13 Jun Designing a Child-Friendly Home: Practical and Stylish Solutions
Designing a child-friendly home means creating spaces that prioritize safety as well as function and style. At the same time, Quad Cities homeowners know that their home must support the entire family, including adults who may enjoy entertaining. That means combining elements of your child-friendly home in a way that doesn’t sacrifice your home’s overall aesthetic. After all, who wants to live in a preschool?
With the right design, creating a home that’s in tune with all of your needs is possible. You can design a space that’s as stylish as it is child-friendly, bringing together form and function in an aesthetic that celebrates your unique vision. Here we offer some practical and stylish solutions to make your home child-friendly and adult-friendly as well.
Practical and Stylish Solutions for Designing a Child-Friendly Home
When you’re designing your dream home, a space for everyone is a must. Designing a child-friendly home doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your sense of style for your child’s safety and enjoyment. Here are our practical and stylish solutions for a custom home that suits everyone.
Storage Solutions
One thing no parent can deny: when there are kids in the home, there is “stuff” galore! From toys to books to clothing and baby gear, your home becomes cluttered with their belongings pretty fast.
One way to curb the clutter is to install ample storage. Built-in storage like benches, drawers, shelving, and pull-out bins provides a practical and stylish solution to your clutter while maintaining a child-friendly home design. Integrate storage into your home design to solve your clutter problems while maintaining a sleek aesthetic. No homeowner has ever complained of too much storage.
Easy-Clean Surfaces
Designing a child-friendly home means quick and easy clean-up and minimal stains. Every surface of your new home, from floors to countertops to furniture and walls, should be able to come clean with the wipe of a sponge or cleaning cloth. Quartz countertops in your bathrooms and kitchens, vinyl or luxury vinyl plank, tile, and laminate flooring are less likely to sustain damage than hardwood or marble. Look into easy-clean paint for your walls. These paints are specifically created for designing a child-friendly home.
Furniture and accessories in those areas that your little ones frequent most should be made for durability. Stain-guarded fabrics, glass-free end tables and coffee tables, and furniture with rounded corners help prevent accidents from occurring.
Designing a Child-Friendly Home that Incorporates the Latest Tech
Technology today plays a significant role when designing a custom home. This type of tech makes life easier for homeowners and families. You can certainly make technology work for you when you’re designing a home that’s tech-friendly for all. Smart home systems that maintain safety and security include cameras and alarms, speakers, and sensors for doors and windows. Monitor your children via cameras, prevent little escape artists from roaming where they shouldn’t using door and window sensors, and listen in on your littlest nappers to ensure their safety.
You can also incorporate technology when designing a child-friendly home by using interactive smart speakers and devices. They can play music, interactive games, and tell stories. Age-appropriate, child-friendly devices can enhance your little ones’ learning through fun games and activities.
Keep Safety in Mind When Choosing Design Elements
In any aspect of your child-friendly home, safety should be the top priority. Shatterproof materials, glass, and other fragile components should be avoided to maintain safety in your custom home. Opt instead for soft furnishings and rugs that are secured, and avoid access to stairs. Use bumpers on sharp corners and other areas that may cause accidents. Avoid transitions between doorways and into other rooms, which may cause tripping and result in a fall.
Future-Proof Your Child-Friendly Design
Children grow, and eventually their needs change. When designing a child-friendly home, you need to take their future needs and preferences into account. For example, open concept floor plans are advantageous when raising small children, like infants and toddlers. The openness allows you to keep an eye on them while doing meal prep or cleaning. However, older kids like tweens and teens value their privacy. Consider installing pocket doors or even French doors to cordon off a room for the privacy seekers. Just be sure to secure those doors so little investigators don’t pinch their fingers.
Help is Here
When you’re designing a child-friendly home, you might feel as though you need to anticipate every potential mishap or calamity. And while that is true, rest assured, Seiffert Custom Homes has the experience and professional know-how to help. With our professional design team and virtual reality design option, you can essentially tour your home, looking for the potential safety issues, before the building even begins.
For more information on designing a child-friendly home for your growing family, please reach out to the Quad Cities’ best, Seiffert Home Design.