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Designing a kid-friendly home:
You may be asking yourself, “What the heck does that mean?”
Luckily for us, James Forrester offers some excellent tips on how can keep our homes kid-friendly in today’s contributed post. Check him out at KeepGunsSafe.com.
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Clearly, immaculate interiors look lovely. But, they seem to only exist in magazines and coffee table books and almost never in real life.
For those with children, it might only be a wishful dream!
Childproofing your home may limit the design and décor possibilities, but that doesn’t mean your home needs to be without style! Let your creativity prevail with our tips for designing a kid-friendly home.
We hold a great deal of respect for parents who can keep their houses pristine and well-decorated while having children around at the same time.
These kid-friendly home tips, coupled with an eye for good design and improvisation, can make both the parents and children love the place they call home.
Keep Dangerous Items in Closed Storage
This is an important point when it comes to creating a kid-friendly home.
Overall, you want to minimize the risk of kids doing damage or harming themselves. Items like knives, guns, hardware tools, and other sharp objects are crucial to keep away from kids’ reach for obvious reasons.
If you have a collection of these items (especially knives or guns), how you store them is crucial.
Consider placing weapons in a gun cabinet or safe and putting it in your room, a home office, the basement, or anywhere that’s not a common room your kids frequent.
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Use Rounded Furniture
Whether actual circular furniture like tables and individual chairs, or just furniture with rounded corners, this tip can help you feel more comfortable that your child won’t meet any unfortunate accidents on sharp edges.
This doesn’t only pertain to things you put into the house. This also applies to built-in counters, ledges, and everything else that usually has pointed corners or edges (the bathroom and kitchen counters are a great example of this!).
Related: 5 Best Kitchen Upgrades That Will Boost Your Home’s Selling Price
Create a Designated Play Area
Now that harmful objects are out of the way, making a specific play area or room in your house will keep toys, art materials, and all kid-related things in a designated space. Toys have the most potential to become clutter throughout the house, and putting a boundary on where they can be used might just save your sanity.
It’s also recommended to make this play area within a space where you can easily see your kids or have easy access to check in on them. This way, if they do start crying or need your attention, you’re not far away.
A play area can be the easiest section of the house to childproof since it’s meant for your kids! Depending on the age of your kids, replace chairs with bean bag chairs for sitting. If you have hardwood floors, get a pack of foam play mats to cover the hard surface. This way, if they fall, the surface will be a bit softer.
Related: These Basement Remodels Will Make You Want To Start Yours Now
Coat Walls with Semi-Gloss Paint
Discovering marks and drawings on the walls is just one of the common things that happen to parents. At best, they’re just chalk or crayons, but sometimes, they’re permanent markers.
Reduce the frustration when this happens by using semi-gloss paint on walls that are most likely to get marked in the house. This type of paint replicates normal paint while also providing the convenience of easily cleaning chalk and crayon marks.
Tip: You can also paint one wall with chalkboard paint, which is perfect for kids to draw on! Try this in your child’s room or in a playroom.
Related: 7 Expenses Every Homeowner Needs To Save Money For
Frame Your Kid’s Artworks
Some spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on art for their houses, then end up shoving their kids’ artworks into drawers.
Frame your kid’s creations instead and showcase them in a visible display of pride on blank walls.
Related: 4 Best Ways Stay-At-Home Moms Can Beat Stress
Opt for Sofas with Fixed Cushions
When you have a child, just accept that there will be many instances of fort-making in their bedroom, in yours, or in the living room. Some sofas make it easier with cushions that can be detached and rearranged, but it opens more opportunities for kid-initiated mess.
Bedrooms can be a huge mess, but the living room should be kept clean enough for unexpected guest visits. Playtime in that space need to be a little more restricted. Sofas with fixed cushions will prevent from doubling the clutter.
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Use an Outdoor Rug for Indoors
Outdoor rugs are made to withstand any harsh elements that could easily destroy regular textiles. Rain or mud are easily cleaned by washing and drying in the sun. This makes outdoor rugs perfect for family houses where kids are very prone to causing spills and stains.
Rugs are also helpful to divide different areas of the house, especially if you have an open floor plan. If you ever wanted a rug underneath the dining table, nothing will stop you now when you use this safer alternative to regular carpet.
Related: How To Budget For Your Home Renovation Project
Use Carpet Tiles
Carpet and kids just don’t make a good combination. If you’re keen on having carpet covering a large part or even the whole floor, opt for carpet tiles instead of committing to a broadloom one.
Carpet tiles induce less worry about stains because they could easily be replaced. Since they’re “tiles,” sometimes all you have to remove is the one square that’s been stained.
Related: This Is What Parents Should Teach Kids About Money
Incorporate Pops of Color
It’s hard to keep a balanced compromise when you have a child. It’s either their stuff dominates every room or your décor is not too kid-friendly. Try to achieve the balance through prints and colors that can be pleasant to both adults and children.
Incorporate fun pops of color where unexpected, like a rainbow shower curtain in a plain white bathroom or a neutral zebra-print wall in the play area.
Related: 6 Simple Ways I Saved Money Around The House Last Year
Attach Hooks with Initials
One trick to make your house more organized is to make cleaning up fun for everyone. Make your kids excited about hanging up their bags and coats or jackets by attaching wall hooks with their initials on it.
This way, you don’t have to keep reminding them not to drop everything on the ground once they get home from school. Things are also easier to find and siblings don’t have to fight over whose things are whom.
Related: House Poor: What it is and How to Avoid it
Time To Design Your Kid-Friendly Home
Decorating the house is a fun endeavor that everyone can contribute to. Having kids in the house doesn’t have to limit that, except for when you need to childproof some furniture.
Don’t take it too seriously and apply these alternative, kid-friendly home tricks to prevent unwanted accidents and keep your frustrations in check.
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