How To Make Your Home Kid-Friendly

By the time our children go from waddling, tiny toddlers to school-age kids, we’ve already got the childproofing and child-friendly safety tips down. But is our house 100 percent kid-friendly? Kid-friendly doesn’t just apply to spaces that are safe for kids to run and play in. They’re spaces that are designed to fit your child’s specific needs and encourage their creativity to flourish. If y’all are wondering how to make your home kid-friendly, here are some quick and simple ideas.

Get Creative With Storage

Younger children are experts when it comes to making messes. They scatter their clothes and toys around, track mud on the floor, and enjoy drawing all over the walls. Isn’t there a way to cut down on the chaos? Getting creative with your storage is a great way to reduce the amount of clutter in your home and teach your children valuable organizational skills. Coat racks aren’t just fun to use—they’re a stylish, inexpensive addition to your home. Concerned about toys laying around? Y’all can put baskets in empty corners or foldable boxes into open shelves for added toy storage. Drawers, no matter the type, are every mom’s friend. Get a console table with plenty of drawers, a coffee or side table with built-in storage, or lift-up storage for any window seats.

A Bedroom That’s All Theirs

One way to make your home kid-friendly is to give your children a bedroom that’s all theirs. Our bedroom is our sanctuary. Shouldn’t your kids feel the same way about their bedrooms? There’s no doubt that children have an eclectic taste in design. If you’re hesitant about painting their room a bright pink or hanging their paintings on the wall, keep in mind that these design changes are temporary and easy to reverse when they get older. If your children want to build a fort, paste star-shaped, glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling, put up a wall decal of their favorite superhero, or paint a mural on the walls, let them. Before long, they’ll have a space that’s completely unique to them. This gives children a safe space where they know they can express their creativity freely. If your kids are too young to make their own decisions, you might have to decorate their room for them. Just remember to embrace silliness and keep it fun!

Showcase Their Creativity

Letting your children showcase their creativity in their own special room is important, but it’s just as important to include their artistic projects in the kitchen, family room, and other mutual living spaces. This doesn’t mean giving your children full creative control. Instead, you should find small, creative ways to display their art and other creations. Pinning artwork to the fridge with magnets is a classic choice, but if you’re looking for a more stylish way to incorporate your children’s masterpieces, why not frame them? If you find yourself buried in bigger projects, such as popsicle-stick flowerpots, clothespin dragonflies, or even science fair projects, consider getting a special shelf to display them. Think of it as a museum. Each month, y’all can put a new piece on display, and when its time is up, put the item into storage or give it to your child to display in their own room. Y’all can give them the job of curator, and even ask them to make artist’s labels that describe their piece!