The family home should be a sanctuary for you and your family, but it can often evolve into chaos. With a few simple additions, you can change your home, and your family life, and get organised. This makes family life flow effortlessly and helps you all get together and have some fun. Here are six smart household additions that will revolutionise your family life and give your house some highly functional and highly valuable features.
Add some outdoor cooking
The best family time is feeding time. It is one of the few times you can guarantee that everyone makes an appearance, from the moody teenager attached to the games to the eager and energetic toddler. The whole family loves mealtimes and getting everyone together outdoors on a warm evening adds a little extra to the affair. It makes eating an event, not a chore.
Adding some outdoor cooking facilities is the perfect way to upscale your family dinners, and everyone loves pizza. These outdoor pizza ovens are a simple solution to eating al fresco, and they are so quick and straightforward to use that everyone can have their perfect pizza. These wood-fired pizza ovens can cook pizza or garlic bread in minutes. Every member of the family can enjoy their favourite slices without having to compromise on toppings. Meat feast for dad? Vegan special for your teenager? Something plain for the littlest family member? The Ooni Karu outdoor pizza oven has you covered.
Create a family media room
Watching movies, streaming the latest Netflix show, or enjoying some sport is a great way to come together as a family. It can be hard to do this in a living room. There is not always a place for everyone to get comfortable, or to get a good view of the screen. You should not have ‘cheap seats’ with restricted viewing on a family movie night, it’s just not fair. And it is usually the parents that get stuck in them.
Creating a family media room is the perfect solution. You can fit one into some surprisingly small spaces, as all you need is some seating and a screen. If you have the room, add snack supplies like a mini fridge for drinks or even a popcorn machine. A big-screen television is a must in this space, but it needs some accessories. Surround sound can help make movies come to life, and you will need access to some streaming services through a media stick or in-built apps for the latest films and TV shows.
Sort some smart home storage
Chaos can reign supreme in any family home. Every child has their bits and pieces, and they seem to think it’s acceptable to just dump them wherever it suits them. Having a place for everything helps to get them to put everything in its place. No matter how little room you have to play with around your home, you can fit in some smart storage solutions that will make your home life easier and your home more organised. An organised space is a happy place.
The space under the stairs or a small cupboard may be all you need. You can convert the space under your stairs into deep drawers that are a much better use of the space you have. Bottom drawers can be filled with shoes and boots, tidying them away for good. Winter coats and scarves will fill the next pair of drawers, and you can fit in a small top cupboard for any other bits and pieces. This simple storage solution can revitalise your hall space and give your home a cleaner and less chaotic look.
Design a family bathroom
The bathroom is one of the most extensively used spaces in any family home. The queue outside in the morning can cause all kinds of delays and mess up your whole day. By redesigning your existing bathroom, you can create a space that is easier and quicker to use and has space for everyone’s bathing accessories and toiletries. You can also make it more relaxing for evening soaks after a long day of running around after the kids.
Finding space for a small bathroom downstairs, or even an adults-only en-suite, can be an excellent solution to family bathroom problems. An en-suite shower room, complete with a toilet, can cut down on time lost stuck in the early morning queue. If you have a small box room downstairs, add a toilet and sink to give people an option in the morning if they don’t need a shower. Make sure there are spare shaving and skincare accessories in the downstairs bathroom to make it more usable.
Build a room outdoors
The easiest way to add extra space is to add a whole new room to your home. This doesn’t have to be an extension to your property, though if you have the time and money, you should go for it. There are some excellent and stylish prefabricated rooms that will fit perfectly in your garden, complete with windows, insulation, and electrical outlets. Create a home office or gym space, or your new media room, in the garden.
These are so much more than just a shed; they are multi-use rooms that are as comfortable and cosy as any other in the home. They also make great guest bedrooms and offer you some peace and privacy away from the hustle and bustle of the family home when you need it. Pre-built garden rooms also add to your property value, so this investment will come back to you when you decide to sell your home. You may also be able to take it with you to your new house if you want to and add some value there instead.
Grow a home farm
Are you having trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables? Growing your own in your back garden can help encourage them to finish their plate. They love watching the veggies grow and tending to them every day and are eager to sample the fruits and vegetables of their labour. It is easier than you may think to set up a small home farm, and you can grow lots of your favourite things and cut down on your food shopping bill.
Use raised planters to grow vegetables that flourish under the ground, like potatoes and carrots. Top off the planter with a trellis for growing green beans or peppers to maximise your use of the space. For more delicate foods, you may need to add a greenhouse, or, better yet, build a polytunnel. These are a much more cost-effective alternative to a greenhouse, and you can make one yourself in just a few hours. Inside you can grow fresh tomatoes, perfect for pizzas. Make a small herb garden with fresh oregano, parsley, and some thyme, and all you need for a garden-made pizza is some cheese and the rest of the family.
Just adding one of these handy household additions can have a big, positive impact on your family life. Make a few of them, and your home and family life will be transformed completely, helping you all share more time together and build lasting memories.
