Make sure the place where you spend your family time is family friendly! Here, suggestions from Eric Stromer, author of Do-It-Yourself Family: Fun and Useful Home Projects the Whole Family Can Make Together (Random House, 2006).

The rumpus room should be conducive to the whole family. It is an all-purpose room that knows no boundaries. Here are five tips to make this indoor family playground fun, productive and inviting.

1. Comfort first. Get oversize pillows that can act as seating and can also be used as crash pads for tumbling and Jerry Lewis-style pratfalls. Also, what could be better for legally thrashing a sibling than "legal" pillows? Make sure the design and fabric pattern are not too formal or expensive. Accidents will happen!

2. Fun everywhere. Make some of your wall-hanging decor functional game boards by employing colorful 12-inch carpet squares on the floor in a checkerboard pattern as a life-size game board, and transform wall space into a display area for a wacky or silly hat collection. Not only will it look fun, but it will create fun as well.