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Once upon a time, before you had children, you probably spent a lot of time perfecting the look of your home, finding the perfect interior design style and then shopping to achieve it. Fast forward in time, and with kids running around, the emphasis is less on style and more on practicality.
Whereas before kids, the look of your home was your main priority when family life gets hectic; the priority usually shifts to making a home that works best for your needs. While practicality is vital, that doesn’t mean you have to forsake the look of your home. With the right planning and décor, it is possible to create a home that is both stylish and practical.
Flooring
Those cream carpets were a beautiful addition to your home when you moved in and perfectly complemented the rest of the carefully planned interior of your home. However, with kids in tow, you probably spend more time shouting at them to take their shoes off and following them around with carpet stain remover than you do appreciating the understated beauty of your cream carpets. But don’t panic, your carpets don’t need to be a source of anxiety, instead get practical, and think about how you can make them work or if you want to, you could change them.
If changing your carpets is not something you want to do, why not purchase some attractive rugs to cover the areas that get the most foot traffic? Rugs are a great way to protect the floor from spills and heavy use, and can also usually be cleaned a lot more easily than a carpet can be.
There is an excellent reason that laminate is such a popular flooring choice in family homes; it is easy to keep clean, and in most cases won’t be stained when things are spilt on it. Depending on the look you are going for and your budget, engineered wood flooring is also a popular choice too.
Technology
You probably find that your kids love to watch TV, no matter how hard you try to get them to take part in other activities. One thing you can be sure of is, no matter how much they like the TV, they will love wiping their sticky little fingers over the screen even more! If this sounds familiar to you, and you are tired of telling the children not to touch the TV, you may find it easier to change its positioning. Mounting your television on the wall, rather than keeping it on a TV stand, should help to solve the problem. A motorised TV bracket will enable you to have the television positioned safely out of reach, and it can be folded away when not in use. Motorised TV brackets can be operated using a remote control to make life even simpler.
Declutter
Clutter is the enemy in every family home; as it seems to accumulate so sneakily, you don’t realise it is there until you trip over it. Certain areas of the house are prime dumping grounds and the home of much of the clutter you find in your house. The hallway is the prime example, as it’s the place where all those last minute rushes take place before the school run, and where everything is left abandoned after school.
Stay on top of the clutter, by making sure that everyone gets into the habit of picking up after themselves, and that the kids know (depending on their age, of course) that you expect them to tidy away certain things by themselves. Although there may be protests at first, they will soon get into the habit.
Decorate
When planning to redecorate a family home, it is a good idea to do plenty of research into the look you want and then following that up with thinking about how easy it will be to maintain and whether it can be kept clean and tidy.
Choosing paints that can be wiped clean is such a good idea, especially if your child loves to graffiti your walls with wax crayons. Choose furniture that looks great, but can withstand family life, so nothing too delicate. If you are going to buy a new sofa, it can be handy to get one that comes with removable covers, to make taking care of those inevitable spillages so much easier.
Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com from Pexels
Storage
If there’s one thing in life that any parents know only too well, it’s that kids come with a lot of stuff – loads of it! From teeny tiny plastic toys, through to bikes and scooters, puzzles and craft stuff; considering they are only little kids come with a surprisingly large amount of belongings. Short of buying them nothing for Christmas and birthdays, the only way to solve the issue of copious amounts of toys, games, teddies etc. is to get serious with your storage.
Luckily, there are some very ingenious storage solutions available out there, so finding the right storage shouldn’t be too much of an issue. One handy way of keeping everything organised and out of sight is to use storage cubes that fit within a wooden frame. That way, everything can be easily packed away when finished with and placed back neatly on the shelf.
Safety First
When it comes to kids, there are lots of safety points that should be considered in the home. Thinking carefully about how you can minimise the risk of accidents in your home should help to keep your kids safe. Here are some things to think about when creating your family home:
- Do you have a fire, and if so is there a fireguard in place?
- If your property has stairs have you fitted a stair gate?
- Are wires, plugs and cables safely out of the reach and view of your child?
- Have you ensured that blind cords are out of your child’s reach?
- Do you have a cupboard for your cleaning products and medicines which keeps them out of reach and sight of your child?
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