Many families are struggling to find room for their children to attend remote school, play, and sleep peacefully. That has some parents seeking new layouts and furnishings to help keep home life humming smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ears ago, children\u2019s bedrooms were the focus of the younger generation\u2019s home life. That\u2019s where they slept, played, and did homework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at some point, kids\u2019 toys started spreading out to the living room and their homework ended up on the kitchen or dining room table. Now, the pandemic has exacerbated these trends and made houses seem much smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result is more parents looking to experts on how to reorganize existing rooms, especially for young children who may not be able to verbalize their needs and anxieties. Many buyers are seeking different types of room arrangements since they don\u2019t know when the pandemic will end, or if another will arise. Many also represent a variety of family compositions, including single parents, adult children, or three-generational households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need greater flexibility to adapt,\u201d says architect Marissa Kasdan<\/a>, director of design at KTGY Architecture + Planning\u2019s R+D Studio\u2019s Tyson, Va., office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Designers, architects, real estate salespeople, and child psychologists are sharing advice on how to furnish children\u2019s bedrooms and a home\u2019s communal spaces to meet everybody\u2019s needs. But Chicago-area designer Paula Winter of Paula Winter Design<\/a> offers one important caveat: \u201cIt\u2019s helpful to consider your child\u2019s personality,\u201d she says. \u201cSome want to be more alone, and others like being around others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most experts on children believe the prime purpose of a bedroom should be sleeping. Screens should be kept out of the bedroom so that sleep is not disturbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe recommend that studying and playing are kept outside the bedroom, if possible,\u201d says Lisa Medalie<\/a>, PsyD, DBSM, founder of DrLullaby<\/a>, Digital Sleep Solutions for Sleep Problems in Children in Chicago. \u201cWhen kids are doing homework or playing in the bedroom, these are competing cues and triggers. Kids are likely to be tempted to play, resistant to bedtime, or think about school when such activities persist in the bedroom,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But not every family has separate rooms where children can pursue non-sleep tasks. Lisa Cini<\/a>, a senior living and multigenerational expert and author of Hive: The Simple Guide to Multigenerational Living<\/em><\/a> (iUniverse), advocates for setting up zones. \u201cParents can think of the bedroom almost like a kindergarten room with spaces for naps and sleep, play, and learning, so all are distinct,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter agrees on the benefit of zones, which may repeat certain functions. For example, in some bedrooms, she includes several places to sit\u2014to work at a desk, read in a chair, congregate with friends on the floor or at a window seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Areas can be visually and physically separated with a different floor surface such as tile and an area rug, standing screen, movable wall, pocket door, curtain, low bookcase, or even pretend teepee. A desk or table can be positioned to minimize distractions, says Alessandra Wood<\/a>, vice president of style at San Francisco-based Modsy, an online design service, which surveyed parents to learn the effects of how COVID-19 influences ways families use their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the square footage in a bedroom doesn\u2019t permit different zones, sometimes an extra or oversized closet can be converted into a homework center. It can be an easy DIY project with lumber planks for a desk and bookshelves, a child-sized adjustable chair that \u201cgrows\u201d as the child does, good task and recessed lighting, and a file cabinet or rolling cart to organize supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that most children\u2019s furniture is on the small scale, so rooms don\u2019t have to be large to accommodate multiple functions. Some furnishings can also be concealed, such as a Murphy or trundle bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dining room design by Modsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even before the pandemic began, parents with children have looked for homes with a variety of shared spaces that better fit their individual needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The death of the open floor plan<\/strong>: One casualty of buyers\u2019 current needs may be the open plan because it fails to mitigate noise and distractions. \u201cOpen layouts are not for all anymore. Many want to go back to a separate dining and living room or a small family room off the kitchen,\u201d says Sandra Cuba<\/a> with Premier Sotheby\u2019s International Realty in Winter Park, Fla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, there\u2019s increased interest in having a \u201cflex\u201d room that can function differently for each family\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Separate different child areas: <\/strong>Chicago-based Lexington Homes<\/a> designed one townhouse model for its Lexington Trace development in Warrenville, Ill., with a finished lower level with natural light that could work as a children\u2019s e-learning area or playroom. An optional half-bathroom can be added. When the pandemic ends or children are grown, it can be converted into a movie theater, home gym, or home office, says principal Jeff Benach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Children’s room design by Lexington Homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other parents and design professionals are looking to attics and spaces above a garage or in a basement, if available, for the same learning purposes, especially when children are older and can be left alone, says Usha Subramaniam<\/a>, a real estate salesperson with Compass in suburban Westchester, N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trend has even given rise to a new professional niche. Orlando-based designer Lauren Nolan focuses on installing at-home classrooms through her business, Childhood & Home. She likes to create cheerful, calm, and eco-conscious study spaces with designated areas for technology, play, and arts and crafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working together: <\/strong>Not all parents want to have their children out of sight, says Chicago real estate salesperson Jennifer Ames of Engel & Volkers<\/a>. \u201cThey want the capacity to supervise and keep an eye on them while they\u2019re on Zoom,\u201d she says. Designing a multipurpose shared space for school, work, and leisure is no small design task! says Winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Home classroom design by Lauren Nolan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chicago-based Belgravia Group<\/a> has developed one layout in its new condos at Triangle Square in East Bucktown that places a flex space adjacent to and within view of other rooms, says Elizabeth Brooks, executive vice president of sales and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some parents also favor layouts with multiple rooms where kids can pursue different activities\u2014some messy, some quiet. Architect Eddie Maestri of Maestri Studio<\/a> in Dallas went this route in remodeling his own family\u2019s new house. \u201cThe boys usually want to be where we are,\u201d he says. Now his 8-year-old twins have several rooms to choose from, including some designated for screen time which is off limits in their bedrooms, Maestri says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KTGY Architecture + Planning<\/a> has also followed this approach with its new \u201cCity Home\u201d model. Designed for urban areas, the plan offers two spaces that might be used for work or school at home, but are flexible for alternative long-term functions, says Kasdan. \u201cWe are finding that flexibility is key with all of our designs as residents use their homes in new and varied ways,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flexible children’s space by KTGY Architecture + Planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since having adequate storage can be a problem, the City Home also includes extra storage within the unit and more in a nearby corridor on each building level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choose proper materials and designs:<\/strong> Parents and designers are wise to select child-proof furnishings that hold up to wear and tear, dirty hands and feet, rough play, and spills. For example, Winter suggests sturdy fabrics, upholstery treated with stain repellent treatments (safe for children and pets and for busy families) or built-in stain-resistant upholstery, sectional sofas that can be separated, tables that can be easily cleaned or worked on (solid surface materials or laminates), and ones with no sharp corners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also helpful to have extra seating, which should be selected based on age-appropriate designs and their function, Winter says. This might include benches or poufs, coffee tables that raise to dining height, as well as bins, containers, see-through bags, and recycled packing boxes to organize toys, games, books, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cuba has clients who bought a smaller house and converted the garage with air conditioning into a virtual office for one parent who now teaches from home. \u201cIt has allowed her to have a quiet, organized place to focus on her students and her own two kids to use their bedrooms,\u201d Cuba says. Subramaniam has clients in her Westchester, N.Y. market who have added sheds to their property so they could have a quiet space away from the kids, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though not all climates permit use of an outdoor space all year, many families can install an awning or bring in a patio heater to extend use of the area. And they can outfit a space for active play with simple additions, such as a jump rope, zipline, tree swing, hopscotch board, and kid-sized table and chairs. Last summer, Cuba found that more buyers clamored for a bigger addition\u2014a swimming pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remodeling expert and speaker Dan DiClerico<\/a> installed a NanaWall<\/a> to open the back of his Brooklyn house to the outdoors. During the first wave of the pandemic, their backyard became his kids\u2019 refuge to do homework, enjoy open-air playdates, have family meals, play sports, and store favorite toys and sports equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the pandemic is over, many experts predict homeowners will continue to want their homes more flexible as needs keep changing. Plus, many predict remote work is here to stay for a significant percentage of the American workforce. \u201cThese ideas aren\u2019t likely to go out of style,\u201d Subramaniam says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National Association of REALTORS\u00ae Many families are struggling to find room for their children to attend remote school, play, and sleep peacefully. That has some parents seeking new layouts and furnishings to help keep home life humming smoothly. ears ago, children\u2019s bedrooms were the focus of the younger generation\u2019s home life. That\u2019s where they slept, played, and did homework. … <\/p>\nBedrooms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Living Spaces<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Converted Garages and Sheds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Outdoor Areas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reprinted with permission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"