A home renovation can be stressful enough, without having to factor in children! All that noise and dust can make for frayed tempers and interrupted routines.
As a family-owned business, with two little ones of our own, we want to make your home renovation as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. Here’s how we suggest keeping your little ones happy:
Get your children involved in the planning
Let’s face it; having strange men coming into your cosy, familiar home with sledgehammers and noisy machines can be a little bit daunting!
So explain to your children what is going to happen.
Better still; involve them in the planning. Share with them why you are renovating your home, and what will happen. This can be a positive learning experience, and if they buy into what’s happening, they’ll feel a lot more comfortable with it.
If your home renovation includes your child’s room, it’s all the more important that they’re involved in the decision-making. That can be as easy as giving them two or three colour options for their new room, and letting them choose the final colour.
You can even get your children involved in planning your kitchen or lounge – it can provide hours of entertainment for them, getting them to draw their own plans! (This is what Michelle, the Architectural Designer here at LC Designer Homes used to do for fun as a child – draw house plans! And it ended up providing a career for her.)
And who knows, your children might just come up with something genius that you hadn’t thought of!
Keep your children safe during the home renovation
Introduce your children to the builders: after all, they will be in your home for quite some time, so the builders shouldn’t be strangers. However, it’s also vitally important that your children aren’t allowed into the construction zone without mum or dad present – you need to make this really clear for them. If a builder is busy with the nail gun, for example, they might not see or hear your child entering the room – and that’s dangerous.
Physical barriers are definitely a good idea – especially for young children.
Involving children in the renovation process is a great idea – but know when to call it quits
The daily dust and noise can affect a child’s good temper as much as it can affect yours. The best approach is to pre-empt this, and make the entire renovation process as much fun as possible for your children. For example, get them to take photographs of the renovation as it unfolds (supervised, of course, so they’re not on their own in the construction zone), and get them to put a scrapbook together. You could help them write descriptions and memories.
Better still, get your children to draw pictures of the renovation, the tools, and even the builders – it will not only be a fun project, but also a nice keepsake for your family.
However, a construction project will only ever be fun for a certain length of time. When the noise and disruption get too much, take your children on an outing if at all possible. You might want to create a list of outings that you can do before the work starts, and let your children pick whether they go to the park, beach or playground.
Consider a short break during periods of heavy construction
If your home renovation includes some major demolition or building work, that could be a really good time to go away for a short break. Whether it’s staying with the in-laws or simply staying at a hotel for a little while, being away from the noise and interruption might help keep the parents sane too – especially if you have a child that doesn’t like sleeping in the day.
If that sounds appealing, ask your builder at the outset when the heaviest construction period might be, so you can plan your escape in good time.
However, please don’t go on a 2-month round-the-world trip when we’re working on your home. We’ll need you on hand frequently throughout the building work to make decisions as we go, so that you’ll be 100% happy with the end result.
Next step:
If you are looking for a builder who’ll be respectful of your home, and easy to live with, speak to us! LC Designer Homes is a family-owned business, and we understand what it’s like to have to deal with kids in the middle of a construction zone!
Just contact us to discuss your building or renovation project – we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
