If you’ve got a growing family, it might be time to make some changes around the home to suit. Not every home is built ready for a family! Whether you’re preparing for you first bub or you’ve already got a house full, there’s a number of changes and alterations you can do to make your home more family-friendly.
Safety First
The most important part of making your home more family-friendly is ensuring everybody’s safety. Not only should you have all the necessary smoke detectors, fire safety and door/window locks, but you should also block off balconies, have a pool fence and secure blind cords—among a range of other things. Take a look at the WebMD website for more information on childproofing your home.
Be Economical With Furniture
When it comes to preparing your home for another occupant, it’s all about saving space. Big pieces of furniture can swallow up large portions of the home. Take a look at each piece of furniture in the home and evaluate its importance. Try to avoid furniture that’ll impose on the wall space.
Create Separation
When reorganising the layout of your home, you need to make sure there’s separate living zones. Ask yourself; can you doing multiple things around the home without them interrupting each other? For instance, you don’t want your new born sleeping right next to the living area or they’ll never get to sleep.
Build For Durability
Growing children may be awfully cute, but they also have a tendency to be destructive. Whether it’s paint spilled on the floor or spaghetti fingers rubbed on the walls, children love making a mess. Limit the damage by avoiding fragile decorative features around the home and installing floorboards instead of carpet. Opt for more durable fixtures, fittings and surfaces, as well as wipe-clean paint for the walls (and ceiling).
Be Creative With Storage
One notable compromise you make when bringing up a family is a clutter-free home. Where there are kids, there’s inevitably mess. You can help battle this clutter by becoming more creative with storage. Your garage, shed, basement and attic make for the perfect place to store all those toys and sporting equipment that no longer get used. You can even have a local Bundaberg carpenter build you some wall shelving and storage under your staircase if necessary.
Know When To Upsize
Sometimes there’s just not enough space. If you’ve exhausted all your storage and design options and there’s still no room for the whole family, you need to think long and hard about upsizing, extending or renovating. Remember your family is only going to grow, so make sure your new home or renovations are built accordingly.
If you need help renovating, extending or building a family-friendly home, we’ve found some Bundaberg builders who’ll be happy to assist.
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