when it's needed? Would installing French Doors there make sense so they could be open or closed as needed?

My kids "playroom" was originally open to the family and kitchen. I had a door put in the opening, specially as they got to be older teens. The door was open most of the time and I could see their computers, but if they had friends over and were watching a loud TV show I could close the door and reduce the noise. Also if I had someone over and the playroom was not tidy, I could just close the door and the mess wasn't visible to my guests.

I see no teen stuff so how many kids and ages . Do you have a basement ? I have to say a play room in full view is not ideal

I would also not do built in anything. For now I would focus on getting the hardwood done. If we see a floor plan it might help. Honestly though, having a playroom I could see was great when my kids were little but I’m so glad they have a basement spot now. I would not really enjoy having their hang out and play space so close to the living area now tust they are teens or at least so open.

My children are still young, 5 and 7. We do have a basement, but with them being little I need to keep an eye on them while I cook, clean and do all the "mom things". Its great having a playroom in eyesight, they keep all their toys in the room. Last house, we turned our living room into their playroom and they would drag all their stuff into the family room to be closer to all of us while I was getting things done. So, I had 2 rooms to clean then.

I will talk to my GC about just ripping out the cabinets for now.

Thank you!

So the best of bother worlds is creating a space that is visible when you want it to be. Is this room off your kitchen? Can it be closed to the living room so at least separate from that? If you share a floor plan you will get more help. It’s hard to picture how connected things are