Kid-Friendly Spaces: Interior Design Ideas for Homes with Children
By Dawn WestInterior Design School Review Columnist
My neighbor, a mother of four, is fond of doling out the following wisdom: "Once you have more than two, you might as well go ahead and have ten. It doesn't matter anymore since you're already outnumbered."
The bottom line is that parents have their hands full. As an interior designer, you can do a lot to help them out. Here are a few tips for designing homes with parent and kid-friendly interiors.
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Lighten the Load
With the right design in their home's interior, parents can feel safe letting their children take charge of a surprising number of activities. Easy access storage for toys, games, and books makes getting out and putting away hassle-free for everyone. Keep kids’ needs in mind in functional spaces throughout the home.High and Low Ideas
In the same way storage for kids' toys and kids' books should be at kid-height, storage for dangerous items should be out of the way. Building cupboards in up and away places will keep children from trouble and will ease parents' worries.Fun!
Give children space in which to create, and both kids and parents will have a great time. A superior design for the interior of a home with children should include spaces for ideas to develop. A playroom is one option, but building extra space for creativity into a kitchen or family room -- an area for art supplies, instruments, or toys -- can bring a family together for fun, rather than sending them off to different corners of the house.Keep these tips in mind when you're coming up with interior design ideas for kid-friendly spaces, but when all else fails, you can ask the kids themselves. You may not always hear practical ideas, but you're certain to hear exciting ones.
About the Author:
Dawn West teaches writing at Oregon State University. Her previous experience includes working for the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, a not-for-profit in New York City, and serving as the director for an educational program for at-risk youth in Boston. Dawn holds a B.A. in English from Harvard University.
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