Storage, storage, and more storage

Minimalism and having children don’t often go hand in hand. In fact, even Maria Kondo herself says you can’t force children to be tidy.

However, what you can do is make sure you have enough storage for all those: toys, bikes, shoes, scooters, crafts, books, video games, coats, musical instruments - to name but a few.

To maximise on space, we recommend building your storage into the design of your home. Consider adding shelves into alcoves, squeeze a hiding spot under the stairs, or even explore secret compartments under the floor.

Not only will these help stop your home becoming cluttered, they also allow you to hide potential hazards out of sight.

Playrooms and more

Research has shown that creating a distinction between sleeping areas and play areas helps promote a good night’s sleep in young children. And there’s nothing more important to parents than making sure bedtime means bedtime.

To help encourage a good sleeping routine, consider adding a playroom into your home. This kid only zone will not only helps establish that one space is for sleeping, and another for rowdy fun, it also keeps a lot of kid chaos contained to one area.

Plus, by having a space just for the kids, you can really let the imagination run wild when it comes to decorating. Keep instagram friendly white walls and gold accents for the rest of your home, and really push yourself to create something whimsical. Even get the kids themselves involved in the decision - more on this later.

Making bedrooms fun and efficient

Not everyone has space for a playroom, and if that’s the case, don’t panic. You can still gain the sleep benefits of separate spaces, with some clever room arrangement.

The easiest way of going about this would be to use bunk beds. Rather than stacking two beds one on top of each other, use this idea to create levels within the bedroom. Sleeping happens up top, while recreation down below.

Of course, to avoid any accidents, bunk beds tend to best for older children. For small children, you might consider building the beds into the wall, as seen here…

Not only does this safe on space, but also allows for a certain degree of separation to the rest of the room. Especially if you choose to add a curtain, to help block out light, and create a unique den.

One fun idea would be to paint the ceiling of this bed area with glow in the dark stars, giving your child their own night sky.