Limited tickets remaining: Dwell Open House Los Angeles
SubscribeSign In
i
Collection by Isla Wright

3 Great Family Home Design Ideas

As your young family grows, very often you can have a feeling like the house is shrinking and there’s not enough room to accommodate your different needs at different stages of life. Designing your home does not only give a unique opportunity to adapt it so it fits around your family’s needs, but it also allows you express your creativity and style.
Bear in mind that it should be practical, functional, comfortable and durable. Design it to the needs of your family at the moment, but also, use clever designs that are flexible and can be adapted as time goes by. Aim for a bright, inviting and cheerful décor and make sure everyone in the family can have their own place.

Here are three main aspect to consider when choosing the best family design.

The layout

Two major considerations regarding your home layout is connectivity and visibility. Especially during the early years, you will need to spend most of your time with your children, while at the same time still being able to go about your daily routine. The best idea is to create an open plan environment for daily living, where you will merge the kitchen, dining and family room and where you’ll be spending 70-80% of your time.

Flexible open plan spaces give the modern-day families a chance for great social interaction where everyone can do their thing but still manage to have a social discourse. This is what creates the heart of the home: a place where family naturally gravitates towards and where everyone feels pleasant and comfortable. If you don’t find it easy to come up with the best home layout, turn to the home building specialists at eldertonhomes.com.au for ideas and inspiration.

The family space

For a cosy and peaceful home, it’s important to have a family room that works for everyone, but this is not always easy to pull off. Commonly, it’s the living room that is the focal point in the house where you need to bring together style and functionality.
For practicality and comfort, provide enough seating for everyone, including guests when they arrive. Open space layouts promote togetherness, and while parents can do the work in the kitchen, kids and guests can lounge in the living room area. As advised by experts at bhg.com , keep the space unified by using the same colours throughout the space, but use furniture placement to create separate activity zones.

Choose hard-wearing floors and loose-covered sofas with washable and removable covers as there will surely be more than a few spills and stains with the kids around. Don’t forget plenty of storage space, such as cupboards, drawers, trunks or baskets, so that everyone has a designated place for their toys, books, consoles and other knick knacks.

A nook for everyone

The best and most practical family home design is the one that can cater to everyone’s needs and interests. For instance, as parents, you will need a study or office space, while the school kids need their space for study as well. While the kids are little, their playroom might be a part of the family living space and a study area put elsewhere, since these two can hardly co-exist successfully in one space.

Here is what décor specialists at architecturaldigest.com recommend for playroom designs where the whole family can enjoy. The kids do grow older, their needs change, so you consider giving them more room as you will not have to keep an eye on them every minute. A basement or a loft can be a great family entertainment space to have fun together, but when the kids feel the need for some privacy and alone time, they can always go back to their bedrooms.

A clever home layout with a good flow is what will have a great impact on the quality of your family life, so invest in it. Choose a home design that will make everyone feel included, pleasant and comfortable. Pick finishes and materials based on their quality and durability, and don’t forget that quality comes before quantity. Bigger is not necessarily always better, so invest long-term into a smart organisation of the space, and short-term into décor, as it is something that will change more over time.

View 12 Photos
The renovation of a 2,000-square-foot property updates a century-old design for a family of four. "We placed the kitchen at the center of the house to link with the dining room and the outdoor space," Moreau says. In the kitchen, a Wolf oven brings out the silver details in Coit’s Bianco Cararra backsplash and island. Hee bar stools by Hay are lined under the island.
The renovation of a 2,000-square-foot property updates a century-old design for a family of four. "We placed the kitchen at the center of the house to link with the dining room and the outdoor space," Moreau says. In the kitchen, a Wolf oven brings out the silver details in Coit’s Bianco Cararra backsplash and island. Hee bar stools by Hay are lined under the island.
Architect Gustavo Costa calls the home library the “project’s heart.” This central space houses the owner’s expansive collection of about 5,000 books, and acts as a meeting place for friends and colleagues. A Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Red and Blue chair completes the space.
Architect Gustavo Costa calls the home library the “project’s heart.” This central space houses the owner’s expansive collection of about 5,000 books, and acts as a meeting place for friends and colleagues. A Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Red and Blue chair completes the space.
Agustín Hernandez's home office.
Agustín Hernandez's home office.
Roberto Burneo designed this home for his eldest niece, her husband, and their three young children in a suburb outside Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The house is set on a flat expanse of land with fruit trees, and Burneo's design "guides the social areas inward in order to link them to the gardens.”
Roberto Burneo designed this home for his eldest niece, her husband, and their three young children in a suburb outside Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The house is set on a flat expanse of land with fruit trees, and Burneo's design "guides the social areas inward in order to link them to the gardens.”
Burneo took advantage of the perpendicular orientation of the volumes to create outdoor spaces that look out to the gardens.
Burneo took advantage of the perpendicular orientation of the volumes to create outdoor spaces that look out to the gardens.
“We sought to create a house that would not damage the environment and not be too visible,” says architect Tina Gregorič. A single zigzagging roof stretches over 5,380 square feet, doubling the area of the interior spaces and serving as an ideal spot for sunset cocktails and whale-watching.
“We sought to create a house that would not damage the environment and not be too visible,” says architect Tina Gregorič. A single zigzagging roof stretches over 5,380 square feet, doubling the area of the interior spaces and serving as an ideal spot for sunset cocktails and whale-watching.
For the kitchen, American cherry wood was used to create cabinets that establish a warm and sturdy tone. Each piece of lumber was purchased at auction by the Brillharts and stored in New Hampshire, before being shipped to Miami and milled on site. The wood island is painted black to provide a point of visual contrast.
For the kitchen, American cherry wood was used to create cabinets that establish a warm and sturdy tone. Each piece of lumber was purchased at auction by the Brillharts and stored in New Hampshire, before being shipped to Miami and milled on site. The wood island is painted black to provide a point of visual contrast.
Known for furniture and interior design, Ezequiel Farca transformed a 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City into a tranquil sanctuary. The temple-like retreat blends into the hilly Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood with its pale gray-green hue and strategic plantings, which soften the boundaries between house, garden, and street. The Recinto lava stone patio accessed through the living room holds teak outdoor furniture designed by Farca himself.
Known for furniture and interior design, Ezequiel Farca transformed a 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City into a tranquil sanctuary. The temple-like retreat blends into the hilly Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood with its pale gray-green hue and strategic plantings, which soften the boundaries between house, garden, and street. The Recinto lava stone patio accessed through the living room holds teak outdoor furniture designed by Farca himself.
The master bedroom leads to its own private courtyard. The rug is from Peace Industry; the Kelvin LED floor lamp for Flos is from Lumens. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
The master bedroom leads to its own private courtyard. The rug is from Peace Industry; the Kelvin LED floor lamp for Flos is from Lumens. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
Taking inspiration from Arlberg Valley, Austria to classic Nordic materials, the Troll Hus certainly adds a European touch to the California landscape. “The inspiring concept is that of a treehouse that, as if suspended between treetops, seamlessly and ingeniously blends with its surroundings.” Casper says.
Taking inspiration from Arlberg Valley, Austria to classic Nordic materials, the Troll Hus certainly adds a European touch to the California landscape. “The inspiring concept is that of a treehouse that, as if suspended between treetops, seamlessly and ingeniously blends with its surroundings.” Casper says.
"The longer I work as an architect, the more I want to deepen my skills as a gardener," says Yuri Zagorin Alazraki, founder of the Mexico City firm ZD+A. In building his own house in Mexico City’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, his commitment has produced results that appear miraculous. In fact, they grow out of a carefully choreographed series of bravura design moves.
"The longer I work as an architect, the more I want to deepen my skills as a gardener," says Yuri Zagorin Alazraki, founder of the Mexico City firm ZD+A. In building his own house in Mexico City’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, his commitment has produced results that appear miraculous. In fact, they grow out of a carefully choreographed series of bravura design moves.