Designing Elements And Features For Homes With Kids
Your home should do more than make you feel comfortable. It should work with you and with your lifestyle. If you have kids, then they surely play a big part in your life. The home that you build and eventually live in needs to fulfill not only their needs, but also your needs as you care for them. If you're having a home custom built, then it's pretty easy to work in design elements and features that work well for your family. Here are a few such features to get you started.
A playroom next to the living room.
Plenty of people have a separate playroom built thinking it will help keep the living room a toy-free zone. But kids have a way of bringing their toys with them wherever they go. Whenever they wander into the living room, they'll probably bring something along, eventually creating a mess. If you place the playroom right next to the living room, then cleaning up and putting all the toys back in the playroom will be a lot easier. When company is expected, you can always just shove everything in the playroom and close the door.
An eat-in kitchen.
Having to ferry food to and from the dining room takes way too much time when you're supervising the kids as they eat. An eat-in kitchen is so much easier to navigate since you can get the kids assembled at the table while dinner is finishing up, and then serve them dinner directly from the pots and pans when the food is ready. With an eat-in kitchen, it's also easy for you to have the kids sit and do homework or color while you cook.
Separated bedrooms
It's common for floor plans to have bedrooms placed right next to each other. But although this arrangement is convenient for the builder, it will be a nuisance if you have kids. One kid might make noise that the other hears through the wall, keeping the other up at night. Or you'll be awake later than your kids, and that could keep them from falling asleep. Have your builder place closets, bathrooms, or hallways between all the bedrooms in your home.
Extra bathrooms
Count up the number of bathrooms you think you'll need, and then add one more. You can never have too many bathrooms when you have children. If there's limited space, you can always add an extra bathroom in the basement.
If these are features that you'd like in your home, make sure to discuss them with the home builders who are working with you on its construction!
