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Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

If you are thinking about building a new home and have children, you have a difficult task at hand. Fortunately, there are some tips to help you build a child friendly, mess friendly home. You can save yourself a lot of headaches with these ideas.

Your Floor Catches Everything
As a parent, you probably quickly figured out that your floors take a beating every day. That is why it’s a good idea to go with tile flooring in your new home, especially in the kitchen or other high traffic areas. Tile is easy to clean when your kids track mud through the house and can be wiped clean when the juice hits the floor. Tile is also a good investment because it doesn’t get scratched like wood floors and won’t get stains like carpet. It also stands the test of time.

Kids Require Storage
Kids also have a lot of stuff. You probably find crayons in the couch cushions and blocks on the floor. Make sure your design plans include lots of storage opportunities. Make sure there is adequate closet space in each room and built-in shelves in the man living area. Don’t waste any square footage. Talk with your builder about adding storage that may not be in the plans. A window seat can easily be turned into a toy box with the right top added to it. This will allow you to hide the mess!

Build with Future Expansion in Mind
Don’t forget that your little ones will grow into teenagers at some point, and you will need more space. You can build a home with future expansion in mind. If you build a house with an unfinished basement or bonus room above the garage, you can finish that space later to add square footage to your house when you need it most. Spend the money to include the unfinished space now, and you will be set for the future.

tile floor with tableDon’t Skimp on the Heart of the Home
If you have kids, you spend a lot of time in the kitchen for meals, snacks and even homework. Don’t skimp on this room. Make sure you have enough square footage and space for your table, a bar area and people. Work with your builder to make the kitchen as open as possible because there is no such thing as a kitchen that is too big. Also, make sure the kitchen includes lots of cabinets to keep the clutter and mess hidden.

Include Outdoor Space
Kids also need outdoor space to run and play. Choose a home design that has ample decks or porches to give them additional space. The trick is to add built-in seating that can double as storage to hide all of their outdoor toys to keep them out of the house. For example, the bench seats could lift up to allow for storage underneath, so the water guns, trucks and pool toys stay outside where they belong.

You can build a home that is child friendly and mess friendly too! Follow these tips to make your life easier.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want a home that stands up to the abuse children can deal out.

Image courtesy of Centura Tile of Hamilton, Ontario via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.