Turning a house or an apartment into a home is a fun and complex feat, some say that it’s a rite of passage.
Home decor is an expression of the family’s needs, tastes, sense of style, and activities; and once babies become part of the family-equation, that home goes through further transformation, after all, a new member with different needs and interests has arrived!
An Earth triangle with a rock-climbing board and a rocker in a beautiful wood-rich playroom.
Behind the making of Wiwiurka children’s play furniture are two main motivations: we think that children’s furniture should be aligned with their sensory, motor and cognitive development and further promote it, we believe that kids should be able to move and play freely during their different developmental stages even if they spend a lot of time indoors. But we also strongly believe that children’s furniture and toys should be beautiful and pleasing to look at, these items should be pieces that integrate into a home-environment, because children need to feel that they are part of their family, that they are welcome along with their toys in the space they share with adults.
With these two ideas in mind, we’ve designed all our pieces and constantly experiment with color palettes that can fit all sorts of decor styles that are so personal and varied.
It’s completely natural to feel compelled to make our living space the best space possible, from pleasing decor to practicality; no matter how small or large it is, nor the budget available, the space we live in matters because it has a strong influence on our wellbeing, our mood, and of course, on the satisfaction of our domestic needs.
Once the baby starts moving around, it’s time to rearrange spaces!
Play becomes central in a child’s life, so if you have enough space, a room meant exclusively for your children to play in is an ideal option. However, not everybody has the space at home for that, so other options like using the kid’s bedroom as their playroom or making a play area in the living room are very common and can work really well. If your space needs to accommodate a large or growing family, consider an open dining room, family room, and game room which will allow you to keep an eye on your kids and spend more quality time all together.
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Child safety and practical means to organize kiddy-mess are usually the two main goals when rearranging a living space for a toddler. However, there are more aspects that, if taken into account as well, will improve your everyday home experience and your child’s too.
Some of these Montessori recommendations are to place toys, art supplies and games on low shelves where your child can access them on their own with ease. Separate these toys into various baskets and bins so the items stay separate, if these baskets are color or size coded (small toys go in the orange bin, art materials in the green one, and puzzles in the blue one, for example) this will be a fun and educational arrangement for your child to learn and practice. Furthermore, it will make finding a specific toy easy without having to go through piles of other toys each time.
Using some of Maria Montessori’s principles, you can create a space where children can develop their independence by fetching on their own the toys or materials they want to use, and afterwards clean after themselves. This will bring them joy and develop their self sufficiency and sense of order, and it will become easier to keep playing spaces tidy enough in the long run.
If you’d like to know more about Montessori playroom arrangements, be sure to read How to create the perfect Montessori Playroom, it’s clear concise and talks about the different needs of babies, toddlers and preschoolers specifically, or you can go to the source directly and read The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori.
When decorating a common area that will also work as playroom, it makes more sense to invest in timeless pieces that you and your family really like, so you don’t have to switch them over and over as time goes by. You can spice it up to your child’s specific interest of the moment with smaller accents that are easier to swap as your child grows and finds new interests.
If you have a fragile and beautiful decor item that you’d like to look at on a regular basis in your living room, placing shelves on the higher end of the wall is a practical way to get away with it.
Cushions, playmats & more
Poufs, floor cushions, and ottomans are useful and stylish seating options in a play space, especially when your kids are still toddlers, also when the play space is part of the living room. Kids can easily use them while resting with a book and you can relax on them while playing with your kids or keeping an eye on them while reading something.
Children take in a lot of information from their surroundings and also from how their parents are feeling, so it’s also important to keep your personal adult tastes expressed in your home so you enjoy being in a common room.
It’s all about balance, about accepting that spaces are to be lived in including the natural wear and tear from living with children (and even pets!) but this doesn’t mean that everything has to be about the kids, at least not in a shared living room that works as a playroom as well.
[…] You may be interested: Wiwiurka At Home: Decor Ideas For Beautiful And Practical Play Spaces. […]