I resorted to a playpen in our family area - mostly because DH was away for several months and there were times - like getting things in and out the door - that just wouldn't have been safe (too many stairs and concrete etc in our old house). We got a colourful plastic one from Kmart - it had an activity panel - I put a colourful alphabet quilt in there and regularly rotated the toys - DD2 quite enjoyed it in the end. It had a bit of a cubby hole feel to it, and DD1 liked to get in there too LOL. It was put into retirement when we moved to our new house (no room for it) but otherwise we would've got a few more months out of it I think - just play value at that stage.