Decorating a Family Home

**Collaborative post**

It’s quite an adjustment from having two adults sharing a nicely decorated, tidy, home to suddenly finding an array of children’s things everywhere. The key is finding proper storage for everything, in a way that looks smart, while ultimately making life easier for the whole family.

With clever storage and the use of cupboards/storage boxes and clever furnishing, the house doesn’t always have to look cluttered and messy – OK a lot of the time, when kids are involved it will do BUT there are ways to hide it away.

Living Room

For a living room, choosing pieces of furniture that have multiple uses is the best way to go. A lovely wooden sideboard can display a vase of flowers and some family photos, while also creating a storage space for the kids’ blankets and toys. Pop down a lovely rug and it can become a cozy comfy space to kick back and relax reading a book or somewhere for the kids to relax while playing with there toys – check out this website for some ideas.

TV cabinets or ottoman footrests work brilliantly this way too – and mean that your kid’s stuff can be stored within arm’s reach so nobody has any accidents! The smarter storage units mean that you have your nice living room for relaxing or entertaining in the evenings, while the kids have a playroom during the day and you may also want to consider adding a smart home hub to your room so you can turn your home into a smart home. Lighting can help make a room, you can add mood lighting, dimmers or even elegant chandeliers, click here to take a closer look.

Bathroom

Storage is another biggie when adapting a bathroom to fit four or more people – you’ll need space for everyone’s toiletries, child-proof space for razors, as well as bathtime toys. Nautical-themed bathrooms look classy but remain fun for kids, especially if they can have toy boats for bathtime. If you have enough space, consider having two cabinets: a bathroom mirror cabinet, for storing razors, makeup, and parent stuff; and a ground-level chest in which you can store spare linens and bubble bath.

Bathrooms can be tricky unless you have built-in storage, and sometimes you’ll find they have very strange measurements – if you can’t find something to fit you could think about having something custom built to fit the space under the sink or the bath – you could look into metal fabrication for solutions. Special Metals is a leading metal fabrication company, who are happy to work on projects of any size – including domestic and commercial – and may be worth a call.

Dining Room

Having a dining room that works for everyone can take some creative thinking, but it is possible. Choosing a tall cabinet that can be affixed to the wall means that any fancy china or glassware can be safely stowed away from prying hands. Again, utilising height effectively, lower shelves can be saved for children’s things – plastic plates and placemats, tablecloths, or a little hostess might want to have a tea party set within easy reach. This makes it easier once little ones are old enough to start helping with mealtime preparations, like setting the table.

Choosing the correct furniture which works for your surrounding is paramount – it needs to not only look great in your room but has to be functional and work for the whole family, you can learn more here for different styles which would work for you.

Kitchen

Creating a safe and practical kitchen is a priority once kids learn to walk, so think carefully about where you store equipment. The knife rack might have to be moved into a lockable cupboard for a few years, with ovens and power sockets at waist height as well to minimise accidents. That said, it can be worth having some counters (or substitute a folding table) at child height, for little helpers during baking sessions. Considering how varied the use of a kitchen is, from crafting dinner to studying, it can be worth designating a drawer for storing books and school supplies.