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The sole act of cooking together with your closest family members, preparing all kinds of treats and meals is a great way to spend some quality time together, bond with your children and even teach them some valuable kitchen skills. On the other hand, the kitchen can represent a huge liability, especially for really small children, as there are many hazardous objects and dangers lurking by. This is exactly why it’s important to design and organize your kitchen area in a way it would provide a secure and practical environment for your children. These are a few handy tips to get you started:
Open Kitchen Concept
Creating an open kitchen plan is a great solution for big families who wish to go above the traditional kitchen design and make a mutual space, rather than two separate ones. This is especially a good idea for children, as it provides sufficient space for them to play and run around without actually obstructing any work in the kitchen. It’s also a clever design as it gives you the ability to constantly monitor your children while preparing your favorite meals. Not only is it kid-friendly, but it’s also quite modern and convenient, as it allows you to spend time with your friends without ever leaving the room to get snacks and drinks. Read more at Jane's Kitchen for oven recommendations.
Smart Furniture Design
Children are restless beings that simply love running around the house without paying attention to their surroundings. This can pose a serious problem if it so happens that they run into, or bump their heads on the edge of the furniture. This is why it would be a good idea to invest in kid-size furniture that would prevent these things from happening, or simply attach corner guards on the edges. It’s also a good solution to create accessible pantries and cabinets that are going to contain their favorite snacks and kid-size plastic dishes so they can easily fetch them by themselves. Raised cabinets with locks are a good idea for keeping appliances and different chemicals inside, as they should always be out of reach of children.
Multitask Island
Installing an island in the kitchen area can be a great way to keep your children busy and out of the working zone. Creating a sort of a multitask island that will contain a big surface, a snack bar, but also a space to keep some of their belongings. This is a great way to make a designated space for the kids where they can play, do their homework and have an occasional snack. You can even install a warming drawer so your kids can help themselves to warm food without operating ovens or microwaves. You can also add a blackboard on the side of the island, which can serve as a grocery list and a creative space for the kids.
Convenient Surfaces
Having children will prepare you for a lot of messy situations, stains and spilled liquids. While you can’t prevent your kids from making an occasional mess, what you can do is invest in some quality surfaces that will make cleaning up much easier. First, you will want to remove all tablecloths to prevent children from knocking down certain objects from the table. Quartz and stone surfaces are known to be quite durable, while laminate is stain-resistant and is a much softer solution. But whatever you do, make sure to avoid glass surfaces.
Separate Refrigerator Drawers
Another amazing, kid-friendly solution is investing in refrigerator arrangements that contain easily accessible drawers for children. These refrigerators are quite similar to those accessible pantries that simply give children an option of helping themselves to certain foods and snacks. It’s also a good idea to put a smaller fridge in the kitchen that would be designated solely for the kids.
They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home and that its main purpose is to bring families together. This is why a kid-friendly kitchen area should be an obligatory part of every household. Designing a practical and safe kitchen isn’t that difficult and will surely pay off in the long run.
ABOUT THE EXPERT
Lana Hawkins is a student of architecture and the Editor-in- Chief at Smooth Decorator. She lives in Sydney and loves to write about interior design and inspiring landscaping ideas. Lana suggests counter depth refrigerator as a great choice for your family kitchen.
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