Interior Design for Family-Friendly Home

My sister called me last year. Her twins were three years old at that time. She said the living room looked like a disaster zone every single evening. Toys everywhere, the white sofa had stains, the glass coffee table made her nervous. I visited her place in Austin that November. Yeah, it was bad.

I had been working with families for about six years by then. Started doing this after my own kid broke our TV in 2017. That was expensive. I learned things the hard way.

Today I help families redesign their homes. Not fancy magazine stuff. Real homes where people actually live.

Read what worked for real families. Some of this you can start tomorrow. Some takes more time and money. You decide what fits your situation.

The Coffee Table Situation

Glass tables and toddlers don't mix. My client Rebecca in Denver had a beautiful glass-top table from West Elm. Her son was two. She kept saying it's fine, we just have to be careful. Three months later the table had a crack. Kids run. Kids fall. Kids throw things.

I tell families to get wood tables. Solid wood, not veneer. Oak works well. Maple lasts forever. The surface gets scratched over time. That's normal. You can sand it down later if you care about that.

Round tables beat rectangular ones for small kids. No sharp corners to hit their heads on. My own dining table is round. Got it from a local carpenter in Portland back in 2019. Still looks good. The kids drew on it with markers once. I used some vinegar and it came off. Mostly.

Fabric Choices That Actually Work

White sofas in family homes make no sense. I don't care what Instagram shows you. Food gets spilled. Juice boxes leak. Dogs bring in mud. I learned this from my neighbor Linda who bought a cream-colored sectional in 2020. She had it professionally cleaned four times in one year. Gave up and sold it on Craigslist.

Dark colors hide stains better. Navy blue works. Charcoal gray works. Dark green works if you like that. The fabric matters more than the color though. Microfiber cleans easily. Canvas holds up well. Leather costs more but lasts longer. My couch is leather. Dark brown. Had it for eight years. It has some scratches from the cat. Still comfortable.

Some companies make performance fabrics now. Crypton is one brand. Revolution is another. I saw these at a furniture expo in Chicago three years ago. The sales guy spilled red wine on a sample piece. Wiped it off with a paper towel. It actually worked. These fabrics cost extra. Maybe 20-30% more than regular upholstery. Worth it if you can afford it.

Flooring Choices

Carpet holds dirt. Carpet stains easily. Carpet makes me sneeze. I ripped out all the carpet in my house in 2018. Put in vinyl plank flooring instead. Looks like wood. Costs way less than real hardwood. Cleans with a mop and water. Done.

My contractor Tom said luxury vinyl plank holds up better than laminate. He installed both types for years. Laminate can swell if water sits on it. Vinyl doesn't care about water. Spill a whole cup. Wipe it up whenever. No problem.

Cork flooring feels softer underfoot. Good for playrooms. I saw this in a house in Boulder last spring. The mom said her kids played on that floor for hours. Their knees didn't hurt. Cork costs more than vinyl. Installation takes longer too. That family paid someone to do it. Took three days for one room.

Tile works great in bathrooms and kitchens. Cold in winter though. You need rugs or your feet freeze. I have tile in my kitchen. Got those washable rugs from Ruggable. Toss them in the washing machine when they're gross. Game changer, honestly.

Paint Colors Nobody Talks About

Painters always suggest beige. Contractors push white. I get it. Safe choices. Boring choices though.

My walls are mostly light gray. Benjamin Moore has this color called Coventry Gray. Used it in three rooms. My kid's room is light blue. She picked it herself. It's actually called Blue Breeze or something like that. The name doesn't matter. She likes it. That matters.

Darker colors on lower walls help hide scuff marks. I painted the bottom three feet of my hallway a darker shade. Navy blue. The top part stayed light gray. Two-tone walls. Guests either love it or think it's weird. I stopped caring about that.

Washable paint exists now. Sherwin-Williams makes it. Behr makes it. You can actually scrub crayon marks off without removing the paint. Costs about 15% more per gallon. My sister used it in her twins' room. Said it works pretty well. Not perfect. Better than regular paint.

Lighting That Makes Sense

Overhead lights cast shadows. Floor lamps get knocked over. Table lamps have cords that kids trip on. Every option has problems.

I put in dimmer switches throughout my house. Cost about $15 per switch. Electrician charged $50 per switch to install. You can do it yourself if you know electrical work. I didn't want to mess with wiring. Hired someone.

Wall-mounted lamps solve the cord problem. Saw these in a house in San Francisco last year. The homeowner installed swing-arm lamps next to the couch. No floor space used. Kids couldn't knock them over. Pretty smart setup.

Under-cabinet lighting in kitchens helps during homework time. My kids do homework at the kitchen counter. The overhead light wasn't enough. Added LED strips under the cabinets. Plugged into an outlet. No electrician needed. Amazon had them for $25. Stuck them up with adhesive strips. Done in 20 minutes.

Playroom Setup

We converted our formal dining room into a playroom in 2019. Never used that dining room anyway. Ate at the kitchen table every night. The fancy dining room sat empty except for holidays.

Took out the dining table. Sold it to someone on Facebook Marketplace. Got $200 for it. Bought some cube storage from Target. Added a small art table. Hung some shelves on the walls. Put a rug down. Total cost maybe $400. The room gets used every single day now.

One family I worked with in Minneapolis kept their dining room. They eat there often. They put toys in the basement instead. Every house works differently. Do what fits your actual life. Not what design blogs tell you to do.

Outdoor Spaces

Our backyard was grass when we moved in. Just grass. My kid played out there maybe twice a month. We added a wooden play structure in 2020. Got it from a company called Backyard Discovery. Assembled it ourselves. Took two weekends. Instructions were confusing. My neighbor helped.

The kid plays outside almost every day now when weather allows. Climbs. Swings. Slides. Comes inside tired. I consider that money well spent.

Patio furniture takes a beating outside. Rain. Sun. Wind. Cheap plastic chairs crack after two years. I bought metal chairs from Lowe's. Powder-coated steel. They're still fine after four years. Cushions wore out though. Replaced those twice already. Just buy extra cushion covers. Swap them out when needed.

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My Actual Recommendations

I've worked with maybe 40 families at this point. These changes came up most often:

Where I Stand