Ages and Stages

I purchased a piece of furniture that looks a lot like this (for way, way, way less) several months ago, and have been messing around with how to decorate it ever since. It has this potentially great row of boards underneath like a floor that I know I could put baskets on and fill with something, once Dane quits crawling through it like a tunnel. So you can imagine my hopeful anticipation when I noticed this similar one in a Pottery Barn email today. Decorating ideas! An enlarged view revealed two giant baskets filled to overflowing with earthenware pots...a tabletop full of glass jars and vases, casually displaying lovely greenery gathered from the yard... Could this be less practical for a family? In my house that would become baskets full of shards of clay, kids pushing each other in said baskets while they throw pots across the house, and cheap glass vases filled with cedar branches, live oak leaves, and those giant needle clumps.
I'm now taking suggestions if you have any ideas!