Finding or Creating a Family Friendly Home

    Since I've been a mother I have now lived in 2 different homes. Both have had their fair share of flaws as well as conveniences for raising a family. As frustrating as some of these flaws have been, I am so glad to have experienced them in our starter homes. Someday soon, when we are looking for and designing our "forever" home, I will know exactly what to do and what NOT to do to make a family friendly home. Here I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you. Some of these may seem obvious while others may have you thinking "I never really thought of that". So here we will begin with:

The Kitchen

• wide/open concept - galley style just does not work with little ones always at your feet to trip over.
• island, floating or fixed - having that extra spot to chop or prepare where you don't need to constantly have your back turned to the rest of the room is very convenient.
• central location, not tucked in the back corner of the house - having the kitchen as a space where you can easily access or at least see several other areas of the house really helps when trying to keep track of those pitter pattering little feet. (it would also be extremely convenient if the laundry room was located nearby to quickly toss dirty towels, bibs, etc. in there)
• large pantry - or any pantry at all for that matter. Not much I can say about this one, it just seems common sense to have a pantry. (and I went without one for 3 years)
• garbage disposal - although I wouldn't suggest putting potato peels or other "heavy duty" scraps down there, it is just convenient to have for the little things and when scraping food residue etc. out of pots and pans.
• dishwasher - need I say more.
• separate chest or standing freezer - although you most likely won't want to keep it in your kitchen, no refrigerator freezer I've seen could possibly hold all of the chicken nuggets, french fries, frozen pizzas and other goodies we keep stocked in our house.
• eat in area or breakfast nook - having that close space to set down the kiddos while fixing their meal is key.

The Kid's Bedrooms

• well seperated from Family/Living room, Kitchen & Laundry room - when the little ones go down for the night it helps if you can finish cleaning the kitchen up, finish the laundry and then relax without worrying about waking or disturbing them.
• not sharing a wall with the parent's bathroom - many a time I have wanted to get my shower in after the boys are down for the night but it is always a risk being that their bedrooms are on either side of the bathroom. Plus there's flushing the toilet, running the sink, opening the linen closet and rifling around for things. Uggh!
• closets with multiple shelves - my little ones don't seem to have many clothing items that need hung and either way, their clothes don't take up much space. Having shelves to store the outgrown clothes, seasonal items and other miscellany is very helpful.

...more to come later...