In many of our blogs, Bucks County Cabinetry and Design emphasizes the opportunities and corresponding high-end results of incorporating custom designed and constructed cabinets into many different rooms. It could be a home’s kitchen, office, bathroom, outdoor, or other space. Placing one’s distinctive touch on not only the design, but the materials and finishes as well is always a gratifying experience. In this month’s blog, we are taking this a step further by offering strategies to include the needs (and yes, the wants!) of your children to create a kid friendly rooms with safe cabinetry designs and finishes. We will begin by describing general best practices to incorporate into cabinetry designs and layouts that are applicable to all rooms and spaces in your home when factoring children into the equation:
Take Advantage of Unique Spaces
It’s important to note that a small and seemingly unusable space can become a wonderful and child-friendly addition to a room via custom designed cabinetry. The small corner space in this photo is transformed into an attractive, custom-built cabinet for children’s toys and belongings.
By maximizing a small corner space in a family room, incorporating open shelving and vibrant fabric drawers in “cubby” spaces achieves a dual purpose. This provides a fun storage solution for children while adding an attractive and functional element to the rooms’ design.
- Materials: Alongside spaces includes choosing high-quality materials that can endure the wrath of use by curious and hard-playing children. Out-of-the-box cabinetry from big-box and other outlets are often made with softer woods. However, that can be nicked and scraped easily by toys and tossed objects. Luckily, our design team will collaborate with you to identify the best hardwoods or alternate materials for your cabinetry.
- Hardware matters: Children seem to excel at opening, and then closing (sometimes unintentionally slamming!) cabinet doors and drawers. It’s important to select well-crafted, high-end, and durable drawer and cabinet pulls and hinges.
- Pay attention to corners and edges: Obviously, sharp corners and edges are not “user-friendly” for children. Walking or running into a cabinet is not an uncommon experience as children learn and explore their environments.
Cabinet Tip for Kid Friendly Rooms:
Rounding corners of a cabinet is a strategy that minimizes the severity of a child’s potential interaction with it during “play time.”
This photo shows an example of rounded corners and planed edges being incorporated during the creation of a custom cabinet to ensure maximum safety.
Kid Friendly Kitchen Design
There are also specific considerations when pondering cabinetry layouts and designs for a few rooms in the home:
- The Hub: We often refer to the kitchen as the “hub” or “heartbeat” of the home. This is due to the fact that so much time and memories take place in this space.
- Kid Friendly Spaces: Making portions of the kitchen user-friendly, or “kid friendly” is an important consideration and can easily be incorporated by our design team.
- Additional Design Elements: For example, you may want to add features like a small chalkboard or whiteboard. Similarly, designating cabinets for your child’s supplies and creating easily accessible snack locations are examples of prioritizing your child’s needs in your kitchen design planning.
Two examples of child-friendly kitchen cabinet design elements:
Left: Easily accessible healthy snacks!
Right: cups, plates, plastic cutlery, and straws are all within reach via this custom cabinet. Ultimately, making your child’s participation in setting the table an easy and fun activity.
Kid Friendly Bathroom Design
- Sink Height: Consider custom vanity and sink configurations that are positioned low enough for your growing child. This will allow them to brush their teeth, wash their hands and see themselves in the mirror more easily.
- Cabinet Height: The team at Bucks County Cabinetry can collaborate with you to design the perfect cabinetry layout. Additionally, we will ensure that as your children grow, switching the cabinets to traditional heights can be easily achieved.
Bath Safety Features:
In addition to considering sink and cabinet heights, it is essential to incorporate bath safety features. Safety should be a top priority to prevent accidents and promote independence for your children. Here are some features to consider:
- Slip-Resistant Flooring
- Secure Handrails
- Childproof Locks
Child Proof Tips for Playrooms and Bedrooms
Kid Playrooms:
Incorporate plenty of cabinets, shelving (open and closed.)
Additionally, you’ll want to have safe surface areas for play and learning.
Of course, combinations of free standing and built-in cabinets are options to consider as well.
Kid Bedrooms:
Notably, one of our clients imagined – and we helped them create this fun and exciting set of bunk beds for their children.
Points of emphasis: large built-in drawers, rails on the top bunk and grab-bars for enhanced safety, and the use of hardwood and metals to achieve an incredibly durable conversation piece!
Updating Your Kid’s Bedroom for Every Age and Stage:
As your children grow, the importance of considering their evolving needs for space, storage and a quiet study location should not be overlooked. the build-in cabinets and desks shown in this shared bedroom provide siblings with generous space for getting important homework and research projects completed.
Whether it is custom built wall-to-wall storage for your child’s toys, art supplies, clothes for all seasons, or a unique and fun design element, the options to create functional and practical spaces within your child’s room with custom cabinetry are endless.
In this blog, we have highlighted several factors that can be incorporated into your home’s custom cabinetry that carefully consider the needs of the children in your household. As a subsidiary of Zaveta Custom Homes, the team at Bucks County Cabinetry and Design in Doylestown, PA has assisted numerous clients with incorporating cabinetry and layout options that are children friendly. We are ready to assist you and we would love to include your children in the design process as well! Contact us to speak to our design professionals or to schedule a time to visit us.
