Friday, February 6, 2009

A Tour of My (Mostly) Kid-Friendly House

As I posted here, we must remember that our homes are our responsibility as women; but we are not the only ones who live there. In my recent efforts to simplify, I've tried to make everything a bit more conducive to the under-ten crowd that live in my home. After all, they now outnumber us 20-30 somethings! These ideas are not all original and definitely only a beginning point, but I thought I'd take you on a quick tour of my house and show you evidence that kids do, in fact, live here. No, I don't have my digital camera up and running yet, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit.

  • Living Room: Our front door empties into this room, so it is also our entryway. We have recently acquired a hall tree for coats which previously were strewn on the nearest chair. My husband installed a few of the hooks at kid height so they can toss them right onto their own hook.
  • Dining Room: We moved some furniture out of here so one wall is almost entirely devoted to Little Man's paraphenalia. There's a baby swing, an excersaucer and a small basket of toys. (I love baskets!)
  • Kitchen: A while back, I cleared out a bottom cupboard and put the everyday dishes where the kids could easily reach them. Now they can set the table or empty the dishwasher without me because everything is on their level.
  • Computer Nook: Some small bookshelves are in this room off the kitchen. One houses the school supplies and textbooks and the other our "educational book" collection and library books. (We all love books!) There is a small basket on the school shelf that has all pencils, glue, scissors, etc. and a pencil sharpener so Lady-in-Waiting can help herself get ready for school. There is also a box for Crown Prince with some activities he can do if he gets bored with listening in to the math lesson.
  • Basement: This is still a work in progress, but I do have a stool by the washing machine for when the kids help with laundry. I plan to put an art cupboard in a corner of my husband's office for the kids' art supplies.
  • Kids' Room: I've already posted about this here, but we decorated this room specifically for the kids. I'll post pictures when it is completely finished, but so far we've painted the ceiling and walls sky blue with white clouds painted on the ceiling. One wall is a rolling hill painted with green chalkboard paint so the kids can literally write on the walls. There is wide open space and rug in the middle for any "rough-housing". Each bedspread is a different color and has a matching curtain (the room has three windows): fuchsia, lime green and orange. I've come a long way from my Victorian decorating scheme, eh?
  • Bathroom: At this time, I have racks, but hope to install hooks soon, for the kids' towels. They each have their own color towel which they hang up after a bath. I do towel laundry twice a week. Sorry if that grosses you out, but they only dry themselves off after they are clean. I also have a mesh bag for their bath toys and mesh sponges (the two older ones have their own which, although I didn't plan it, match their bedspreads!). Lady-in-Waiting shares my basket of bath soaps and bubble baths. She actually got more than I did for Christmas!
  • Our Bedroom: Ah! Finally! I have a room (so far) where I do not trip over toys and I can decorate it as I wish without considering multi-child color schemes or how to organize piles of baby dolls and trucks. So why did I even put this room in this article? Hmmmm......It's a lot more kid-friendly to have a mom who has a teeny little space to call her own (well her own and her husband's own). My crocheted floral bedspread, down comforter and a good night's sleep do wonders for my friendliness!

1 comment:

  1. While my house isn't technically "kid friendly" quite yet...I am just like my mom, who always said as we were growing up: "It's only an earthly possession!" :0) I have "pretty" things out on my end tables but to be honest, some of it I would welcome getting messed up so I could remove it and have less "stuff" LOL Any time kids come to my house I want them to feel free to be kids. So...Ahem... you would be welcome at my house anytime dear sister, with your 3 little blessings (oh, and of course my favorite brother-in-law is welcome too! LOL)

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