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5 Design Ideas You'll Want if You Have Kids

October 18, 2018

If you’ve been looking through new subdivisions to find your dream house, you’ve probably fallen in love with a model or two. The designers put everything into place. The colors are fresh and modern. The furniture is elegant and chic. Then you return to your own home. How are you ever going to make your home look like that when you have kids running amok? Only one word comes to mind … chaos. And you know you don’t want that when you move. Your dream home is supposed to be “perfect”; you’re idea of perfect, anyway. Chaos isn’t included. But your kids might have other things in mind. How do you pull it all together? How do you create a beautiful house and live in it too? Change Your Attitude So many people think they should baby-proof a home and live that way until their kids graduate from high school. But kids will live any way you choose. Enjoy your home. Make it pretty. Put in accessories that speak to you. Focus in on living with your decor, not putting it on display. Don’t be worried about a scratch or a dent. If you choose stain-proof fabrics and carpet, they can be easily cleaned. If you invest in a higher quality item, it might be able to take more abuse. Pay attention to the clean-factor; have an arsenal of cleaning tips at your disposal. If you can easily recover from whatever your kids dish out, you’ll spend less time fretting over the consequences. Start With a Clean Slate When you move into a new subdivision, everything you do is brand new. You choose how you build. You decide how you live. Is your family heavily into sports? Then look for easy ways to keep sports equipment in its place. How about a mudroom with cubbies for every individual in your family? Does your family love to entertain? Make sure you have an open concept kitchen with lots of space for guests. As you tour new home models and dig deep into floor plans, picture how you can make the space even better. Is it big enough for the sectional you’ve always wanted? Could you add built-ins to make the room more functional? Sometimes it takes very little to make your new space the best it can be. Focus on Where You’ll Spend the Most Time At every stage, families have different routines. If you have small children, you may spend a lot of time on the floor playing and cuddling. Hardwood may be your best bet to keep the floors clean while covering it in soft, colorful rugs to protect tender knees. If you have tweens, you may spend a lot of time in the family room. A night in means game night. Why not have the best sofas and chairs to snuggle and laugh as a family? If you have teens, separation may be key. Why not be the house everyone comes to? A flex room may be the perfect way to give your kids the space they need now, and give you an opportunity for something new, something different when they head off to college. It starts with a foundation, so your floor plan should cater to what you like to do. But from there, you can change it any way you desire. This is where the perfect piece of furniture can do the trick. If you love spending time in the kitchen, an island might be for you. With the perfect chairs, your kids can relax and talk about their day, work on homework, or simply share a few details before dinner. Stay Inspired Many people stick with white and beige because they’re nervous to play with color, but if you have a favorite hue, why not play it up? While you might not want to paint every room in your home a vivid shade of pink, incorporate that color into a specific room with accessories? • Place a few pillows on your bed • Paint frames for the pictures you hang in your hallway • Buy a vase for the fireplace mantel • Display towels in the guest bathroom Then every time you see your splash of color, you’ll feel like you’re right at home; your home - the way you designed it. Make Clean-up Easy A cluttered home usually comes from not making the clean-up process easy. If you dread it, you won’t want to do it. And the consequences can quickly build. Start with your surfaces: floors, walls, appliances, countertops. Don’t choose fussy fabrics or colors that show every move you make. Ask for opinions and reviews. The great thing about today’s modern world is you can Google everything. And in seconds, you can discover the pros and cons of just about any decor trend you’re looking at. Then bring clean-up down to kid level. Make kid-safe cleaning supplies reachable and accessible easily. And teach them how to use it. While everything should have its place, make sure the space is easy to access. A basket for toys. A drawer for art supplies. A cabinet for games and books. Don’t worry as much about what things look like behind closed doors; relish in how well your home looks at surface level. Kids clean-up skills improve over time and the more involved they are at an early age, the easier it will be to transition as they age. It’s a great skill to share; one they’ll hopefully take to college and beyond. So, what’s in your future? As you check out new subdivisions looking for your new home, what means perfection to you? Any place where your house becomes a home, where your family can sit back and relax is the perfect place to be. Why not let New Tradition Homes design your perfect home?