Child friendly design

It can be a delicate balancing act when designing a home that is to your taste and that is child friendly as well. The truth is that it doesn t matter how much you monitor your child, once they are on the move they will create some chaos along the way! So whether you are planning a renovation, or simply de-cluttering a room, here are some practical ways to make the design of your home child friendly. Importantly, these tips can be used without sacrificing your own taste or preferences.

Allocate a specific child friendly space

Create a space that is specifically for your little one to use. It may be any size from a corner of a room, through to an entire playroom. Make sure you have some storage for your child to pop their toys and equipment in and encourage them to use the space. Spend time with them playing there and help them develop a sense of pride about their corner. By setting up a habit where your child can go and play in a specific space, it means they are more likely to play there. This means they will be less likely to use other areas of your home to play in where it may not be as safe or practical for them to do so.

Choose your furniture wisely

When you are choosing furniture or accessories don t feel you need to limit your choices because of your little one. There are lots of child friendly designs around. A practical tip however, is to select and outdoor rug for indoors. These tend to be hardwearing and far easier to remove stains and spills off. You might like to go for darker furniture and choose some great light coloured accessories to go with it. The accessories such as throw rugs or cushions will tend to be out of their reach at least for the first couple of years!

Aim for open plan design

During the early years for your little one it is sensible to aim for an open plan design. This tends to make it easier to keep an eye on what your child is up to, even if you are in a different area of your home. It will help create a more inclusive sense of space as well and while your child may have a specific area for their toys it means they won t feel isolated or excluded from the rest of the living areas.

Include their artwork in your home

Choose a couple of frames and create a small gallery of your child's artwork. You can rotate the pieces and it is a fun way to showcase their work as well as being child friendly. It's a practical way to add a splash of colour and to see your child's progression as an artist at the same time.