Tips for making your house feel like home

The perfect home for a pair of adults isn’t quite the ideal abode for a busy family with one or more kids. In fact, a family-friendly home often has a few design elements or decorative concessions specifically for child safety and toy storage.

But just because your home needs to change to accommodate children doesn’t mean it can’t be comfortable, clean, and inviting to guests. Today, let’s break down how to design a family-friendly home you’ll love and be proud of.

Sprucing up the living space

Your home’s living room or family room is one of the main focal points for family activity. It’s where you gather to discuss your days, where you spend time after dinner, and where everyone falls asleep while watching TV. Updating your living space can do a lot to enhance its functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Try an open floor plan

An open concept floor plan can help you maximize the space in your family room. Good news – you don’t have to spend tons of cash renovating your house to make this upgrade happen! Instead:

Move around your big furniture pieces, such as your sofa and any cushioned chairs, to widen the space in the center of the living room

Set shelves and other decorative pieces toward the room’s borders

Consider hanging a few mirrors to make the room appear larger

Implementing these basic tips creates more open area for your family to play games, relax, and enjoy each other's company.

Brighten the living room with new windows

Take a look at your windows and consider swapping them for more modern, energy-efficient window styles, such as
casement windows, sliding windows, or
picture windows. Grid-free designs allow maximum natural light, an unobstructed view of the outdoors, and easy cleaning of little fingerprints and smudges. Installing energy-efficient replacement windows can also improve the comfort of your living area by preventing energy loss and creating a more balanced indoor climate. Other popular window designs for living rooms are
bow or bay windows, which create a beautiful focal point as well as a cozy reading nook or shelf for decorations and family photos.

Get comfier with throw pillows

More than anything else, your home's family living space should be welcoming and comfortable. You can make your couch and chairs perfect for cuddling by tossing on a few extra pillows. To create an even more child-friendly space, add a cozy throw blanket and some large floor pillows to make a snug little nest on the floor for movie night.

Buy (or build) a wooden dining table/coffee table

Let’s face it – kids make huge messes! Unfortunately, you can't always wipe up those spills with a paper towel or warm rag. If, for instance, your children decide to practice their art by
drawing with permanent markers right on the dining room table, you’ll wish it was made of a durable, forgiving surface.

Rustic wood dining and coffee tables make great family-friendly furniture. Not only do they mask smudges and smears better than highly polished wood or glass and metal designs, they also lack sharp edges – a big safety advantage for families with rambunctious kids.

Keep it chill and kid-friendly with cushioned furniture

You can take that safety-oriented mindset and apply it to the other furniture in your home. Extra cushioned chairs, sofas, and floor fabrics minimize the harm from tumbles during play while they keep your home comfortable and inviting for adults as well.

Fall in love with performance fabrics 

If you have great furniture pieces you don’t want to give up, swap out their current fabrics for new upholstery instead. Performance fabrics – such as durable and outdoor-resistant materials – are ideal for family homes and the go-to choices for parents who want furniture that looks and feels great but can simultaneously stand up to the wear and tear common to daily life in a home with kids.

Decorating for delight

How you decorate your family home can make all the difference, plus highlight how much you adore your loved ones.

Set out the family photos 

Here’s an easy tip for family-friendly decor: display those framed family photos you have stashed in your closet or clustered in your bedroom. Let the world see those painstakingly taken pictures in all their glory! Our advice? Set the most
candid or casual photos up front. You'll appreciate them a lot more than the "picture-day" photos taken with professional perfection.

Frame your children’s art

Odds are your kids like to make art of some kind, whether it’s usually watercolor paintings or Crayola drawings. No matter what they produce, save it. Even better, frame it! Hang up your family’s artwork in your kitchen’s garden window or on the living room walls for some special decorations or to fill in gaps along your walls. One nice thing about homemade art is that you can encourage your family to work in your favorite color palette to accent your décor.

Stay away from light-colored rugs!

As you decorate your living room, bedrooms, and other rooms throughout the home to be more family-friendly, resist the temptation to use a light-colored rug. White and beige rugs are just begging for one of your kids to trip over them with a sippy cup full of grape juice. Patterned, floral, or Oriental-style designs can hide a multitude of spills, making them a better décor choice for any family.

Designing a home for kids

Living with kids means making some design decisions based on their safety and well-being. Fortunately, the best interior design tips for families are also helpful for you!

Save yourself a headache – invest in smart storage solutions

Games and toys need somewhere to go aside from the living room floor. To make your home more family-friendly and clean at the same time, keep some handy toy buckets in the corners, or – for added aesthetic neatness – install pullout drawers beneath your shelves, breakfast nook benches, or other pieces of furniture. The more storage solutions you have, the tidier your home will look.

Paint the kids’ rooms with pleasing colors and patterns 

Pick up a paintbrush and give your kids’ rooms a paint makeover to make a creative space designed just for them. Children tend to love paint colors like blue, pink, red, yellow, and green. If you have an artistic streak, paint animals or flowers on the walls – just keep in mind they may want you to change those paintings as they get older.

Create an area for family shoes (and muddy clothes!)

No one likes to mop every single day, let alone vacuum mud out of carpet fibers. A great design tip for any family home is to create an entryway space or
mudroom area for shoes, backpacks, jackets, and more. Place a thick, washable rug and shoe rack at the main door and teach your kids that it’s the only place they can wear shoes, plus any other muddy clothes, in the house. Your vacuum cleaner will thank you!

Designate an “adults-only” space

One last tip – when designing a family-friendly home, don’t forget the adults in charge of it all. With that in mind, be sure to designate a “grown-ups-only” room or two, such as your master bedroom, with a sturdy lock. Every parent needs a spot they can decorate without accounting for child safety and where they can fully unwind in peace with a glass of wine.

Renovate your family home for future fun 

Renovating and making your home more family-friendly can be fun and exciting, plus make your house a better place for everyone. The right updates and renovations, in fact, can lead to many years of fun games, comfortable evenings, and possibly even a higher asking price should you decide to sell your home in the future.