Creating Beautiful Spaces for Your Children within Your Home

A child’s room can be one of the most challenging, and yet the most enjoyable rooms in the house to design, plan and decorate. Create a beautiful space for your child, where he or she can indulge in their creative spirits and play for hours, while still expressing your personal style. There are many ways to personalize each space designated for children using patterns, themes and colors in everything from the furniture to bedding, fixtures and lighting, and even architectural design. The possibilities are endless!Kids Spaces Playrooms serve to be the most magical havens, where kids dream, learn, imagine and grow. Treat your children to a sanctuary that’s all their own, with kid-sized playroom furniture including a mini-kitchen, table and chair sets, a Victorian dollhouse, sofa and love seats, rockers and a puppet theater. Add inspiring toys, stimulating wall colors and décor to accent your overall theme that will truly bring out your child’s personality. And, just because it’s a child’s playroom doesn’t mean it has to be a mess. Playroom storage options range from custom toy bins and toy chests shaped like castles and trucks, to storage benches that provide pretty seating as well. Every parent wants their children to have a space where he or she can rest, learn, play and most importantly be themselves. Create a special bedroom for your child using calming colors accented with plush pillows and blankets. Personalize the space with your child’s name, initials or monogram by adding wooden or framed wall letters, one of the most popular décor addition’s to nurseries and kids’ rooms. Finish off the space with the perfect lighting, a feature that can be both decorative and functional. Family Basement Not ready to give up your entire basement to the kids? Share the space by creating a relaxing atmosphere that’s suitable for both your children and the adults. Shown in the picture above, a family from Long Island designed a huge couch where everyone in the family could lounge and even nap together, and added two TV’s on opposite walls so the whole family could play at the same time. Dividing the basement into several designated spaces allows everyone in the family to take advantage and enjoy the area. Designate one space for the kids, adding colorful cubbies with low enough spaces for even the youngest child to store his or her toys; and a short, long desk where they can draw and work on arts and crafts. Leave the rest of the space for the adults, whether it is an in-home gym (seen in the picture below), wine cellar or entertainment area. Using one color palate will help unify the spaces, keeping a flow throughout the basement.

3 Tips on What Makes a Great Outdoor Entertaining Area

At MILTON we believe that outdoor spaces are quickly moving in a popular direction, popping up as true extensions of the home, providing a comfortable, inviting and functional entertainment retreat. We were recently reading one of our favorite websites, houzz.com, and discovered a great article by Sandy Koepke.  If you’re in the midst of planning your patio, deck or yard for lots of festivities this summer, here are three tips on what makes a great outdoor entertaining area.

  1. Consider the Infrastructure: this is especially important if you’re planning on creating an outdoor kitchen area or family room. Introduce a gas line, water, or electrical work before anything else.
  2. Aim for Accessibility: when it comes to making an outside area work as an extension of the home, Sandy recommends upping the accessibility – make it easy to get outdoors and work towards good flow by using lots of windows and doors. Access to the outside should look and feel completely effortless.
  3. Create an Enclosed Space: An enclosure, whether it be a pergola, walls or salvaged windows and doors, gives a sense of place without taking away the fact that you are outdoors.

We incorporated the outdoor living on the third floor of our new home on Buena Vista we are building a spacious outdoor deck with a fireplace, so the homeowners can enjoy a outdoor retreat year round.  For more information on Buena Vista please CLICK HERE.What will your outdoor retreat be used for this summer? Let us know on the Milton Development Facebook Wall, linked HERE.