As a kid, did you use to love playing in the living room? But didn’t your mom also ask you, over and over, that you must keep your dirty shoes off the silk upholstery and to steer clear of the glass décor? Now that you’re older and are now worrying about kid-friendly interior design, what do you think you should include in that living room?
Consider How You Live
A beautiful room that is off-limits to kids and most members of the family just can’t be considered as a part of a lovely home. That zero-kid area, though beautifully-decorated, will never be a place that the whole family will have fond memories of.
It is better to have a designing style that can easily stand up to sibling brawls, food fights, pet blunders, vomits, even sloppy spouses.
If you’d rather wait before decorating, then you’d find out that it’s already too late once you finally decide to design your home according to your needs. A lot of families have made this mistake and they end up either keeping the kids and pets off-limits in the living room or they make do with ugly furniture and décor for many years.
The No-Fuss Living Area
So what is the best option for you? You can go ahead and set up a living room that your entire family can finally enjoy. Even your kids can help you during this process. Ask them what they want to include on the décor. As you do this, you even inculcate in your kids the feeling of ownership (an insurance of sorts so that they won’t just kick off those muddy boots the next time they go indoors).
Use clean lines when you design a functional living room. It must be casual and comfortable enough for everyone. Do not invest in couches or chairs that come with skirts. Skirts are great in attracting pet hair, dirty shoe prints and dust bunnies so it is best to avoid them all together.
Look for furniture with exposed legs, instead. Find simple coffee tables and contemporary pieces that come with a weathered look so that they can stand the test of time. Kid-friendly interior design means having pieces that you won’t cry over should they crash to the floor. Also, find design elements that require low maintenance.
Having kids, elderly people and pets in your home does not mean that you have to forego on patterns, textures and colors. Of course, just say no to the white couch as this is the ultimate magnet of blunders. Instead, choose vibrant colors, some patterns and the most beautiful textures. These – as you will soon notice – will even help camouflage fingerprints, spills and other mishaps.
Don’t just put colors and textures on furniture, be free to put them on your walls and floors, too. Use a dark-colored rug for your living room. This will be better able to hide juice or wine spills. If you are braver, you can even have carpets that come in bold patterns. Once you do this, though, learn to go easy on the color and style of your couch and other furniture.
Another way to make sure that your living room won’t turn into a land of chaos is to choose sturdy (even indestructible) materials and finishes. Begin by using wipeable paint on your walls. You will never go wrong with satin, eggshell or semi-gloss.
As for your windows, avoid long drapes since they present tripping hazard. Use wood blinds or wipeable Roman shades instead. As to the fabrics, use heavy ones instead of the lightweight or looped types. Heavier fabrics stand better to rigorous activities.
These kid-friendly interior design tips should help you jumpstart the new look in your living room – one that can already tolerate crawlers and walkers alike.
