You love your kids and family, but you also love your home. You long to have a picture-perfect home that looks like something from a magazine. However, when you have children and maybe pets too, the idea of having such a pristine home seems impossible. Life is messy, especially when you have kids. But having children doesn’t have to mean that you can’t have a beautiful home. You can create stunning interiors that can survive the hurricane of having kids in the house. And it doesn’t require getting your kids to act like perfect angels, either. There are lots of ways your home can be family-friendly and still be sophisticated.
Create a Designated Kids Area
When you think about your family home, perhaps you don’t like the idea of banishing the kids to a children-approved room. However, it’s one way that you can try to control the chaos that kids can often bring. If you don’t want a trail of destruction throughout your house, making rules about where toys should be kept and played with is a good idea. You might not want to have their bedrooms for sleeping and playing in. If you have some spare space, a dedicated playroom can make a great place to play. Don’t think of it as barring them from the rest of the house. Instead, it’s somewhere they can have their own space.
Be Cool After School
Of course, as your kids get older they want a home that they’re proud to invite their friends around to and one sure-fire way of doing this is to put in a pool or hot tub. Being the place for a teenage pool party will make you the most popular pad in the area – plus you’ll know exactly where your youngsters are. The best approach is to contact Premier Pools & Spas Inground Pool Builders, or similar organisations, for advice and take it from there.
Find Stylish Storage
On the other hand, you might accept that your kids are everywhere in the house. You can’t contain them in one place, so you might as well not try. However, that doesn’t mean they have to completely take over. One way you can keep a handle on things is to have plenty of storage. If you have storage units in every room, it’s easy to throw a toy into the nearest available hiding place. Of course, usual storage options are often unappealing, especially if they’re designed for toys. But your storage choices can be stylish and clever. One of the best ways to use storage is to hide it. For example, you can hide storage in a coffee table or even a sofa bed.
Be Playful with Your Decor
If you want your home to be for your whole family, it’s time to unleash your inner child. Give yourself permission to be playful and come up with some fun ideas for your home. Every room in your home gives you an opportunity for adventure. You can create unique and adventurous places in your home that delight both you and the kids. You could choose to do something drastic, such as turn your attic into a treehouse. However, you can also be a bit more subtle. You can turn a wall into a chalkboard to draw and write on or set up a comfortable lounging area on the floor with cushions and bean bags.
Choose Durable and Stylish
When you have children, your home needs to be able to withstand them. We all know that kids can be messy, even when they’re trying their best not to be. Your furniture and decor could take some hard knocks, as well as suffering from general daily wear and tear. You need to use durable materials and structures. However, that doesn’t have to limit your choices. In fact, any well-made furniture should be able to withstand daily use. If it’s expensive but it’s impossible to get a stain out of it, it’s not worth the price. You can choose durable fabrics to upholster furniture, for example, that are stylish too.
Have Fun with Colours
A colourful home can be stylish and sophisticated while also being fun for the whole family. If you want your home to be homely and welcoming, having fun with colours is essential. If you make everything too neutral or monochrome, you home might look like a child has never stepped inside it. Even though you want a sophisticated home, you don’t want it to look like no one lives there. Injecting some bright colours into your decor can help your kids to love your home too. Why not let them help you pick out some shades to use? You don’t have to give them complete control.
Wipeable But Smart Dining
The dining room is a space that can get bashed around a bit as your kids are growing. From thrown sippy cups to chair legs scraping on the floor, it’s hard to stop the wear and tear. That’s why it’s important to go for durable, long-lasting items if you want sophistication. You could choose cheaper furniture if you’re happy to replace it in a few years. But it might not last as long. A solid wood table will have to bear some knocks and scrapes, but you’ll come to love the way it changes as it ages. Every mark will be a reminder of your kids growing up. The same goes for having a wooden floor. Picking a table and chairs that you can easily wipe down prevents stains.
Creating a Family Bathroom
The bathroom is another room that everyone has to use. It’s important to make it safe for your kids, but you don’t want to give up your sense of style at the same time. If you don’t want non-slip mats and bath toys to ruin your bathroom, don’t worry. You can still create a bathroom that works for the whole family and retains its style. Firstly, think about storage for bath toys and other kids’ items. You can store them neatly, so they don’t take over the bathroom. Secondly, you can find safety equipment that’s stylish and will still make your bathroom safer for children. Why not a stylish step stool instead of a plastic toddler one? A non-slip bath mat doesn’t have to be covered in ducks.
Fun Motifs Throughout the House
Art throughout the house is a great way to brighten it up. But you don’t have to take things too seriously. While some landscape prints might look sophisticated, they might not be fun enough. You can use some interesting motifs throughout the house to brighten things up. For example, why not pick an animal that keeps making an appearance in every room? You might have a print of a lion hanging in the living room which also decorates the wallpaper on the staircase. Then maybe he takes a 3D form as a statuette above the fireplace or even a soft toy in one of the bedrooms.
Add Family Touches
Another way to use art around the house is to create custom art for your family. This could take the form of photos, either taken professionally or some good candid shots from vacations or family events. They could be any size you like, from framed prints to whole murals covering one wall. Perhaps you could make a gallery wall with various prints of everyone in the family. You could have a wall of art created by all the family members too. Just make sure that kids’ drawings don’t take over the whole house. It helps to give them a dedicated area instead.
Open It Up
If you want you home to be more suitable for your family, you could consider having an open floor plan. If you don’t already have one, this might mean restructuring your interiors and taking down walls. However, if you’re looking for a new home, you could keep this in mind. An open plan space allows everyone in the family to do different things in the same space. You can cook dinner while your kids play in the living room. Another option is to put in windows or hatches between rooms. You can look through from one room to another, even if you’re technically in different places.
Use Flexible Furnishings
Your family might still be growing. Even if there won’t be any more kids coming along, your existing ones grow from babies to children and finally to teenagers and young adults. As they grow, they will use your home differently. You can consider using furniture that you can easily change around whenever you want to. For example, a dining table that extends will help to accommodate everyone as your family grows. A sofa or seating area made of different modules lets you move seating around so everyone can sit how they like.
Make Art from Kids’ Things
If you don’t want to hide away your children’s things, another way to approach it is to put them proudly on display. You can turn kids’ books and toys into colourful displays if you use them correctly. Have books facing out on shelves and other surfaces so everyone can see what you’ve been reading. Choose their fun and colourful toys to sit on tables as quirky home accessories. Just make sure you find the line between art and clutter. If you go overboard, it could just look messy instead.
Your family home can be fun and sophisticated. You don’t have to hide the kids away or completely give your house over to chaos.