Creating a Joyful Family-Friendly Home

By Freya O’Malley Interior Designer

Creating the perfect family home is a delicate balance between practicality and ensuring your home feels relaxed and comfortable. While it's essential to create a space that is visually appealing and reflects your personal style, it's equally important to ensure that it is functional, easy to maintain, and creates a space that the whole family can enjoy.

When working with clients who still have their kids living at home, the most common request I get when taking a brief is storage, storage and more storage! Raising a family comes with a lot of ‘stuff’ whether it’s all the paraphernalia associated with babies - the latest colourful monstrosity to keep them entertained, the countless toys and equipment/instruments/ apparatus - plus that needed for our kids current hobbies. Or you may have boxes of memories from toddler drawings, old exercise books, baby clothes and dozens of soft toys. We need somewhere to keep it all! Here are a few tips to make the most of your space and create a joyful and restful home for your family.

Maximizing storage space makes it easier to manage the daily hustle and bustle and stay more organised. Using multi-functional furniture that serves dual purposes, such as ottomans with hidden storage or beds with built-in drawers. Or a personal favourite tip of mine is maximising seating and storage in the kitchen by installing banquette seating with cupboard or drawer space. This is both practical and stylish.

Custom-built cabinets and closets are perfect for maximizing storage potential in any room. They can be designed to suit specific needs, including designated areas for kids' toys, sports equipment or even a desk space. Building storage into alcoves is a great use of an otherwise awkward space and is relatively cost effective to get the most of your room.

Clutter can make keeping up with the housework challenging, decluttering regularly can be pretty therapeutic (not everyone agrees with me here!). I am as guilty as the next person when it comes to hoarding items, but I am also a great believer that the less clutter you have, the calmer and more stress free your home life can be. I don’t mean head straight down to the tip with all your worldly possessions, but be selective about what you actually need. Only keep things that have meaning - what you and your family love - and lose the tat. This will make it so much easier to maintain the tidiness of your home.

A family home should be a place that radiates joy, happiness, and a sense of togetherness. Identifying specific spaces for play and relaxation, such as a cozy reading nook, a games area, or an outdoor play space will make the home multifunctional. Trying to do everything in one area such as cooking, homework, watching TV, eating and playing games makes it much harder to concentrate on one thing at a time. Individual spaces will encourage family members to engage in activities they enjoy and create lasting memories.

If you have the wall space, why not consider installing oversized pinboards to the family home? A place to showcase achievements, artworks, photos of friends and family and times together. You can buy individual cork tiles and adhesive so it’s easy to install any size in any space.

We all lead busy lives, and the home should act as a haven, a space to relax and recuperate in and spend time together. By implementing a few of the above recommendations I hope you can achieve this.

If you would like any advice on redesigning your home, please get in touch.

Freya O’Malley Interior Designer Studio FLO www.sutudioflo.co.uk

Gina Beck