New parents and couples with growing kids and teens are faced with the same challenge: how to style the house to accommodate the needs of their children? Having a household with both kids and teens adds a layer of challenge to the refurbishing problem, as parents need to balance the needs of the kids.
Luckily for parents, the number of choices for renovation and refurbishing are nearly endless in this age of convenience. The following can provide harried parents ideas on what they can do to refresh their homes for their children:
Furniture
Out with plush character chairs and toddler table sets; in with a new chaise sofa with ottoman that kids and teens can use to entertain their friends. Whether your kid’s an introvert or an extrovert, having comfortable seating in your living room is a must during a movie or game night. Ottomans with cupholders and rollers could serve as mobile tables, while a pull out sofa bed can be useful for sleepovers or for managing guests in a small home.
Are your kids too short for normal dining chairs? Put subtle child boosters on dining chairs to make them feel comfortable while having dinner. If your space allows it, fit in a separate dining table painted with chalkboard paint somewhere in your home to let kids doodle on it while waiting for food.
Bedrooms can also be tailor-made to the needs of your children. Functional loft beds can integrate storage and desk under the bed, or an extra bed in addition to drawers and a desk. Bunk bed types with sofas for the bottom bed, or an entire wardrobe, can give kids more space in their room for other furniture.
Outdoors
If there’s one thing that kids and teens can agree upon, it’s that the backyard can be a great place to relax and have fun. Aside from the obvious swimming pool and treehouse solution, there are plenty of other ways to encourage your children to go out and have fun there than stay cooped up indoors.
Chalkboard and cork walls are great for artistic kids; zip lines are great for adventurous kids and the young-at-heart. Backyard tents and hanging chairs are ideal for teenagers who crave privacy, and swings or tire swings are ideal for all ages.
Attic
The attic can be a home recreation center, a bedroom, the indoor counterpart of the backyard—or all three if space is big enough. Bedrooms can be made unique by creating a loft that fits in the gables of the roof, or by placing functional art that kids can play with on the ceiling. Recreation room solutions mean mounting TVs or computer monitors on the ceiling too.
Shoring up a desk against windows will give kids plenty of natural light to work in. Indoor playsets can be fitted in attics as well, in addition to books and toys they could not bring outdoors. Aside from these ideas, the attic can serve as a quiet room. This can be the place where all forms of noise are banned, which can come in handy for studying, working, or meditating.
When deciding what to do to your home for your kids, the first and best thing to do is to consult them and see what they want. Children will occupy the spaces you will renovate after all. Asking them and looking through catalogs together may even be a great bonding experience.
