Category Archives: Family Fun

Help your Child Redecorate – Room for Growth

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8829658_SAs you and your child plan and redecorate his or her room, it’s up to you as a parent to think about the future. Those dinosaurs or princesses that seem so appealing now will feel too juvenile in just a few years. Color favorites may also change or head to more subtle hues. Here are a few things to include in your plans to help the room redo hold up as your child gets older.

Paint is easy: Colors can be changed by simply repainting one or more walls. Try to keep the ceiling – which is harder to paint – a neutral tone. Look for temporary additions such as wall stickers or wallpaper borders rather than painted murals or wallpaper.

Linen options: Combine solid bed linens with a few theme items to make a room seem focused on the interests of your child without investing a great deal of money on a particular story or character. It’s easier to give away or recover a few throw pillows or shams than replace a full set of sheets and bedspread once your child has lost interest in the merchandise from a current children’s film or TV series.

Function: Your child may be too young for much or any homework at the moment, but it’s wise to plan for bookshelves and a desk or table in the future. Modular furniture makes it easier to transition over time.

Show and tell: Include a bulletin board, shelves or other space for your child to display items of current interest or any awards and recognition. It’s easy to change the contents of these items as your child matures.

Requirements: You may want to set up expectations when you initiate the redecorating process, such as keeping the room tidy. That way the redecorated room makes life easier for you as well as more fun for your child!

Help your Child Redecorate -Color and Pattern

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12105159_S This stage is the most exciting part of redecorating a child’s room – or any room for that matter. There are a few simple ways to help your child define the colors and look of a bedroom without taking over the process. Here are some ideas.

Picking colors: One easy way to determine a good main color for your child’s bedroom is to focus on a favorite color or colors. Another option is to consider the colors of your child’s favorite clothes. Don’t discourage bright tones – a child’s room can handle more vivid colors than you may want in the rest of the house. This is a great time to encourage experimentation and creativity. Colors can also be mixed – take a look at the broad variety of choices in the room above!

Choosing patterns: Fabric, rugs, stencils and wallpaper can all add pattern to a child’s space. In the room above, a simple mural provides the largest element of pattern. You might want to visit a fabric store or look at bed sheets and coverlets to see what appeals to your child. Be sure to consider stripes, checks, ginghams, polka dots, and other standard pattern styles.

6249365_SApplying color and pattern: Paint is the easiest way to establish color in a room, and the easiest to change later as your child’s taste changes. This can include walls and furniture. Wallpaper can also be applied to one wall or a piece of furniture to add pattern. Just be sure to prime the surface first so you will be able to strip the paper off later. Curtains, bed linens and rugs also provide methods for introducing color and pattern.

Working with existing choices: You can introduce colors that don’t seem to work with the current room options and still be successful. Take a look at the girl’s room to the right. The pastel pink and blue scheme wouldn’t be expected to connect with the light camel carpeting, but it does. As long as options such as flooring don’t actively clash, they will retreat to the background once the overall look of the room is established. An area rug or two also keeps the focus on the décor rather than the carpet.

So encourage your child to be daring – a child’s room should be fun, colorful, happy and expressive, and as a parent you have the chance to encourage those abilities in your children with their bedrooms and their lives.

Help your Child Redecorate – Function and Storage

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7857385_SAs you and your child plan a room redo, be sure to factor in storage needs and functional demands.

Does your child do homework in his or her bedroom? Plan on a desk along with space for books and homework projects. How about overnight guests? Consider twin beds or a trundle. Closet organizers can also make space more efficient.

The box-style approach shown in the photo to the left provides a great storage solution for a less organized child. Labels can define each space, and these boxes work well for books and other items.

426141_SIf space is limited and functional and storage needs extensive, consider using vertical space. Take a look at the photo to the right. The raised bed provides extra play space and a storage shelf underneath, and the three-foot raised floor in part of the room holds storage containers including one box-style shelving unit, with lots of room underneath for extra storage or a special kid hideaway.

A simple desk and chair match the style and colors in the room while working well as a homework center. There is plenty of room under the bed’s platform for extra shelves or hooks for clothes. Colors and pattern integrate all the storage and functional pieces to make the room feel creative and exciting.

These options may or may not work for your child. But no matter what, it’s important to determine what storage and functional capabilities are needed when planning the renovation. Look for extra space under the bed or on the walls. And think outside the box to make the space inviting as well as productive.

 

Help your Child Redecorate – Sort and Purge

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7899250_SBefore you get to the fun part of redecorating, the first step is getting rid of those things that no longer belong in your child’s room. Old clothes, toys, papers, and other items that your child has outgrown need to leave in order to clear the way for the new space you and your child are designing. There are many ways to approach this – here are a few suggestions.

Empty the closet: Chances are that there are scary things toward the back of your child’s closet. The best way to start over is to empty the closet and determine what will go back in piece by piece.

Sort into categories: Label one box give away and one throw away. If there are younger siblings, add a box for toys, books and clothes that can be passed down. One more box is a good idea – things that are no longer used but that your child is not ready to give up. Put the box away for six months or a year, and then revisit it.

Organize what’s left: Is your child growing out of shoes or clothes? Make a list of things to shop for as you discover them. Sort the clothes into like piles and plan to organize the closet around these categories. Take the time to determine any containers or organizing tools that will help that closet stay in shape.

Continue with shelves and drawers: Use this same strategy to clear out the rest of the bedroom. You and your child may even decide to eliminate or replace a piece of furniture.

This can be a tough process, but it’s a good life lesson for your child and a helpful approach for you. If you repeat this once a year, it will get easier and easier over time. And by the way, how is your closet looking?

Help your Child Redecorate

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6607525_SAs your children grow, it’s up to you as a parent to give them opportunities to make decisions. One great way to expand the thinking of a child is to involve them in redecorating their bedroom. You can include budgeting, planning, prioritizing, space planning and combining function with style. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Set a budget: How much money is available for the remodel? Before you and your child make a plan, it’s important to determine the amount that can be spent.

Make a plan: Will you be buying furniture? What about new window treatments? Balancing the budget against the desired changes can help your child determine what goals are most important.

There may also be problem-solving opportunities. For example, if your child would like to replace flooring but the budget won’t cover it, how about an area rug instead? Furniture could be repainted rather than replaced. Using graph paper, draw the furniture layout for the room. Using a tape measure and laying out a room is a great way to show your child how math can have real-world value.

Negotiate: This process also provides an opportunity to negotiate with your child. Would you be willing to up the budget if the child gave up presents for an upcoming birthday? Can he or she grab the desk from the basement to make a homework station in his or her room?

Set a schedule: When you’re redecorating, what needs to be done first? With your child, set up a reasonable schedule for selecting and installing the new look. If you have more than one child, you may want to stagger the remodels so that you are not overwhelmed.

Make it fun: Yes, this is a learning experience, but it’s also a real treat. Look for ways to make the process enjoyable rather than stressful. Mistakes will probably happen, but that’s part of making changes in your personal space.

St. Paddy’s Day Dinner

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17759325_SSunday is St. Patrick’s Day, and many people, whether of Irish descent or not, will be celebrating. If you’re planning a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner or something less standard such as beef stew made with stout, take a few minutes to decorate your table for the holiday.

This place setting is easy to imitate or turn into a centerpiece. One fun image is the rainbow and pot of gold. Use colored paper or have a local young person create one with crayons – you can have one per person or a large one that runs across the center of the table.

Check party stores for black pots like the one in the photo – you may be able to find one left over from Halloween. Pick up some gold tissue paper and gold covered chocolate coins to fulfill the promise of a leprechaun’s pot of gold. No pot available? Use one of your own cooking pots  there are no rules on what the pot should look like!

Several grocery stores at the moment are carrying shamrock plants, or you can recruit those same children to draw or cut out shamrocks to decorate the table. Use green ribbon to tie napkins in place of napkin rings.

14238716_SIrish Soda Bread provides a great addition to any St. Pat’s dinner that is impressive, delicious and very easy to make. For a recipe, check the Internet or visit our Fulton Home’s Facebook page for a link to the Barefoot Contessa’s tasty recipe.

A half-cup of currants and a teaspoon of caraway seeds make a real difference when creating an authentic loaf. For a final special flavor, add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar and coat the top with a tablespoon or two of white sugar dissolved in water about five minutes before the bread is finished baking. That slight sweet taste and the surprise flavor of caraway will make your guests grab for soda-bread seconds.

Spring Break Plans

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9480227_SEven if you can’t leave town this year for Spring Break, you can plan some special family activities while your kids are out of school. Here are a couple of fun ideas.

Start a garden: Whether you begin with a few herbs in pots or decide to rent a rototiller, a garden is a great way of getting involved in something different. You might want each child to choose a vegetable to grow or give everyone a small area to plant whatever they want.

Begin by visiting a local nursery. Talk to the experts there to find out what options would be best for your available space and the season. You might want to mix some plants with a few packages of seeds to you have immediate crops and some that will come up later.

Look for heirloom varieties of vegetables, the ones that are hard to find in stores. Cherry tomato plants are also a good choice for the Arizona desert climate.

Let your children take the lead in planning and choosing. Get them directly involved in the planting and tending. If one child wants flowers rather than vegetables, that’s OK. It’s the process rather than the results that are important.

7954179_STake a hike: No, this is not a rude remark. How about planning a nature walk either in the area or within a few hours’ drive? Once again, let your children take the lead. Pick up a book of interesting local hiking areas at your local bookstore or library.

Make the hike extra fun by including a picnic that everyone contributes to making and packing. Take along a book that helps you identify local plants and birds. Have someone wear a pedometer so you know how far you’ve gone at the end of the day.

Make this Spring Break special by finding an activity or event that everyone in your family can enjoy and working together to make it special for everyone.

Show Your Love for Valentine’s Day

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12110886_SYou can take small steps to make this Valentine’s Day something special for those you love. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to let people know how you feel in numerous ways this Thursday. Here are just a few suggestions.

Start with breakfast: Do you like foam on your coffee but don’t have the equipment? You can recreate the froth with the instructions at this website. Take a toothpick to create the heart as shown in the photo. Coffee drinkers in your family will appreciate it, and you can do the same with hot cocoa for the little ones.

8720696_SAdd a few decorative touches to set the dinner table to celebrate the day. Whether you’re fixing a romantic meal for two or an entertaining evening for the whole family, adding red paper napkins and a few candles and some heart-shaped decorations makes a big difference in the look of your table.

If you would rather not buy decorations, take a walk through the seasonal area of your grocery or drug store. Heart-shaped candies of all shapes and colors can be scattered on your table to make a festive display. Larger chocolate hearts can serve as favors by each person’s plate.

17446774_SFinally, how about making or buying a special Valentine’s dessert? Any favorite cookies can say I love you with squeeze on frosting like the ones in the photo. Cupcakes with pink icing or a red velvet cake in heart-shaped pans become your own special Valentines gift to those you love.

Wall Decals Spark Child’s Room

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This year your son may love dinosaurs, and next year it could be cars or insects or certain Disney characters. Wall decals are the perfect option for decorating a room that’s destined to change.

Unlike wallpaper, these contemporary choices stick on and peel off without damaging the underlying paint. The relatively low cost and ease of installation make it easy to see decals as temporary. You may want to require a certain length of time for your child to live with any decal choice – say a year – to ensure that your child thinks carefully about the decision.

This child’s room, part of the Rancho Mirage model in the Oasis at Freeman Farms community, really works with the jungle animal theme. The hippo, monkey and elephant are darling representations, and the decals are echoed in the quilt on the bed. Add the stuffed monkey and a throw pillow in coordinating colors, and this bedroom has a finished and inviting feel.

Sometimes having art hanging on the walls can lead to accidents with overly-energetic kids. Decals provide the feeling of art without hanging things on the walls that might tumble off. You can just see the corner of the window on the left. Putting up wood blinds and a simple valance at the top removes the temptation to swing from curtains but still provides a nice-looking window. Hunter Douglas window coverings have special child-safe pulls, which makes them even better for this room.

The padded headboard and table lamps encourage a child to sit up and read in bed before going to sleep. Plan space for those activities you want your children to engage in and you provide unspoken encouragement to help develop the right habits. And when your child outgrows the elephant and hippos, you can just put up new decals, pick up a new quilt, and the room is remade.

 

Two plus One Equals Flexibility

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Many people these days appreciate the luxury of a three-car garage. This two + one design at the Fulton Homes Oasis at Freeman Farms community provides extra flexibility. Here are just a few of the possibilities of this choice.

Bonus room option: The one-car garage space can be converted to a bonus room. This could be used as a home office, home gym, playroom or even a man cave. Whatever you could use an extra room for – you’re ready. It can be changed and re-planned many times to fit you and your family’s changing needs. Consider adding some generic built-ins along one wall for extra storage.

Teenager car location: Are you concerned about your child’s aim when he or she comes into the garage? Does that auto of doubtful antecedents leak oil? Are you finding that garage clutter seems to multiply around your child’s vehicle? Well, give them their own garage and then you can just shut the door and pretend it doesn’t exist!

Garage-type storage space: Would you like your garage to look as beautiful and controlled as the ones in our models? How about using that extra one-car garage for bikes, sports equipment or other garage-related items? You could also look at it as a one-car main –floor attic and use it to store suitcases, holiday decorations and out-of-season clothes.

Your own private garage: Find that no matter what you do the double garage moves out of control? Between the kids and your spouse, a garage can become a large room-sized catch-all for various odds and ends. If you’re fighting a losing battle at home, claim the one-car garage for yourself. As you silently pull into your clean and inviting garage space, you can simply put that “other” garage out of your mind.

Whatever you choose to do with these spaces, enjoy the fun of making them yours when you live in this smart Fulton Home.