Designing A Home With Kids In Mind – 29 Cute Ideas

A family home should be a place where both adults and kids can feel like they have freedom, where both sides can relax and have fun and where there should be a perfect balance between functionality, looks and cuteness.

Designing anything with kids in mind is not easy. It can be, however, lots of fun to come up with new and unexpected ways to add a quirky and playful touch to something basic and to reinvent that particular element.

A rocket chair for a little astronaut

Designing A Home With Kids

Can you imagine if all kids who dreamt about becoming astronauts actually managed to do that? We would be surrounded by explorers. Of course, as we grow up, our ideas and interests change and suddenly becoming a programmer or a teacher becomes more desirable than being an astronaut or a rocket scientist. Even so, it would be nice to let kids explore their hobbies while they have them. The Rocky Rocket makes that possible with its fun and friendly design.

A cute bed with a hot air balloon canopy

Fantasy Air Balloon bed

While boys dream about flying into space and exploring strange new worlds, girls have a more delicate approach. A fantasy air balloon is their version of a rocket. One of the most impressive and dramatic ways of making that childhood dream come true comes in the form of a circular bed with a canopy and a design that beautifully mimics a hot air balloon. This one even has under bed storage drawers.

Lamps and tables shaped like animals

Family Headquarters Play Room
Goose Junon Lamp and storage system

Let mother goose watch over your kids while they sleep. Actually, let the Junon goose bedside table do that. This is a small table which is obviously designed to resemble a goose but that’s not the whole story. The table also has an integrated lamp. The lampshade makes it look as if the goose has a cute little hat.

Animal-inspired decorations and accessories

Fantastic animals of design
Animal inspired vases

You can’t have nice things as a parent. That’s what people with kids always say. While that may be true in some cases, we tend to disagree. There’s always a way to achieve harmony and to make both kids and adults enjoy their home. Animalita is a collection designed by Bosa which can be regarded as an expression of this balance. The collection includes vases and other accessories and accent pieces designed to resemble various animals. They’re cute, stylish and practical at the same time.

Bird caged as lampshades

Les Volières Lamps

There’s more than one way to look at these lampshades simple named “Les Volieres“. As an adult or parent, you could see the grace and beauty in such a design and enjoy how poetically lovely they are. As a kid, you’d definitely love all the colors and the cute little bird ornaments covered with real feathers.

A gorgeous butterfly chandelier

Niagara Chandelier

Still can’t figure out how to decorate your home with kids in mind without sacrificing on style and elegance? Check out the Niagara chandelier, a lighting fixture characterized by a multitude of sparkling butterflies hanging from a circular frame installed flush with the ceiling. The silver and gold butterflies are really cute and fun to look at and they also look very chic and stylish.

Cat and dog table lamps

Cats lover lamps

Kids love cats and who can blame them when they’re all so cute and fluffy and cuddly? However, when you’re faced as a parent with the task of refusing your kid’s request for a real pet cat for a bunch of perfectly acceptable reasons, remember these cute and playful lamps which might be able to ease the pain. The lamps are designed to look like cats, with sculptural and graphical bodies and a light bulb for a head.{found on enostudio}.

Hanging pendant lamps in fun colors

Colorful hanging lamps

Not everything has to be shaped like a cat or a rocket for kids to love it. In fact, sometimes it’s enough for something to be colorful in order to be accepted by kids as a suitable decoration or furniture piece. A good example is the Praesto Collection composed of various pendant lamps with colored cords and shiny shades.

Fun shelves with geometric designs

Rock wall shelf with a 3D design

When it comes to furniture pieces such as cabinets and shelving units, things are a bit more difficult. You have to look for a design that’s graphical, intriguing, brightly-colored and eye-catching, one that you as a parent would find futuristic or art decor and which the kids would find playful and fun. Rocky by Charles Kalpakian seems to be such a piece.

Adorable mushroom-inspired stools

Colorful stools

Other things like stools or chairs can feature simplistic designs and shapes while slightly resemble cute things like mushrooms. Kids will definitely make the connection while everyone else will enjoy their chic and stylish designs and comfortable seats. Mix and match several of these and play with various colors for an even more fun look.

Stackable and colorful stools

Stacked colorful furniture for kids

Everyone knows that kid love playing with cubes and enjoy stacking objects. The Hyde Outside stools are actually designed to be space-saving but surely this doesn’t stop kids from having fun with them. They can be stacked to form sculptural towers and they come in a lot of bright and eye-catching colors such as purple, red, orange, yellow or green but also in simpler colors such as black, white or gray.

Lampshades that tell stories

Lion and Lush Designs Unicorn shade

The easiest way to make sure your kids enjoy the lampshade or light fixture in their rooms involving searching for fun and themed prints like these ones. The Unicorn shade is a fantasy-inspired piece which can also add charm to spaces other than the children’s bedrooms. The Lion lampshade is pretty fun and quirky as well. If you prefer something a bit cuter, check out the Loris shade which captures the quirkiness of these little creatures from Sri Lanka and India.

Mini chairs with antlers

Bambi and sheep chairs

It’s impossible to ignore the extreme cuteness of the Bambi and Sheep chair regardless of your age. These fluffy things were designed by Takeshi Sawada and they’re perfect functional furniture pieces or friendly companions for the children’s rooms although no adult can resist them either. These little chairs can add cheer anywhere they go.

A friendly and practical bathroom design

Touch of color for kids bathroom

The bathroom is not really a place where kids enjoy being, with all the forced baths and tooth brushing. However, this could be an enjoyable space if you know how to decorate it. A few bold bathroom accents would definitely change the ambiance and they don’t have to be super childish in design. Considering using a fun accent color or making the towel warmer look like a cute ladder. The lighting fixture could also look fun.

Cute outdoor setups

Outdoor shower tree inspired

But perhaps the bathroom is not the best place to let the kids play with water in. It would be more practical to have a tap outdoors. To make it more fun and enjoyable for the kids, check out the tree mounting system featured by Dueacca and the idea featured here, showcasing a fence painted to look like it has a tree on it.

A basket full of puppies

Carpenters dog lamp

There are many cute things about this lamp designed by Stuart Haygarth. For one, those cute little dogs of all shapes and sizes all seem to squeeze under a giant umbrella and that can make anyone’s heart melt. There’s even a version of this lamp featuring a bunch of cats instead of dogs in case you or your kid isn’t a dog fan.

Faux animal skin rugs

Tiger Rugs

Not everyone agrees that animal skin rugs belong on the floors of our home but that doesn’t really count in this case because the Tiger Big Rug is actually made of wool and is meant to be a playful accessory for a funky home. Kids would surely find this accessory interesting and we wouldn’t exclude adults either.{found on moustache}.

A hanging bed

Family Headquarters Play Room

There’s all sorts of ways to make something simple and basic look interesting and take on a playful and fun aesthetic. For example, this is just a regular bed for the most part but instead of sitting on a platform or having support legs it’s partially hanging off the wall from a think piece of rope.

A house within a house

Family Headquarters Play Room

A fun activity for kids is pretending to be adults and having their own little house. Imagine how fun it would be to actually have a tiny house inside the house. It could be something you can put down in the basement or the kids’ own bedroom. This one was designed by studio Boo and Rook and it’s absolutely lovely.

A cute tent

Family Headquarters Play Room

Tents are also a great hit with kids because they love having their own cozy little space where they can hide and play and so on. It doesn’t have to be a big tent. Make something small and casual like a tiki tent or check out the one used in this room by studio Skapa Design for inspiration.

A cozy window nook

Family Headquarters Play Room

This is actually really nice to have even as an adult but it’s especially lovely if you can create something like this in the kids’ room. Bay windows are ideal for this because they already give you a cozy nook to work with. Adapt the design to your own layout and style. For more inspiration, check out this beautiful design by studio Breeze Giannasio Interiors.

A chalkboard wall

Family Headquarters Play Room

Everyone loves chalkboard walls. They’re really fun and they can also be super practical. Adding a chalkboard wall to the kids’ room is also a great way to prevent them from writing on the other walls and on furniture by giving them a designated surface for that. The layout featured by this room designed by Fuller Living Construction really puts the spotlight on this accent wall.

A secret loft area

Family Headquarters Play Room

If the height of the ceiling or the shape of the room allows it, it would definitely be super fun to add a secret loft area to the kids’ bedroom, space where they can hide and play and which can also be potentially used as an extra sleeping area. Check out this design by Koch Architects for an idea of how to incorporate such a feature into the room.

Accent walls and murals

Family Headquarters Play Room

If you want to keep the room fairly simple, without crazy colors and odd-looking furniture, perhaps the focus can be on that case on one of the walls. In this room by Britt Design Group the giant world map mural is a magnificent focal point and also a way to add more color to the décor.

Add a hammock

Family Headquarters Play Room

Everybody loves hammocks but there’s rarely a good opportunity to have one inside the house. A child’s bedroom is actually a good option. Hanging a small hammock in here shouldn’t be too difficult plus it would give the room a casual, relaxing and laid-back aesthetic. Here’s one being used in such a design by studio Harry Hunt Architects.

A nature-themed design

Family Headquarters Play Room

This is a great look for a playroom. It has tons of fun details and features, all conforming to the outdoor-inspired aesthetic. The big tree with the hanging chair is a great focal point and the floor design is absolutely on point. This room was designed by studio Gander Builders.

An entire playground in a room

Family Headquarters Play Room

If you have the space for it, it would definitely be super fun and entertaining for the kids to have their own playground inside the house. You could include features such as a climbing wall, a swing, ladders, a chalkboard wall and all sorts of other things. Check out this super fun activity room by studio Interiors by Popov if you want some inspiration.