Children are hard on a house, but need a place to put their stuff

By David Bradley
Associated Press

Nothing accelerates wear-and-tear on a home faster than the normal daily activity of children. The pitter-patter of tiny feet, compounded by tracked in dirt and near-constant motion are hard on a home and everything in it.

Monika Sheehe knows this reality of home life all too well. With three daughters under the age of five, this staff member of The Home Service Store speaks from experience when she counsels consumers how to make home improvements child-friendly.

"Children are tough on carpet, walls, yards and items near ground level," says Sheehe, "but it's their home, too, and adults need to make accommodation for kids being kids."

Safety issues supersede decor concerns for most parents. Sheehe says parents of young children should literally crawl on hands and knees for a kid's-eye view of what's reachable and off limits.

Install smoke- and carbon-dioxide alarms near children's rooms in each hallway. If your home needs new windows, consider windows that crank open. These windows can speed upper floor escapes down pre-installed rope ladders, in case of fire. Small hands will find child-height stairway railings easier to grasp. Childproof cabinet doors and shelving in the kitchen are always good ideas.

Sheehe says motion detectors turn on garage lights automatically, which makes unloading the van and herding the family inside that much easier and safer.

Storage is a recurring issue with children of any age. Sheehe had custom shelves installed along walls in each daughter's bedroom. "I prefer drawers, but shelves are just easier for small children to learn where to store their stuff," says Sheehe. She notes the shelves are close to floor level so her kids don't need chairs to reach their assigned space.

The same goes for towels usually tossed in a wet clump on floors: Sheehe lowered the height of towel racks. "Installing items within arm's reach for children is a temporary, childhood solution," says Sheehe. "We can always update some features as the girls get older."

Sheehe and her husband built a kitchen pantry for added storage. Most food and utensils are on higher shelves while healthful snacks for the girls are within reach at lower levels.

Sheehe is willing to postpone white carpet while the girls are young. "I'd love to have white carpet," Sheehe says, "but my dark speckled berber doesn't show dirt and vacuums well." She limits the daily intake of dirt and mud with a brightly colored shoe rack near the garage door. Traffic patterns mandate where the toughest, stain-resistant carpets should be placed. Don't forget to stain-guard and steam-clean carpets each quarter. Semi-gloss paint on walls makes cleaning of smudge marks easier.

Yards take a beating, too, as kids reduce grass to stubble as they run from point A to point B. Sheehe advises paving stones, limestone slabs or walkways at house corners. A low wall of field stone or other definable border around flower beds will discourage young hands from plucking flowers out by the root. With time at a premium, Sheehe finds easy-care perennials a pleasant alternative to annual flowers. If you install backyard fencing, be sure the fence and gate openings are narrow so small heads won't get caught.

"You can't look at home improvements as a permanent thing, because you can always change and update later," says Sheehe. "The kids are part of the household, and parents need to go with the flow during the younger years."