Making Your Kitchen A Child-Friendly Zone*

Can you believe it’s almost the Christmas holidays?  I also can’t believe the first term of this school year is finished already. School holidays are hard when it comes to working at home, as I tend to work in the kitchen at the table. I get more done sat upright at the computer than lazing around on my bed or in the lounge and without a doubt she’ll want to be in there with me. Not only that but my kitchen is an open plan kitchen diner and even at 6, the kitchen isn’t exactly the safest place for a kid to play. I need to find a happy balance of work and play, being around for LM and making sure I work enough to make ends meet.

Today I’m going to share how best to plan a kitchen that works for all the family. In particular, one that allows you to keep one eye on the kids and another on preparing dinner;

Making It Safe
Firstly, you’ve got to make sure it’s safe for your kids to be in the kitchen with you, even while you’re cooking. Incorporating a table or breakfast bar as an island is a popular idea, especially in larger kitchens. Here the kids can work on school stuff, draw or even help you cook. It’s a great way to make most of your time together even when you’re busy. Some people like to place their hob on the island, if your’e one of these people you have to make sure it’s safe and will be out of the reach of children. Placing it higher than the rest of the island is a good idea and choosing an induction hob rather than an exposed flame with safety indicates to let your little ones know that the hob is still hot.

It’s important to think about a layout that encourages the kids to keep out of the prep area is important. Place the fridge in an accessible place but well away from where you’ll be chopping and cooking. This way they can still access it to get their own drinks and snacks without disturbing the cooking area. If you encourage them to lay the table it might be worth thinking about where you store your crockery and cutlery, will they be moving closely to the hot oven?

Finally you can pick up cupboard locks to keep the really little ones out of places they shouldn’t be sticking their hands. All the cupboards in our house have them on meaning i’ve never worried about little miss getting a hold of a knife or some kitchen cleaner. Another thing to consider is putting curved edges on the work surfaces to avoid those bumped heads and bruised hips, lets face it, we’ve all done it!

Make Practical Choices
When designing your kitchen it’s important to make practical choices with design, layout and furnishings. When it comes to the flooring you want to pick something that you can keep clean, for example a vinyl floor. I know when a lot of people think of vinyl flooring, they think of the stuff from the early 90s with weird patterns, but these days you can get vinyl that looks like wood but is much easier to keep clean and way better price.

You also want to make sure you have enough storage space. When my mother designed her kitchen she picked out narrow cupboards which look good but didn’t end up particularly practical as she now has boxes of kitchen equipment upstairs in her wardrobe. It’s not just storage space, but you need to ensure you have enough worktop space as preparing a meal for a family often spreads across the whole kitchen!

Keep It Tidy
For me the kitchen is the room that ends up the messiest especially since it has our table in which 99% of the time ends up a dumping ground for the contents of my handbag & LM’s school bag. If at all possible consider adding a utility room as it’s a convenient place to store clutter. If a utility cupboard isn’t an option try a tall cloakroom style cupboard at the garden entrance. This will be a great place to keep the coats, wellies and anything for outdoor games. Or just you day to day junk you don’t want on your kitchen table.

The kitchen is fast becoming more of a family room than even the sitting room. If you’re planning a kitchen overhaul and you do have a family, maybe look at the ways I’ve suggested to make it more a family room rather than just the place you prepare meals.

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