Tips and tricks for decorating your family home

Decorating your home for the first time is one of the greatest joys of being a homeowner. It can feel amazing to be able to come in to your home and start making it your own, ripping off the wallpaper from the previous owner and putting your own personality into it.

One of the other great joys is having a family to share your home with, and when you have children to bring up it feels even more important to put your personal mark on the home. This will be the place you make memories and the home your child will remember forever, which is why it’s great to take the time to make it as homely as possible. If you aren’t sure where to start on decorating your home for your family, here are some ideas…

A Wall Ruler

If you have seen all of the TV shows and films involving small children, you will have likely seen the concept of measuring height every year on the doorframe or the wall. This is a cute idea if you have children because it can become a birthday tradition and it will show you all how the kids are growing over the years. It is a great way to reminisce and also look to your child’s future. Either write it on the kitchen door frame or make it a feature in your child’s bedroom.

Use Bright Colours

Kids love colour, and as a parent you want to make your home feel as comfortable and fun as you can for your loved ones. One simple way to do this is to choose one wall in each room and make this into a feature wall. You could choose patterned wallpaper for the space or simply paint it a bold colour. This will give you a colour scheme for the room, and you and the kids can pick out furniture to suit the room. 

Teach The Kids How To Paint

If you want to have some help decorating your home, it could be worth teaching your children how to paint or help you wallpaper. These are both skills which will be incredibly helpful to them later in life and you can make the decorating more fun for everyone. Play some music as you all paint and have some fun with it!

A Chalkboard Wall

Your child’s bedroom is one of the rooms in the house which should be fun, playful and act as their own private playground. Because of this you will be able to let your creative juices flow and make the bedroom into anything you want. There are loads of great bedroom ideas out there to make your child fall in love with it, and a feature you can add is a chalkboard wall. Simply paint a section of wall in chalk paint, buy some chalk and erasers for the kids and let them go wild!

Fridge Art

The fridge is the one place in the house which tends to turn into an art gallery in its own right. This is a fun way to add character and personality to your home, plus letting your kids know how good they are at drawing. It can be a big self esteem boost and will always be a talking point when people visit.

Homemade Canvases

If you have some blank wall space to play with, a fun idea would be to make some homemade canvases. You can buy a plain canvas from any art store and then use the kids to create some fun art. A great idea would be to use a straw to splatter paint onto the canvases to make some abstract art which will go with any room. Just make sure you do it in the garden and not the house!

Clever Storage

Half of the challenge with owning a family house is having enough room to store everything you need. You will have your own belongings and then the kids will likely take over the whole house with their things too. This can mean you have cupboards and tables overflowing with items and your home will look a mess. To avoid this you can add items which double up as storage all over the house. For example you can have a table in the living room which is also an ottoman, you could make the most of the cupboard under the stairs with shelving and drawers. In the kitchen, hang the bins inside the cupboard doors to free up space, and add organisers for small items like cutlery and utensils.

Another clever storage solution is to actually get a storage unit under your name. The great thing about having one is the utility it offers as a functional space. Of course that would depend on it’s actual size if it can accommodate other activities than just for storage. 1 in 10 families in the US discovered a need for a storage unit. Don’t worry they also got storage units over here in the UK such as Storage Units London. A lot would discover the use of the facility due to security. Your prized ornaments, trophies, albums or whatever it is. You can rest assured it will be safe from the prying hands of thieves and most importantly they will be safe from your children’s youthful hyperactiveness.

Hide Cables

With the amount of technology in modern homes, the number of cables you have in the home can escalate to ridiculous levels. This can make the home look incredibly messy and it is also a trip hazard for everyone in the house. To avoid this you will want to find ways to hide and organise the cables in your home, in the living room you will likely have a mass of cables from the TV, games consoles, stereo and other gadgets all in one place. To hide these cables you can purchase a cabinet which has a hole in the back to feed all of the cables through to the wall. It means that unless you open the cabinet and poke around, you won’t be able to see any cables at all.

Under Stair Drawers

Perhaps the most ingenious storage idea we have ever heard of in the home is turning your staircase into a set of drawers. By having each step containing a drawer, you will have a whole new area to store books, shoes and other little bits. This is a genius idea which will make your life much easier around the home and keep everything in one easy to reach place. You can even let the kids use a drawer each for some of their toys.

Calm Bedrooms

The bedroom should be the one place in the house which is calm, quiet and comfortable in order for a healthy nights sleep. When you are decorating your own bedroom this should be easy. You will want to keep the colours simple, have comfy sheets and blackout curtains, however the kids room can be a challenge. Your kids beds should be comfy and contain lots of fluffy pillows and throws for the best night’s sleep. It is very likely that the decor in your child’s room will look rather a lot like a toy store rather than a relaxing space, however you can still make cosy touches with blackout curtains, a night light and plenty of teddies for them to cuddle up to.

Finishing Touches

Once you have decorated the bulk of your home the fun really begins. Now that you have your rooms ready and the furniture in, you have free reign on adding some homely touches to make your family home the best it can be. In the kitchen a small herb garden and a bowl of fruit can make a huge difference to the space and add that splash of colour. In the bathroom a few rubber ducks for the kids and candles for your bath time. The living room is the perfect place to add colourful cushions, blankets and scented candles for the cosiest evenings by the fire. You can even let the kids help you choose these final touches in the home, that way they have added something to the home which is theirs, and it will make them feel great.

Have you recently decorated any rooms in your home? And did you use any of these helpful tips and tricks?

Claire x