Designing a Family & Pet Friendly Home

Let’s face it, living a multifaceted life is busy, from your and your partner’s demanding careers to the kids’ myriad of activities to daily meal preparation, and oh — don’t forget to walk the dog and feed the cat! There’s a lot going on each and every day, and a home that doesn’t meet your family’s needs makes everything feel more challenging.

If this sounds like your life, you’re not alone. Most of our clients have kids, pets, or both. (I personally have several pets calling our residence home — a dog, three chooks, and a couple of wild cockatoos who always stop by for snacks!)

In my personal and professional experience, if you live with kids or pets, your top priorities are likely to include: durable and easy to maintain materials, ample storage, and a home that is as beautiful as it is forgiving. And yes, it is possible to have a beautiful, spirited home that both kids, and adults, love. Here are a just a few of the ways that we achieve this…

Half of the battle in maintaining a clean and orderly home is hiding the truth of it until you’re able to tackle it head-on (or your devoted house-cleaner arrives!). To give yourself some breathing room between cleanings, your choice of finishes can make all the difference.

For example, if you select a light-coloured grout in a high-traffic area, it will constantly look as though it needs a good scrub. Similarly, if you have a dog or cat with light-coloured fur, choosing a wenge-stained timber floor will have you constantly reaching for your vacuum to clean up pet hair.

Instead, through our design process we will source and select finishes that will minimise the appearance of marks, crumbs, and pet fur. For example, tiles and stone with movement or pattern, like terrazzo, are great options, like this beautiful yet durable terrazzo tile in our Clontarf bathroom renovation project, above. Other finishes that we love include finger-print proof matt laminates, vinyl and waterproof wallpapers that wipe clean and incredibly durable quartzites that are a cinch to maintain.

They don’t call kitchens the hardest working rooms in your home for nothing. We ask so much of these spaces and this makes their design so critical. Just one example, when you’re preparing dinner at the stove and your kids make a run past you for the fridge, maybe followed by the dog, you’ll want plenty of space to maintain safety (and sanity!)..

When planning your kitchen’s layout, we consider who uses the space, when, and how. Then, we’ll use your answers to design features that make everyday life effortless and even enjoyable. With the example above, creating more than one access point, such as a galley kitchen or a kitchen with a freestanding island, will help traffic flow easily.

Thoughtfully planning your kitchen can also encourage independence in your kids. If you have space, we can create a clever breakfast station or include a butler’s pantry where they can prepare their own breakfast or after-school snack, while leaving the rest of the kitchen clear to prep lunches or make dinner.

For pets, we can add features like a pet feeding station, pull out bins to store dry dog food, or shallow depth drawers for tins of cat food. In fact, we’re designing a kitchen right now that has an end-of-the-island nook where the family’s cat can reach her food but their French Bulldogs can’t. Ingenious!

Imaginative Floor Plan Flexibility

We ask so much of our homes these days, and design innovations have allowed us to create multi-functional spaces in ingenious ways. This is an extra advantage if you have kids or pets, since it’s likely that your family’s needs will change as they grow. Planning ahead to include this flexibility will allow you to make the very best use of your space, now and 10 years down the track.

When we create a floor plan for your home, we consider how and where you can create separation between spaces. Perhaps your little ones need a quiet area for napping during the day, or maybe you want to train your pets to stay in one area of the home.

We can use innovations like cavity sliders to create separation within an open concept space, blend multiple spaces into one (like the North Balgowlah laundry room, pantry, and wine cellar above), and so much more. There’s no limit to what our imaginations can achieve!

Select Sound-Absorbing Materials for Noise Control

As much as we love the sounds of family life, we don’t always want them at full volume. With clever sound-absorbing materials, incorporated seamlessly into your design, minimising the echo and reverberation from the kids playing games or the dog chasing her tail is, indeed, possible.

Soft furnishings, such as upholstered furniture, curtains and drapery, and area rugs, absolutely provide sound absorption, but if you have active children and pets, more may be needed to give you the level of auditory comfort you desire in your home. In these cases, we consider sound attenuating materials in one or both of two ways. The first is by building it into the fabric of the building during construction or renovation. This includes integrating soundproof insulation, Soundchek plasterboard, and acoustic flooring underlay.

The other approach is to integrate it with joinery and decorative elements such as acoustic wall and ceiling panels (shown above left), upholstered walls, built-in-furniture (like a window seat or banquette), and materials like Forbo Bulletin Board (shown above right) will dramatically change the way sound carries in your home. Hello, silence… mostly!

In Australia, we are just beginning to realise the pure brilliance of a mudroom, and more of us are adopting, and adapting, this genious concept from our northern neighbours. This dedicated space typically houses outdoor items, keeping dirt, water, sand, odors, and clutter from being tracked into the rest of the home. Sounds perfect for the active Australian lifestyle and life with kids and pets in general, doesn’t it?

Whether we incorporate a mudroom into your laundry or as a separate room, we consider its role as a place for storage and clean-up. We can create space for school bags and handbags, a litter box or a pet crate, and all manner of outdoor things, from coats, umbrellas, and boots to wetsuits, cricket bats, riding gear and more. I told you this room can do a lot!

P.S. Hoping to start a renovation soon? Download my complimentary Pre-Renovation Guidebook at the bottom of this page.

It’s no secret that smart storage solutions are a key ingredient to creating a tidy, clutter-free family home. When you have kids and pets, however, being able to easily maintain every room and quickly find what you need is even more valuable.

Rather than relying solely on the boxes and bins we can bring into your home, we consider imaginative and practical ideas for tailored storage.

This personalized approach creates the right storage exactly where your family needs it most, building organization naturally into your home and each family member’s routine. Tasks like keeping sports gear and LEGO neatly tucked away, easily accessing the beach umbrella and pool towels, or simply putting the groceries away will become more streamlined and intuitive for everyone — which makes the whole day run more smoothly!

You may be familiar with Sunbrella, Crypton, and Fibreguard, a few well-known fabric brands, but these high-performance fabrics aren’t just for your outdoor seat cushions. There is a new generation of performance fabrics designed specifically for indoor upholstery and drapery.

These fabrics are resistant to stains, mould, and sun fading, and they are super easy to clean up — no need to fear muddy paw prints, greasy hands, or Mum’s red wine! They also come in a range of textures, patterns and colours, making them perfectly stylish and contemporary. (These aren’t your ‘80s micro-suede!)

When designing your home, we discuss whether performance fabrics make sense for your furnishings and where they’ll have the most impact. Some common choices include upholstery for your rumpus room sofa, dining chairs and kitchen barstools but they can be used anywhere you would specify fabric.

There’s nothing like a well-designed nook or window seat to create a cosy, inviting environment. Adding this special type of space to your home not only looks great but can encourage quiet play and reading and can serve as a safe and private retreat for kids and adults alike.

We’re always looking for options to bring a beautiful nook into our clients’ homes. We can leverage existing spaces, like a bay window or the unused area under your staircase, or we can construct one from scratch.

If we can incorporate your nook into a shared space, like a living room or kitchen, your family will benefit from being together even while doing different things. But, we love creating nooks that can be closed off, whether with a door, screen, or curtains, providing the sensation of being hidden away and imbuing a sense of magic and whimsy that your kids, and you, will adore.

Another upside? Adding a nook with built-in seating creates more storage opportunities!

The underlying theme of all of these family- and pet-friendly features is this… personalization. When your home is filled with imaginatively practical solutions tailored to you, everyday life becomes easier. Daily headaches and worry are replaced by a carefree attitude, the ability to better enjoy each other’s company, and the inspiration to live your most fulfilling life.

This is what my team and I do at The Space Within. We empower couples and families with fully renovated homes that help them really live.

If you’re ready for a home that enhances and streamlines family life, I’d love to help. Reach out to me here, and let’s begin the conversation.

Live, beyond ordinary.

Donna