When building a family, it’s easy to see how the ‘fun’ can fade. With children to raise on top of professional responsibilities, the whimsy of the home can quickly disappear in favour of a new functional normal; that is, practicality is often chosen over style. But this doesn’t need to be the case.
There’s no denying the significant challenge posed by designing a home that works for both children and adults, both aesthetically and functionally – but it is possible, and easier than you think. Here, you’ll find some light at the end of the new parenthood tunnel; a truth: that style and family life can coexist. But how?
Designing for Real Life Without Losing Style
Central to any family home redesign is that essential reality – that it has to work for real life, as opposed to curated images. No young family is getting away with rare cottons and crushed velvets; not with grabby, greasy, snotty and inevitably accident-y young children to contend with for the next decade or so.
It is for this reason that your new stylish-home journey has to start with durable, easy-to-clean materials in mind. The more washable the better! And this is by no means a compromise, either. It is more so an acknowledgement that delicate fabrics are not in your stars. If you’re a rustic household, terracotta and wood floors are phenomenal; if you’re brutalist, try stone and raw tile.
Creating Spaces for Everyone
Creating spaces that work for everyone doesn’t just mean textiles, though; it means planning space appropriately. With the right approach, you can create breathable, stylish spaces that suit your aesthetic wants and meet your practical needs at the same time.
There’s one timeless way to achieve these goals, of course: open-plan. It’ll always be a modern and relevant way to consider your home, provided you put enough thought into zoning. With zones for different activities, you can stay on top of clutter and also ensure no one feels hemmed-in.
Adding a Touch of Luxury to Family Living
Everyone deserves to feel a spot of luxury in their day-to-day lives, and one of the easiest places to realise that is the kitchen. Luxury kitchens are the ideal canvas for family-friendly modernity, whether it’s breakfast bars for easy mealtimes or smart appliances for kid-friendly cooking.
A well-planned open-plan kitchen benefits from clever statement lighting, induction hobs for kid safety, easy-clean worktop surfaces and out-of-reach storage for dangerous things – be they pans or spices. In this way, luxury doesn’t have to mean impracticality.
Personalising Your Family Home
It’s important, too, to remember where style comes from. Yes, online guides are great for guidance, but real style comes from personal taste – and inspiration. To that end, it’s personal effects like art, photos, and meaningful décor that really turn a home from a practical space into something homey.
Thank you for reading.
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