Parents with a baby on the way usually overlook how important certain home improvements are. Some are due to offer some extra space which eliminates the need of moving houses before the baby arrives, others are due to increase indoor safety levels for the period when the baby starts crawling and ultimately, walking on their own. Tackling these home improvements before the baby arrives is crucial, as managing those with a baby in the house at a later time becomes progressively harder. Below is a list of those highly important remodelling ideas that are due to increase comfort and safety levels for your child.
Get the Big Picture
With a baby on the way, many parents tend to forget how that moving to a bigger house is not mandatory. With certain measures and thorough planning, everything can be solved in the comfort of your own home. Make sure that before starting your home improvement process, you assess your property’s needs carefully. Start by assessing your home’s safety levels. Although the time when they start crawling on open kitchen cabinets filled with toxic cleaning substances seems to be a far time from now, most parents will tell you otherwise. You don’t have the time to realise when that day comes.
Babies develop good mobility before parents even realise and this might turn into a painful process of keeping them away from those dangerous areas in your home. According to numerous studies, cleaning products should always be stored away from children’s sight and reach. This is also adequate for medication. In this case, all storage areas should be properly evaluated and equipped with safety locks and closing systems.
Firearm owners seem to forget about safety when bringing their children home. However, before the baby comes home, you should take extra precautions in regard to firearms. The general advice would be to remove the ammunition and store it separately than your firearms and lock both. The keys should also be kept in a different place, away from children’s sight.
Space-wise, you should assess the extra space needs that your home has before even thinking to move houses. Maybe the extra space need can be met with a simple house extension or even loft construction. This is why you need to establish how much space you are going to need to accommodate the new family member.
Extend your home to accommodate the new member
Home extensions are amazing solutions for expecting parents. However, you should be dealing with this matter before your baby arrives. The sooner, the better. For expecting parents, loft extensions are the best solution. These will comfortably accommodate a nursery and an extra bathroom, maybe even an additional laundry room. These are all rooms that are highly important for children while they are babies but also once they grow up. The nursery can be transformed into a bedroom when they grow up and need extra privacy.
While many expecting parent’s first instincts are to move into a bigger home, this isn’t necessarily as long as you can make just enough room for an extra member. Considering the boosting prices on the real estate market, a bigger home is a financial effort too big for most families. A home extension involves only a fraction of the price involved by a bigger home and it also raises the overall property value of your current home, as the experts at Tailored Lofts explain.
Target the Germ Zones
Although you think that there is a long journey until your baby starts walking and crawling, it’s a good idea to identify and tackle the germ zones in your house. The germiest things in a house are not your usual suspects, like doorknobs and light switches, but mainly everything that is in your kitchen. Before your baby arrives, make sure pay extra attention to different elements like your kitchen sink, dish rags and faucet handles. Your countertops are also flooded in germs and bacteria and your cutting boards should receive more and more attention. While you don’t want to go overboard with the cleaning part, you certainly want to start paying more attention to these things. Also, your toothbrush might need more care and attention that you think now. According to a series of studies, on the average toothbrush, there are more germs than on the toilet bowl. Stash on sanitizing wipes before your baby arrives and swipe those on all key surfaces as needed.
Design the nursery
Contrary to many parents’ belief, a nursery isn’t created overnight. It demands planning and some money as other parents claimed. Many have the regret of not fully finishing their nurseries before the baby’s arrival. To tackle this matter, first, make sure that you choose the best room for such purposes. It could be the extra room created in your new loft or it can be any other room in the house.
However, make sure that you fully understand what does a nursery involve furniture-wise. A cradle, a changing table, suitable storage solutions for you and your baby’s needs, these all have to be part of your plan.
To boost the extra comfort levels for both you and your child, a feeding corner is also a great idea. Purchase a comfortable armchair and place it in one corner of your nursery, buy several storage baskets in which to keep some essentials like wet wipes, disinfectant gel and some special creams for both you and the child. This will offer you just enough comfort levels as you will be able to easily reach whatever you need without disturbing your child’s sleep.
Flooring repairs
This isn’t on many parents’ priority list, but flooring is one important repair you must tackle before your baby arrives. Fix all uneven surfaces in your floors. This will make accidents and injury less likely to occur once your baby starts crawling. Also, if your home has a carpet, make sure to have it professionally cleaned before your baby’s arrival. This will eliminate all the germs and bacteria, as well as other allergens.
Disclosure: This is a featured post.
