Features to Look for in a Family-Friendly Home
If you are looking to purchase a home with the intention of building a family, or if you already have kids, it is essential to know what you should prioritize. To help you with this, we have compiled a list of features to look for in a family-friendly home.
Wooden floors
When looking for your dream family home in LA, one of the most important features you want to insist on is wooden floors. It doesn’t particularly matter what type of wood or style is used. What you really want such floors for is their overwhelming usefulness when dealing with messes your kids might make. And, realistically speaking, that is going to happen a lot! There is no home with kids that can avoid spills, drips, and other food and drink-related accidents. Trying to scrub that mess out of a carpet or a concrete floor is an absolute nightmare. Laminate is a somewhat acceptable alternative but be warned that it stains and develops fading color a lot more quickly than wood would.
A roomy kitchen
A roomy kitchen is one of the best features to look for in a family-friendly home - due to how convenient it is. Especially when your kids are still very young. If you have enough space, you can put in a table to use for meals instead of requiring a dedicated room for eating. This would make it a lot more convenient for you to easily clean up after your kids. Not to mention that you could put out crayons or similar and let them play while you are finishing up a meal. Besides, as the moving experts from Zapt Movers point out, families tend to have a lot more appliances and larger kitchen furniture when moving. And having enough space for it all without crowding your kitchen is wonderful.
A mudroom
Definitely a desirable feature, and one of the unexpected things that affect the value of your property, is a mudroom. This incredibly convenient addition to your home makes it possible to avoid having your kids track mud onto your freshly cleaned floors. Not to mention that mudrooms most often feature tile flooring, which is a breeze to clean up, even when compared to wooden floors. Mudrooms also make for an excellent location to put in a tasteful shoe cabinet. Which means they can be as classy and decoratively appealing as they are useful.
Lots of storage space
Enough storage space is one of the most desirable features to look for in a family-friendly home. For a second, try and think about all the books and school-related items your kids require. Then imagine the piles of clothes your family probably owns. Then, all the little odds and ends to which fond memories are tied. It all likely makes for a whole ton of things you will need to store in a home! If your home does not have enough storage space, you might eventually be forced to throw away some of your belongings.
Thankfully, LA is definitely one of the best California cities for big families, even though there are some other great places to consider and features homes of decent size. This makes it possible to find a house big enough to handle your storage needs at an affordable price.
Enough bedrooms for everyone
Sharing a bedroom with your kids when they’re very young is not just fine. It is pretty much recommended, at least for a little while. However, as they grow up, they will need space of their own. Similarly, there is an age up to which you can expect your children to share a room harmoniously. Try and put a pair of teenagers into the same space. Well, you would soon find out it is generally a terrible idea that results in some rather loud arguments and lots of pouting at the dinner table. This is why enough bedrooms for everyone is one of the features to look for in a family-friendly home. This will, of course, demand some family planning if you are shopping for a home as a young couple. But it will pay off eventually!
Open floor plan
Kids are adorably, constantly active little devils. They tend to run around more often than they walk. And living in a home with cramped rooms without enough space for them to release at least some of their energy is a recipe for disaster. It is very easy for kids to bump into something and hurt themselves. And that is, of course, disregarding the damage they would be likely to do to any ornaments or decorations. It is better to invest in an open floor plan home - for your own sake.
A yard or a park near your family-friendly home
Veering away from strictly in-home features, there are few things as valuable as having access to a yard or a nearby park for a family. A yard is, of course, more convenient and safer. You can let your kids play in it with a piece of mind if you put up a tall fence. You can even use the space for barbeque or parties. However, having a park in your neighborhood also makes for a fantastic home feature since it would also provide a convenient place for your kids to hang out with friends and run wild. Supervised, of course.
A good neighborhood
Of course, the final feature to look for in a family-friendly home is having that home located in a good neighborhood. Of course, by this, we mean living in a secure and safe place with low crime rates. But it also refers to all the conveniences and amenities a good neighborhood should have. A close-by school is one such example. Decent stores, access to public transport, and similar also count. When purchasing a home, you should always look into area info, even if the building itself seems ideal.
Some final advice
Now that you know what features to look for in a family-friendly home, you are ready to go house hunting! Of course, always remember that no matter how ideal a home seems, you should ensure that it fits into your budget.
