City life: Home Improvement Considerations when living with kids

Imagine an amazing space that fits your family’s needs. One that is designed to suit and accommodate the tastes and interests of everyone in the house including your kids. Sounds very cool, right?

Well, you too can achieve this in your home. You can transform your house into a lovely space that everyone enjoys, including your kids, and without losing your mind.

Here are our top five ideas on some of the home improvement considerations you can make when living with kids.

Kid-friendly home improvement ideas

1. Kid-proofing your walls using semi-gloss paint
When living with kids, your walls can get messy. A lot of unexpected stains and marks can appear on your walls without much explanation. This makes it hard to maintain a clean wall all the time. One of the best ways to fix this is by renovating your house with a washable, easy to clean wall.

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Painting your home with semi-gloss paint or adding a vinyl wallpaper makes your walls easy to clean.

So you no longer have to worry about having dirty hand prints on your walls again. A simple wash with soap and water will make the difference between a ruined wall and a fresh, clean looking wall.

2. Choose fabrics that can stand up to anything
When choosing carpets, curtains, duvets, or furniture fabrics, it’s not always all about the look, especially when you have kids. You need to also think of how you will keep them looking clean and new.

Food spills, muddy paws from pets, and hand stains can easily ruin your fabrics and get in the way of keeping your house clean.

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Here are some tips to consider choosing the right fabrics for your home:

a. Always pick fabrics that are machine washable

b. Pick bright colors. Yes even white. While this might seem unwise, white fabrics are a good choice since you can wash them as many times as possible and even bleach them without worrying about fading.

c. Consider synthetic fabrics. Upholstery with synthetic fibers is wipe-able and easier to maintain than cotton fabrics.

3. Work on your storage
Being creative with your storage spaces is very important when you have kids. Clutter can easily creep in your home through lots of toys, arts, crafts, clothes, and other kid items.

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To ensure that your house does not easily get overrun by kids clutter, create a lot of storage spaces. Consider choosing furniture that has hidden storage spaces like a kid’s bed with storage underneath or a double-tiered coffee table with shelves that can hold storage baskets.

4. Accessibility features
Most standard homes are not sized for children. This makes it hard for them to navigate around and even access the most basic features, such as sinks and drawers. Even changing out doors can make a huge difference. Check out composite doors bristol for great options on doors.

There is a lot you can do to make your home more accessible to your kids. For example, adding a footstool for your floating vanities, installing lower switches on the wall, or resizing your counter tops. You might even consider changing out or updating your garage doors for a nice change of pace.

Kids trip and bump into a lot of things on a regular basis. To avoid accidents, ensure that you reduce sharp edges by choosing furniture with round edges.

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5. Flooring

Minimal upkeep, ease of cleaning, and high durability should be your top priorities when choosing the right floor for your home when you have kids. A great flooring solution is using vinyl flooring.
Vinyl flooring is highly water-resistant, spill-resistant and it does not promote bacteria growth since it is not porous. This flooring blends seamlessly into just about any home design since it is available in almost any color and pattern you can think of. It is also easy to clean using a vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth.

6. Work on your heating
When winter sets in, kids are a little more unaware of their environment and the changes they need to make. They, therefore, tend to suffer from colds and flu more. To help keep your kids warm every night during winter you need to work on your heating.

Here are a few tips to help you solve your heating problem:

a. Talk to an HVAC expert – if your heating equipment is not working as expected you need to talk to an expert. An HVAC contractor NJ –based can help you solve your heating problems when living in New Jersey.

b. Insulation- More than 25% of heat in the house is lost through your roof. You can prevent this by maximizing your insulation by installing insulation of more than 25 cm throughout your loft. Installing curtains on windows and doors can also help you close any gaps that might be letting in cold air.

c. Upgrade your boiler – for boilers more than ten years old, it is a good choice to replace them with more efficient newer models. With a modern model, you can save a lot on your electricity and heat up your house more efficiently.

Ending note
One of the biggest myths most homeowners buy into is that improving/remodeling/ renovating your home with kids is hard or impossible. Once you have kids, all your home improvement ideas go through the window. But, as you can see, it doesn’t have to feel that way. You can design and decorate your home into a space that fits everyone’s needs and preferences.