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Kids, especially in their formative years, are still trying to understand the difference between what is safe and what could potentially be dangerous. From poking their fingers into power outlets to licking random objects, raising children can be a hair-raising experience, especially for first-time parents.
Still, having kids does not mean you must settle for decor that is only functional and give up on weaving your own sense of style into your home. With some planning, you can realize both objectives. It is possible for you to have a home you look forward to walking into, but that still accommodates the needs of your little ones. The following ideas should help get you started.
1. Toys Made With Safe Paint
Toys are not only something your kids get to play with but, as a component of the home, they can also be a part of your home’s decor. When shopping for toys, you want to pick ones with fun colors that your kids will love. But as a parent, you have to give safety matters central consideration as well.
That being said, if you are going to have any wooden toys in your home, make sure they are painted with non-toxic child safe paint for wood. That way, you can be confident that there toys are unlikely to do them harm.
2. Round Tables
Kids do a lot of running around the home. They are often oblivious of the dangers posed by ordinary household objects. Eliminating sharp edges is vital to ensuring your home is kid-friendly. Your choice of tables is perhaps the best place to start.
If your tables have sharp corners, replace them with round tables, at least while your children are young. In case you are unable to replace all of your tables, or if you do not want all of them to be round, consider doing the coffee table at the minimum. The coffee table is low, often in the center of the room and is the one a running or falling child is most likely to be injured by.
3. Tables and Benches with Storage
You can never have too much storage when you have kids. It sometimes feels that every space in your house is being filled with never-ending clutter. Therefore, look for ways to create some storage space into different areas of your home. Often you can find coffee tables with shelves underneath, end tables fitted with drawers, benches that can open up, and more.
This extra storage is not just for kid stuff such as toys and crafts, but also for more general items in the house such as magazines and books. It’s often easier to create good habits of tidying up when your children know where things are supposed to go.
4. Wall-Mounted Bookshelves and Media Units
Tall bookshelves, media units and other free-standing furniture of considerable height can be a danger to small children. The weight of such furniture could cause severe injury if it were to topple over and fall on a child. The risk is significant given that kids have an innate curiosity and will want to climb tall objects whenever they can.
You should always discourage your children from trying to climb free-standing furniture. However, your best safety bet in the long term is to secure bookshelves, media units and similar furniture directly to the wall. Many furniture stores now include the hardware necessary to do this, or it can be purchased separately at a reasonable price. The benefits make it worth the cost, time and effort to take this important safety precaution.
5. Durable Upholstery Fabric
Having kids in the home means there is always something that needs cleaning up. No matter how hard you try, there will be spills, dirt and accidents on a regular basis. You can increase your chances of staying on top of such spills by choosing the right upholstery fabric.
There is no single fabric that will do the job perfectly, but engineered fabric usually fares better than natural fabric does, as far as wear and tear goes. The exception is leather, which has an impressive score on the durability front.
A Win-Win
As you can see, it is possible to cater to your children’s safety needs, while staying true to your personal design aesthetic.
